In order to achieve authenticity in his role as Marty in the sports comedy drama Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalamet went to extremes, and even made himself blind. In the movie, Chalamet plays a professional table tennis player who wears glasses, and director Josh Safdie adhered to Chalamet’s full-blown dedication to play an athlete who can’t see without his glasses. How did they do it? By adding layers and layers to Chalamet’s field of vision.
As reported by Variety, Safdie recently appeared at an event to talk about the recently released A24 movie starring Chalamet alongside Fran Drescher, Tyler, the Creator, and Odessa A’zion. Addressing the use of real prescription lenses for the character of Marty, Safdie explained that while Chalamet admitted that he felt “he was in a fishbowl,” the actor said to him, “I’ll do anything you ask me to do.” Safdie elaborates on the combination of real contacts and glasses for Chalamet’s character:
“At the time, we said, we were going to put +10 contact lenses in your eyes, and we’re gonna put -10 prescription lenses in front of them so that when his glasses fall off, he can’t see sh*t. He calls me, and he says, ‘I’ve got the +10s in right now, I’m pretty dizzy.'”
To achieve a realistic character, Safdie not only pushed for the use of real prescription contacts and glasses. He also demanded the use of prosthetics and makeup effects – something that Academy Award-nominated makeup artist Michael Fontaine delivered on by applying freckles and acne scars to Chalamet’s face. Safdie says that “You felt that with the scars and nicks, he’s been in fights, and he’s from the street.” Chalamet’s co-star in the film, Gwyneth Paltrow, was also blown away by the effective makeup: “I had no idea. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s got little acne scars,’ and was like, ‘I’m so surprised by how you never see that.'”
‘Marty Supreme’ Is Generating Huge Oscar Buzz for Timothée Chalamet
The 2025 sports biopic sees Chalamet playing Marty Mauser, a young tennis table player in the 1950s in New York City trying to make it big as a professional player. The film is loosely based on the life of real American player Marty Reisman. Marty Supreme is directed by Safdie from a script he co-wrote alongside Ronald Bronstein, who worked previously with the Safdie brothers in films like Uncut Gems and Good Time.
Chalamet went beyond the extensive prosthetics work to add more authenticity to the role. He trained with ping-pong master Diego Schaaf, who taught him the techniques, and helped him choreograph the matches. In the movie, Chalamet faces real-life table tennis champion Koto Kawaguchi, who plays one of his contenders in the film. The actor says the pressure was “huge” when trying to appear as a notable competitor to Kawaguchi, and he saw it as “s responsibility to that community and to the aficionados and people that are passionate about that sport.”
Via MovieWeb
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