Award-winning actor and perennial internet boyfriend Timothée Chalamet’s press tour for his upcoming film, Marty Supreme, is lining up to be one of the most talked-about media circuits of the year. From his alleged method acting to the virality of the Marty Supreme windbreaker, it’s all the internet can seem to talk about — and yet interestingly enough, the actual theme of the film Timothée Chalamet’s promoting has barely cut through.
As a Timmy stan (in the papa’s orchard sense, not the ClubChalamet sense), I’m not here to criticise or “cancel” Gen Z’s Lisan al-Gaib. I’m thoroughly entertained by it all. Still, I do think his latest antics offer an interesting conversation starter on the optics of ego and entitlement, as well as our waning appetite for celebrity culture.
But first, let us, for once, talk about Marty Supreme. It’s filmmaker Josh Safdie’s (of Safdie Brothers fame) first solo project in nearly two decades, and it’s a sports-comedy-drama that maintains the same freneticism and moral-dubiousness as his previous hits Good Times and Uncut Gems. Chalamet leads the film in the role of aspiring table-tennis champion Marty Mauser, with additional performances from Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler, The Creator, Odessa A’zion, and Fran Drescher.
It’s everything you could want from a Safdie x Chalamet collaboration; it’s shocking, chaotic, absurd, often funny, and full of hugely quotable dialogue. Yes, it’s definitely one for the bros, but I think most film lovers will get a kick out of it too. Timmy is predictably excellent in a role that feels more like an extension of his rap persona, ‘Timmy Tim’, than a portrayal of an entirely different character. Not even a monobrow and a pair of rimless, thick-lensed glasses can suppress the image of an overzealous Chalamet who raps about statistics class and performs choreography to Soulja Boy. Still, Marty Supreme is certainly a departure from his performances as angsty, clean-cut, righteous leaders in more serious films like Dune and The King, and it’s entertaining as hell to watch.
Now, here’s what you’ve missed on Chalamet’s internet.
First, the pursuit of greatness
As I write this, Timothée Chalamet is on the cusp of his 30th birthday. This means his rising stardom as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, with credits and accomplishments rivalling those of his much older peers, has played out before he even turned “thirty, flirty, and thriving”. Think Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy, Little Women, Dune and Dune: Part Two, and Bones and All to name just a few of his acclaimed performances. Let’s just say not all twenties were created equal.
Interestingly, this didn’t stop the large number of people who took issue with his candid acceptance speech when he made history as the youngest ever actor to win Best Actor at the SAG Awards earlier this year. Off the back of his performance as Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown, Chalamet confessed to his career being “in pursuit of greatness” despite working in such a “subjective business”.
“I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day Lewis, Marlon Brando and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there. So I’m deeply grateful. This doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel. It’s a little more ammo to keep going. Thank you so much.”
The reactions to his speech were mixed, but I couldn’t help but admire his earnestness (even though it’s arguably the same trait that got Anne Hathaway so much hathahate in 2013). I think there’s something incredibly refreshing, especially in this age of nonchalance and anti-cringe, about being seen wanting something. There’s value in being transparent about the amount of effort you’re putting in, in revering hard work and study, and in taking notes from and humbling yourself before your superiors. It challenges our culture’s obsession with instant gratification and overnight success when the veil is lifted on what is often years of practice, rejection, and unapologetic hustling behind the scenes.
Additionally, a willingness to earn success through hard work is at odds with our generation’s redundant desire to have our talent be perceived as effortless. The consequence of framing success as effortless or easy-won is that mediocre people feel entitled to praise and reward when handing in the bare minimum, and genuinely talented people grow disillusioned when their journey isn’t linear or instant. And as consumers, we should put a higher premium on substance over mediocrity, which means separating the likes of theatre kids like Timothée Chalamet from internet stars or nepo babies handed roles because of their huge follower counts.
Permission to speak candidly?: An interlude on white boy swag
Before I talk about Timmy’s most recent descent into Kanye-levels of ego, I’d like to ask for some grace and the suspension of your judgment so I can speak candidly with you all. If you’re unwilling to stay with me on this journey and grant me that, then please stop reading now. I haven’t got enough energy left to defend myself in the comment section. Okay?
Timothée Chalamet, while not on my personal Mount Rushmore of white men, is a classic example of a swagged-up white boy. This has always been on display for audiences to see, but never has the ‘swag’ been as amped up as it now is on the Marty Supreme press tour — and we have to talk about it.
