Sufjan Stevens Almost Had Bigger Role In 'Call Me By Your Name'

(Gibson) Call Me By Your Name, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival has been picking up accolades throughout the year. Rated by Time as one of the top 10 films of the year, it picked up three nominations at this year's Golden Globes, including Best Picture and is strongly tipped to be one of the frontrunners at next year's Oscars.

As it turns out, folk-pop singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens - who contributed two moving original songs to the film, as well as a remix of an older song - almost had a role in the movie. According to an interview in Deadline, the film's director Luca Guadagnino wanted Stevens to lend his voice as a narrator in the film as well as making an appearance as a bard, "almost as a break in the narrative."

In the interview, Stevens says that he told Guadagnino, "I think this voiceover is a mistake, and I think the interruption of me singing the song is a mistake." I think he was just thinking out loud. I don't know if he was really committed to the idea. So I said, "I'll write you some songs, but that's all I think you need from me." And he agreed. When I saw the first edit, he said, "You were right, this doesn't need a monologue or an interruption." here.