Timothée Chalamet’s character in “Marty Supreme” was meant to embody a young kid from the streets of New York.
Director Josh Safdie wanted to bring real authenticity to the film, not just visually but also in how the characters looked and felt.
“It wouldn’t make sense to drop Timothée in there and have him look like this clean movie star,” says prosthetic makeup designer Mike Fontaine. Fontaine — who is nominated at the Makeup and Hair Stylists Guild Awards, as well as shortlisted for best makeup at the Oscars — worked closely with Safdie and makeup artist Kyra Panchenko to ensure Chalamet fit seamlessly into the gritty world of the film.
The story follows Chalamet as Marty, an ambitious young man from New York’s Lower East Side, convinced that table tennis is his ticket to success. Set in 1952, Marty is a hustler working at his family’s shoe store, where he pretends customers’ sizes are out of stock to upsell them on pricier pairs. On the side, he’s always looking for his next get-rich-quick scheme.
Fontaine explains, “Josh knew what he wanted. He wanted acne scars, keloid scars, like he’s been in some fights.” Marty’s face prominently features a scar on his cheekbone and additional scarring under his chin, suggesting a rough life.
In one scene, Marty jumps out of a window and climbs down a fire escape to evade the cops. “Looking at that, you got the feeling maybe this isn’t the first time he’s done this,” Fontaine adds. “He’s probably taken a few falls and hits.”
The question during production was how far to take the look. “We had the great advantage on ‘Marty Supreme’ of doing extensive screen tests with Darius Khondji. He filmed those tests with Timothée on a stage.”
After reviewing the footage with Chalamet and Safdie, Fontaine realized the makeup was too extreme and decided to re-sculpt and remake everything. The goal was to ensure the makeup didn’t distract the audience but rather felt invisible. “Myself, Kyra and [hairstylist] Jimmy Goode would get Timmy done in an hour. We’d be doing the hair and makeup all at the same time in Timothée’s trailer,” Fontaine explains. “Kyra would start on the brow, and Jimmy would be styling the hair.”
In total, Chalamet wore five prosthetics. “There were large pieces that covered his cheeks to give the acne-pockmarked skin texture. He had another piece on his cheekbone to create a deep scar on one side, two smaller pieces for scars under his lip, and a long scar under his chin.”
Since Khondji was shooting close-ups with long lenses, Chalamet’s face was front and center, requiring intricate attention to detail. Fontaine also had to “drench him in fake sweat” during the intense table tennis matches Marty plays throughout the movie.
Safdie wanted another level of authenticity when it came to distorting Chalamet’s vision. Rather than using prop glasses, Safdie opted for a combination of contact lenses and prescription glasses. Fontaine explains, “We put contact lenses in Timothée’s eyes that made his vision blurry, and then gave him very heavy prescription glasses on top of it, creating the illusion that his eyes were really beady and small.”
Safdie previously told Variety, “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 anything.” When Chalamet tried on the combination, Safdie recalls receiving a call from the actor. “He calls me and says, ‘I’ve got the +10s in right now, and I’m pretty dizzy.’”
According to Safdie, Chalamet described the experience as feeling like “he was in a fishbowl.” Still, Chalamet was determined. “I’ll do anything you ask me to do,” Safdie recalls the actor telling him.