"We have a movie about a robbery, a love story, and a parable about the vicious idea of the American dream."

The best role in the career of thirty—year-old Timothy Chalamet is what is most often said about the image that the artist created in Josh Safdie's new film "Marty the Magnificent." Moreover, he had been working on it since 2018, secretly practicing table tennis with professionals. The role of Marty Mauser, copied from the real-life champion Marty Reisman, has just won Chalamet a Golden Globe, and the Oscar is already looming ahead. On January 15, the film is released in wide Russian distribution, but for now Timothy Chalamet told Izvestia how he got this role and what the famous directing style of the Safdie brothers is, which has long brought them cult status, even if Josh Safdie worked in a "solo" mode here.

"I approached this role with complete humility"

— Your gorgeous Marty is restless, funny, lively, but it's absolutely impossible to be around him. A frostbitten guy, a mix of chaos and innocence. How did you see him and what kind of reaction do you expect from the audience?

— The viewer just needs to understand that Marty Mauser is a tireless dreamer. He should be a symbol, an avatar of the concept of "dreaming big." To achieve the realization of your dreams in times that, admittedly, are quite gloomy and hopeless.

Photo: A24

— Why do you think Josh Safdie called you?

— Well, you know, like Josh, I'm from New York, I know what it's like. When he invited me for the role, I thought: "Okay, my New York energy is alive and well, let's apply it now." Of course, I can't say that I'm such a California guy right now, and I wouldn't want the spirit of California to capture me too much.

— Do you remember when you first saw the script? What are you thinking about?

— I was thrilled. He was like a comet, with a very unusual structure and a non-standard vision. And I immediately thought that I wanted to make a movie in New York. I was full of enthusiasm and passion, and in the end, I had been preparing for this role for several years! And I have an almost fraternal bond with director Josh Safdie—they allowed me to pull something out of me that I don't think I've ever had in a movie before.

— What was the most difficult thing when modeling the image of Marty?

— I approached this role, one might say, with complete humility. I think the main difficulty in Marty's case is the tone. There is a certain tenacity and anxiety in his image that needs to be matched as an actor and maintained throughout the time. I don't share the opinion that this is an antihero movie or that antihero movies even exist. This is a film with a morally ambiguous compass and a protagonist who is also morally ambiguous. It's not a "prescription," like a movie where you play a "bad guy" or a "good guy," and it teaches someone something. Marty is a real—life person, it's just real life.

Photo: A24

— In scenes with different characters, you keep the same tone, but you play very differently. It's like it's the same and not the same person talking to them. How did you achieve this?

— I think it's just about staying true to the script, and also because Josh always had his finger on the pulse. It's not about tempo or anxiety per se, but specifically about tone. It may be an intimate scene where you speak in a whisper, but it remains within the framework of the general tone.

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"Layering gives confidence"

— What is the feeling of working with Josh Safdie?

— Josh has absolutely no preconceptions about what and how he wants to get, what the scene will be like, how the character will behave. It was important for Josh to get the feeling he had about this episode. It's very unusual, it shows some kind of special kind of directing. And it requires effort both in the installation and in working with the production designer to create the environment. All of this equally makes the film so lively. It was the same in Uncut Diamonds, although they are completely different paintings. Here, the director's method manifests itself in how the work with the actor goes, what Josh wants from him. I really like it. He has some kind of romantic vision, but not in a sentimental sense. He immediately captivates with this.

Photo: A24

I've collaborated with major directors who are extremely precise in every detail, and that's also very cool. There you bring to life what has already been scrupulously thought out at the storyboard level, and you need to make no mistakes or make mistakes. But Josh's is different. You're working on a scene with him, doing a take, and it's important for you to say a line so that you can look at yourself in the cinema and be amazed every time how cool it sounds, how much meaning and emotion it makes. For me, working with Josh has opened up a whole new way of working in film.

— How does Josh explain exactly what he wants?

— It's a pleasure to work with him. He doesn't dictate harshly, he's looking for a feeling. And he's an incredibly passionate person, which is exactly what an actor needs. He cares about what you're working on. He is open to cooperation and at the same time incredibly determined in his intentions.

Photo: A24

— And more specifically?

— I'm telling you, Josh and I have almost a brotherly relationship. We've been friends for six or seven years, so our creative process is already something that goes without saying. We don't have to go through everything in detail.

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— Now the most important thing. How did you reach this level of ping pong playing?

— In a sports film, athletic confrontation serves the story and plot. Therefore, in the table tennis scenes, plot accents were most important. Let's take the musical "Wicked". What are the songs for? That's what ping-pong is for. However, this is not exactly a sports film. He's a movie about a robbery, a love story, and a parable about ambitions, dreams, and the vicious idea of the "American dream." But if we talk about the practical side of the issue, I trained for six years with Diego Schaaf and Wei Wang. So I was quite ready.

Photo: A24

— You're practically the champion!

"Well, not exactly. There's another level, of course.

— When you read the script, didn't it seem to you that there were several different films at once? And each could be a separate story.

— This layering gives confidence. You understand that every angle has been thought out. It's like you're shooting too much material, in the best sense of the word. A good movie is when you have a lot of great elements in the preparation phase, a lot of great elements during filming, and great finds in post—production. Then you'll end up with a worthwhile thing.