The 29-year-old actor is taking his Oscars narrative into his own hands, serving up his own Ping-Pong-filled promo at a Regal preview screening of Marty Supreme.
Photo: Regal via X
Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet as a Ping-Pong champ who romances Gwyneth Paltrow in 1950s-era New York City, is reportedly A24’s most costly production ever with a budget of $70 million — and no one can say that Chalamet isn’t putting in the work to make it all pay off. From bouncing around New York for promo to making orange Ping-Pong balls his new aesthetic, the 29-year-old actor is taking his Oscars narrative into his own hands, serving up his own album-rollout-inspired promo ahead of the film’s premiere this Christmas.
February 23, 2025: “I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” Chalamet says at the SAG Awards. “I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats.” The wording of his speech echoes the Marty Supreme logline: “Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.”
April 21, 2025: Chalamet attends a New York Knicks game with Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie at Madison Square Garden. His courtside reactions have already turned him into a mascot for the team during a dramatic comeback in the NBA playoffs. See how passionate he is about NYC and sports with orange balls?
May 7, 2025: He makes his red-carpet debut with girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the David di Donatello Awards, where he’s being honored for Cinematic Excellence. Let it be known he can romance international superstars.
June 29, 2025: Fans notice that Supreme season has begun: Chalamet has updated his Instagram bio to include the film’s title and the Ping-Pong-paddle emoji.
October 6, 2025: Marty Supreme has its surprise world premiere at New York Film Festival. Chalamet pops out and tells the audience it’s “fucking awesome” that the film is debuting at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall because it’s down the street from his old high school. From the start, this press tour is personal.
October 7, 2025: The Hollywood Reporter publishes a feature in which Chalamet shares that he has been practicing Ping-Pong for six years, ever since Safdie mentioned the then-unfinanced film to him in 2018. “I had a table in London while I was making Wonka,” he recalls. “On Dune 2, I had a table in Budapest, Jordan. I had a table in Abu Dhabi. I had a table at the Cannes Film Festival for The French Dispatch. I got myself an Airbnb in a town [around] Saint-Tropez after The French Dispatch, overlooking the water, and I was taking lessons there.” During COVID lockdowns, he replaced his living-room furniture with a Ping-Pong table.
Also on October 7, Chalamet goes live on Instagram in a Ping-Pong-ball mask while in a box filled with flying Ping-Pong balls. In the livestream, set to an EDM track sampling a monologue from the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Chalamet is one of many people whose faces are covered by orange spheres. But he eventually takes off his mask to reveal a buzz cut and remind people that Marty Supreme is coming out on Christmas. Is the new haircut intended to make his head look more like a Ping-Pong ball so that we subconsciously associate him with the sport? If he pops out with an orange spray tan next, we’re going to start getting suspicious …
October 9, 2025: Chalamet invites his Instagram followers to meet him at Regal Times Square to watch the first 30 minutes of Marty Supreme by scrawling the message on his Instagram Story in orange. That night, he enters the theater flanked by a group of people wearing the Ping-Pong ball masks from his livestream. At what point does he bring out the giant paddle?
🎥 New video of Timothée Chalamet arriving at Regal Times Square tonight!pic.twitter.com/EwG0kUZbJz
— Timothée Chalamet Updates 🏓 (@timotheeupdates) October 10, 2025
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