MOVIE NEWS – When it comes to committing fully to his craft, Timothée Chalamet appears to have no limits. In his latest awards-contending film, Marty Supreme, his character Marty Mauser endures a singularly humiliating punishment: being struck on the bare buttocks with a ping-pong paddle, and according to Kevin O’Leary, Chalamet refused to use a stunt double for the scene.
Directed by Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme follows a street-smart dreamer from New York’s Lower East Side whose sole ambition is to become the greatest table tennis player in the world. To chase that goal, Marty gets tangled in affairs and lies, eventually crossing paths with socialite Kay Stone and her powerful husband, Milton Rockwell. Rockwell is played by Kevin O’Leary, widely known to American audiences as “Mr. Wonderful” from Dragons’ Den.
While Marty and Kay secretly slip under the sheets behind Milton’s back, the businessman unexpectedly takes a liking to the young athlete. When Marty pleads for sponsorship, Milton agrees, but only on one condition: he must be publicly humiliated in front of his friends. That’s where the stinging paddle strikes come in, paving the way for Marty’s shot at competing in Tokyo.
Speaking with Variety, Kevin O’Leary recalled how eager Chalamet was to perform the painful moment himself, despite being offered an easy way out.
“When it came time to whack him, there was a stunt ass. There was a double. He wouldn’t do it. He said he’d do it himself. He didn’t want some other ass immortalized.”
The 71-year-old actor was initially handed a prop paddle for the scene, but it snapped on the very first swing. As a result, Chalamet’s backside quickly turned raw, since Safdie demanded around forty takes. “Josh kept saying, ‘You’ve got to wind up harder.’ I was really whacking him,” O’Leary added, noting that Marty’s constant insults deserved “capital punishment” within the story. “I never felt satisfied that he suffered enough for what he did. Even now, I’m still pissed.”
Marty Supreme Star Went All-Out to Pull Off the Role
Elsewhere, Josh Safdie previously explained just how far his leading man went to inhabit the bespectacled protagonist. For those who haven’t seen the film yet, Marty can barely see without his glasses. To understand that sensation, Chalamet wore prescription contact lenses on set, effectively trapping him in a visual fishbowl.
“We told him we were going to put +10 contact lenses in his eyes and then -10 prescription lenses in front of them, so when his glasses fall off, he can’t see anything,” Safdie recalled. “He called me and said, ‘I’ve got the +10s in right now, I’m pretty dizzy.’”
The production didn’t stop there in shaping Chalamet’s physical appearance. Makeup artist Michael Fontaine added prosthetic freckles and acne scars to his face. “With the scars and nicks, you could feel that he’d been in fights and that he was from the street,” Safdie said, while Gwyneth Paltrow admitted she was stunned by how convincing it looked. “I had no idea. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s got little acne scars,’ and I was so surprised that you never see that.”
Source: MovieWeb
