See Bob Dylan’s Grandson, Who Is a Major Model

HE’S GOT AN INTEREST IN ALL THINGS ENTERTAINMENT—EXCEPT FOR FAME. By LAUREN GRAY

Today, the famed singer-songwriter is 80 years old, and it’s his grandson that’s making headlines for his career moves. The son of Jakob Dylan—the Grammy-winning frontman of The Wallflowers and one of Bob Dylan’s six children—Levi Dylan is now a model, actor, musician, and amateur artist who’s carving out a career path on his own terms.

Levi could’ve easily entered the fashion world through his famous family’s connections, but he told The Cut that it was a former girlfriend, Alana O’Herlihy, who first encouraged him to model. “She kind of set me up and from there it was sort of like dominos,” he said of his then-partner, who is a photographer, director, and multimedia visual artist with ties to the fashion world.

Since then, the 27-year-old has walked the runway for some of the biggest names in fashion. For instance, as part of Fashion Week, Levi graced the catwalk for Dolce & Gabbana alongside several high-profile amateur models including Brandon Lee (son of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee), Rafferty Law (son of Jude Law and Sadie Frost), and Presley Gerber (son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber). Soon after, he signed with Wilhelmina models, and landed ad campaigns with DKNY, Uniqlo, and more. He has reportedly posed for Vogue Italia, GQ Italia, Wonderland Magazine, and VMAN.

A scion of a musical dynasty, it’s no surprise that Levi learned the guitar and bass, and dabbled in musical performance himself. “I’ve always had an interest in performing. I used to play in the band Dreamers Dose,” he told Interview magazine, adding somewhat wistfully, “We were really good.”

However, after three years with the band, Levi says the group parted ways following a final show in 2013. “I stopped because I wasn’t as interested as people thought I would be. I just grew out of it. The guys who I played with musically surpassed me and I stopped trying,” he explained to Daily Front Row. “I got a lot out of it and I keep it with me,” he added.

His decision to walk away from the world of music was also a practical one. “I still love to play, but it’s too hard to make a living. And I think that was a mature decision to make,” he told The Cut in 2016.

Though Levi has only worked on a small handful of film projects, he says acting is a field he’d gladly continue to pursue in the coming years. So far, he’s appeared in three films: 12 Mighty Orphans (2021), Mighty Oak(2020), and Scooter Boyz (2016). “It’s a very foreign world to me, but I enjoy it,” he told Daily Front Row. “I feel like I put on a show, and it makes me happy. I’m going on auditions mainly for short films. I like taking baby steps—I don’t want to step into anything I can’t handle right now,” he added.

When speaking with Interview, he also shared his love of art—and had just come from an afternoon of painting at Brooklyn studio and exhibition space Pioneer Works. “I painted for five hours,” he told the magazine. “Some skull-looking things. A syringe going into a skull. I draw a lot of faces,” he said. “I just leave ’em places,” for others to find, he mused.

Bob Dylan’s ambivalent relationship with fame has been well documented, and it seems his grandson feels the same. Though many of Levi’s professional pursuits lend themselves to the limelight, the young, multi-talented entertainer has made it clear that public recognition is far from his primary goal. “I don’t have any interest in being in Warner Brothers’ newest comedy if it’s going to suck but still be a box office hit and make me famous,” Levi told VMAN. “I want to do things that are cool and that I can be proud of.

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