In the quiet hours before the premiere of “Marty Supreme,” Timothée Chalamet sat on a West Side pier, looking out over Manhattan. Snow dusted the ground, yet the sun was bright and he was wrapped in a parka, reflecting on the city and his own path.
A New Chapter for Chalamet
“Now in my late 20s, there should be every reason to go, ‘All right, career’s good. Let me start shilling out,'” Chalamet said, turning 30 just after Christmas. “But it’s like I’ve quadrupled down on the original pursuit of my life. I’ve gotten out of the pool and redived from a higher board.”
The film, directed by Josh Safdie, follows Marty Mauser, a Jewish shoe-store clerk who dreams of becoming the world’s best table-tennis player. The character draws loosely from real-life pro Marty Reisman, but the story also mirrors the ambition of both Chalamet and Safdie.
“The gift of my life is this work,” Chalamet said while seagulls wheeled overhead. “You want to honor it. Not in some Keynesian way – I don’t know if that’s the right economist to cite. Capitalistic is not what I mean. I mean: If you’re not going up, you’re kind of going down. ‘He not busy being born is busy dying,’ the great Dylan quote. Ooh, is that on the money.”
He added, “It’s not like a long arc thing for me. It’s like I’m chasing a feeling.”
Safdie’s Personal Stakes
Safdie, who has a lifelong fascination with table tennis, shared how his father’s dream-oriented mindset shaped him. “My dad is the ultimate dreamer,” he said. “He still dreams to this day. When I was a kid, I’d ask him where I came from. And he’d say, ‘You came from the stars.’ It put this intense feeling inside me that there was huge future ahead of me.”
The director’s history with independent filmmaking is steeped in hustle. When he and his brother Benny approached Ronald Bronstein to star in their second feature, Bronstein, a projectionist with no acting experience, replied, “I thought: This guy is made out helium and I’ve had my feet stuck in lead for six years.”
Safdie recalled a meeting for the basketball scenes of 2019’s “Uncut Gems”: “You’re in a position where you’re at their beck and call. You’ll do whatever it takes.”
Building a Big-Budget Indie
A24 invested $70 million in “Marty Supreme,” making it one of the studio’s most expensive projects. To generate buzz, Chalamet released an 18-minute video that mimicked a Zoom call about the film’s marketing, and an orange blimp emblazoned with “Dream Big” flew over Los Angeles.
Safdie, who had just returned from promoting the film in London, Brazil, and Los Angeles, described the movie as intensely personal. “I didn’t know anything about the guy. Some agent told me he was the next big superstar. And you hear that a lot from agents. But you got the sense that he saw it. And he had a vision for it. He had this energy to him. He was Timmy Supreme.”
He also explained that the script was meant to tap into a period of Chalamet’s life when his audacity was all he had. “Josh wanted me to tap into a period of my life when my audacity was all I had,” Chalamet recalled. “Immediately, I saw myself in Marty. I was singularly driven starting at 14.”
A New Kind of Original Film
Both filmmakers emphasized the importance of original, big-budget, R-rated movies fronted by star power. Chalamet said, “I’d love to see more original movies made. They’re the most exciting ones to see. Every original film I’ve seen this year, I like it before I even start it. That’s a whole new mentality I’ve had, just feeling like we’re all in this together.”
He added, “I said this when I went to (former high school) LaGuardia last year: Don’t act for other actors. Act for real audiences. While we were shooting ‘Dune 3’ over the summer, Denis (Villeneuve) said at some point he realized it was more about pleasing real people. You look at the business structure of the film industry, how it’s been contracting since the ’80s, it’s ludicrous to be focused on anything but real audiences.”
Safdie highlighted the New York film tradition that informs the movie’s tone. “The tradition, particularly of New York filmmaking, movies like ‘French Connection,’ I try to let them seep into me. That’s why I’m casting Abel Ferrara. I’m trying to at least cultivate those influences.”
Returning to Roots
The film’s setting and production design, handled by Jack Fisk, evoke a gritty 1950s New York. 74-year-old Abel Ferrara appears in the film, adding a layer of authenticity.
For Chalamet, filming in his hometown of Hell’s Kitchen felt like a homecoming. “Just to be here, back where I’m from. What a dream,” he said. “I also feel like my artistry has grown, not as a talking point or as hyperbole, but as a humble fact of foundation.”
Key Takeaways
- “Marty Supreme” opens wide Thursday, with a $70 million budget and an 18-minute marketing video.
- The story centers on a Jewish table-tennis aspirant, loosely based on Marty Reisman, and reflects Chalamet’s and Safdie’s own ambitions.
- Chalamet and Safdie emphasize original, big-budget, R-rated films that prioritize real audiences over studio mandates.
The film’s premiere marks a significant moment for both actors and directors, blending personal history, New York grit, and a fresh vision for independent cinema.
