Timothée Chalamet on table tennis, his twenties and his love of... Susan Boyle

🏓 Timothée Chalamet’s Quest for Greatness: From Bob Dylan to 'Marty Supreme'

As he approaches his 30th birthday on December 27, Timothée Chalamet is a man defined by relentless preparation. His latest role in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme—set to open in UK cinemas on Boxing Day (December 26)—marks the culmination of a seven-year obsession with the world of professional table tennis.

The Road to 'Marty Supreme'

Chalamet's preparation for Marty Supreme began as far back as 2018, when he first became attached to the project. This dedication mirrors the intense research he conducted for his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.

"I think the role in this film, whether you were a Dylan fan or a guitarist, [is to ensure] that it looks realistic to you on film. If you're a ping-pong expert, it's likely that this sounds believable to you." — Timothée Chalamet

His dedication was so total that he reportedly moved his table tennis table into the desert while filming Dune and continued training in Airbnbs while promoting The French Dispatch in 2021.

The "Supreme" Ambition

In Marty Supreme, Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, a semi-fictionalised version of real-life post-war table tennis legend Marty Reisman. The film, described as a "slingshot" of a movie, explores the "idiocy" of a man in his early twenties driven by a singular, obsessive passion for a sport that few took seriously at the time.

This on-screen tenacity matches Chalamet's real-life career trajectory. At the 2025 SAG Awards, where he won Best Actor for his role as Dylan, Chalamet declared he was "actually in search of greatness," citing icons like Daniel Day-Lewis, Viola Davis, and Michael Jordan as his benchmarks.

The Cinema vs. Streaming Debate

As Netflix prepares to acquire Warner Bros. this month, Chalamet remains a staunch defender of the theatrical experience. Marty Supreme is an original film intended for the big screen, not a subscription service.

• The Stance: Chalamet argues that while streaming services have less incentive to take theatrical risks, cinemas will "survive and thrive."

• The Goal: He sees his job as a leading young actor to encourage audiences to "revisit this classic form" of entertainment.

A "Genius" Promotional Tour

The promotion for Marty Supreme has been as original as the film itself. Chalamet and his girlfriend Kylie Jenner made headlines by wearing matching orange custom outfits at the Los Angeles premiere—a colour he repeated while appearing with his mother, Nicole Flender, at the New York premiere.

He has also been gifting exclusive "Marty Supreme" jackets to those he deems "true geniuses," including:

• Frank Ocean (Singer)

• Tom Brady (NFL Legend)

• Lamine Yamal (Spanish Football Star)

• Susan Boyle (British Singer) — Chalamet surprisingly cited the Britain's Got Talent star as a major inspiration: "She dreamed bigger than any of us... Who wasn't moved by that?"

The 'EsDeeKid' Rumours

Chalamet also addressed long-standing speculation that he is secretly the anonymous Liverpool drill artist EsDeeKid. While he previously teased that "all will be revealed," recent reports from a Brooklyn show suggest a face reveal has finally debunked the theory that the Oscar winner was the masked rapper.