Swagged-up or quirked-up white boys, as the internet likes to call them, are either number one on my enemy list or my personal kryptonite. I’m working on it. But as a mixed-race woman of colour “dating” in a predominantly white country, a white boy with unconventional style, music taste, confidence, and an appreciation of Black American culture and history is often a more appealing option than the stereotypical beach boy or suit and tie that exclusively chases blonde hair, blue-eyed pilates princesses (incredible women who bare no resemblance to me). Usually, but not always, these white boys, whether genuinely capable or not, possess the kind of delusion that makes them believe they can handle dating a Black woman despite their limited real-life exposure to them.
Timmy is French and Jewish but culturally a New York kid who was raised in Manhattan, and that’s often mentioned as a means of explaining his enduring love of Hip Hop, basketball, and streetwear. If you follow his excessive digital footprint, you’ll find him barely even 5 feet tall, dancing to Soulja Boy (as re-created recently) or adorning a coloured wig and rapping Nicki Minaj in front of his performing arts classmates. Even during his time as an actor, he’s routinely shouted out and paid tribute to Black artists like Kid Cudi, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.
Just this week, he featured on the sports and culture podcast, 7 PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, and asked: “How can you be a child of American culture without being influenced by [Black culture]?”
Giving credit to the makers of culture is one of the few things that separates cultural appreciation from appropriation. But that’s just one part of being an ally; we need non-Black people to love Black people like they love Black culture. I’m not here to be the judge of whether or not he does, but I think cynicism from some of the Black community is fair, given how many non-Black celebrities have chosen to wear our culture like a costume, profited from it, and then pivoted when it’s time for another rebrand. Not to mention, he’s walking the red carpet with one of Hollywood’s biggest culture vultures, Kylie Jenner, whose family has made a killing off cosplaying as Black.
Timothée addressed the need to “toe the line respectfully” as a fan of Black culture in his appearance on the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast. However, many have taken issue with him seemingly glazing over the concerns of the community, when saying: “I wanna be respectful and all this shit you’re supposed to say, blah blah blah”. Interestingly, he gets away with this while in conversation with three Black men (frequently swagged up white boy enablers).
Side note: It’s worth noting that a lot of these white guys get their kicks from the approval or acceptance of Black men, but care less for the same confidence and assertiveness when it comes from the mouth of a Black woman. It brings to mind the white guy I went on a date with, who clearly felt his love of streetwear and rap music made him fly, but who felt comfortable telling me, even with his comparable mediocrity, that he thought Black and queer rapper Doechii tried too hard. The irony of a man whose appearance, persona, and vocabulary were not just deeply curated (read: try hard) but borrowed primarily from Black culture, criticising a Black woman’s authentic and inherited expression of resistance and pride, while praising the likes of Drake, was not lost on me. But this is what happens when yt boys get too comfortable at the cookout.
Ego (and the possible nail in the coffin)
The Marty Supreme press tour has unlocked a new Timmy character: Timothee, the elite athlete and motivational speaker. He’s gone viral for calling his performance as Marty Mauser “top level sh*t” and asking the audience not to “take for granted” the “discipline and the work ethic [he’s been] bringing to these [films]” over the past seven or eight years. When asked by another journalist how he’ll measure the film’s success, he foretold that we’ll all know “by next Summer”. Many have wondered whether his newfound “athlete mentality” is actually him attending press in character, or if it’s a risky strategy being used to boost his chances of securing an Oscar nomination.
As someone who has seen Marty Supreme, I can attest that Chalamet’s recent comments are very much in line with the protagonist’s antics. But I also question why an actor would choose to stay in character outside the production of a film, and whether this strategy has any benefit when the general public, who haven’t yet seen it, has no real clue that you’re doing it. I’d also put forward Kristen Stewart’s recent comments about method acting for consideration.
But more importantly, while I would readily welcome an Oscar win for the man who gave us the world’s most painful delivery of “I figured you loved me, Jo!”, I’d challenge the implication that an actor as young and as rewarded as Chalamet has been taken for granted or underappreciated by the industry. We should all want to be good at our jobs and be able to do so without going on a victory tour, boasting about our own greatness. Whether rightly or wrongly, humility invites others in, while ego alienates. There’s a fine line between hyping yourself up and taking pride in what you do and coming across as entitled. Doesn’t the reward and recognition for his work live in his continued ability to be meaningfully employed in the industry he loves, with choices offered to him that less privileged actors would kill for? Just ask Viola Davis, one of the greats Timothee mentioned in his SAG speech, who has been consistently vocal about how hard-fought her career has been as a Black woman. She might currently be an EGOT, but she won her first and only Academy Award in 2017, more than two decades into her professional career.
Be it through a combination of good looks, privilege and luck or the presence of truly singular talent, I do think it’s fair to say that Timothée Chalamet is on the path to greatness. But is he flying too close to the sun as well? Only time will tell.