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Timothée Chalamet’s eye-catching Lorax-orange suit worn at the New York premiere of Marty Supreme last December may have done more than turn heads—it appears to have left a lasting impression on the Academy. Following a press tour marked by striking fashion choices, Chalamet has secured 2026 Oscar nominations for both Best Actor and Best Picture for his role in the sports dramedy, where he takes on the character of Marty Mauser.
The film, directed by Josh Safdie, is set in the 1950s and chronicles the journey of Mauser as he rises from a humble shoe salesman to becoming a world champion in table tennis. Chalamet shares the screen with a talented cast, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Odessa A’Zion, who portray Mauser’s romantic interests.
Premiering on Christmas Day, the film has shattered records for studio A24, grossing $80 million domestically and surpassing the previous record-holder, the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. The film has also impressed critics, earning a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Creating a compelling drama centered around table tennis might seem like a challenge, so how did Safdie and collaborator Ronald Bronstein develop the story for this unique film?
Is Marty Mauser a real person?
Interestingly, the character Marty Mauser draws inspiration from real-life table tennis champion Martin “Marty” Reisman. Reisman penned a 1974 autobiography titled The Money Player: The Confessions of America’s Greatest Table Tennis Player and Hustler. Safdie, a lifelong table tennis enthusiast who began playing in New York City as a child, received a copy of the book from his wife Sara Rossein in 2018. Notably, Rossein also served as an executive producer on the film.
The director approached Chalamet with the movie, and thus began the saga of Marty Mauser. In true Chalamet fashion, he dove head first into the role, doing ping-pong prep throughout the COVID pandemic, including during his time on set filming both Dune movies and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.
Reisman, who died in 2012, won five bronze medals while representing the U.S. at the World Table Tennis Championships. But just how much of this story is accurate?
Well for starters, the adult Reisman did not live with his mother, who is played in the movie by actress Fran Drescher. In his autobiography, he says that he moved in with his father at age 14, living at the Broadway Central Hotel.
And what about the match with Koto Endo in London? Mostly true, with some minor (but important) differences. The 1952 World Table Tennis Championships were held in India, not London. The character of Koto Endo is based on the real-life Hiroji Satoh, who was not deaf, but was the first player to use a sponge rubber racket. The actor who plays Endo, Koto Kowaguchi, is a deaf table tennis player.
Are the characters of retired actress Kay Stone and married Rachel Mizler, who both have a sexual relationship with Mauser, real? Reisman oftentimes swam in the celebrity pool (Dustin Hoffman and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. were regulars at his Riverside Table Tennis Club), but there is no indication in his book that he had an affair with a wealthy socialite. There also seems to be no evidence that he slept with a married pet store employee, though he got married in 1958 to his first wife Geri, whom he had one daughter with.
While Marty Supreme is not a wholly accurate representation of Reisman’s life, it lends a lot of inspiration to Marty Mauser’s story.