Timothée Chalamet’s Big Swing: Two Radically Different Roles in Marty Supreme and Dune: Part Three

Timothee Chalamet has never been shy about going big. From his teen-era alter ego Lil Timmy Tim to leading a sci-fi juggernaut, the guy keeps aiming higher. So yes, of course he is headlining an A24 movie about a ping-pong prodigy with world-beating ambitions. Marty Supreme is the title, and Chalamet is very much in the pedal-to-the-floor phase of his life.

The headspace: full throttle

In an interview by the rooftop pool at the Maybourne Beverly Hills, the 29-year-old was upbeat, a little philosophical, and absolutely clear about where his drive is at right now: he was a huge dreamer as a teen, spent his late teens through mid-20s chasing it, and while many people eventually ease off (metaphorically, not about family or any of that), he has no intention of coasting. He put it in the least subtle way possible:

"I'm hitting the f*cking gas pedal, for better or worse."

He talked about having that early-20s tunnel vision without it necessarily being delusional; there are markers along the way. And somewhere in his mid-20s, he clocked that there is no candy waiting at the top of the mountain anyway. Now, as he sees it, the win is the day-to-day itself: being alive, working at a high level, doing the thing.

Why a table-tennis movie? Because it is a Josh Safdie movie

Marty Supreme is technically an underdog sports story, but Chalamet signed on because he wanted to work with Josh Safdie. He plays Marty Mauser, a 1950s New York table-tennis phenom with outsized dreams and basically no safety net. It is a story about being the underdog whose only real resource is himself, which he says hits close to home. In his early 20s, when the acting hustle was just starting, he remembers feeling like the person who believed in him most was... him. That kind of echo chamber is lonely, and if your brain runs fast, it can make plenty of room for self-doubt. That raw, hungry energy is baked into Marty.

Switching gears: Marty to Muad'Dib

Once Marty Supreme wrapped, Chalamet jumped straight back into blockbuster mode on Dune 3. He was relieved the roles were wildly different. If they had landed in the same emotional zip code, he worried the performances would bleed together. On one side: a high-wire, 1950s New York character piece from Safdie about a borderline delusional striver. On the other: Denis Villeneuve's massive sci-fi space opera. Different speeds, different tones, and, on the day we heard him talk about it, a bright orange Marty Supreme blimp cruising over the Los Angeles skyline for added surreal flair.

The resume and the road ahead

Chalamet is juggling the eclectic mix you would expect at this point: indie intensity and studio scale. Think Call Me by Your Name, A Complete Unknown, and, of course, the Dune franchise. And there is already awards chatter swirling around his turn as Marty Mauser. Not bad for a movie about table tennis.

• Marty Supreme (A24) hits US theaters on December 25; UK cinemas on December 26.
• Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, an all-gas-no-brakes ping-pong prodigy in 1950s New York.
• Director: Josh Safdie.
• Dune: Part Three arrives in December 2026.