Timothée Chalamet & Josh Safdie Say Marty Supreme Goes Beyond The Pursuit of Greatness

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This Christmas with Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalamet and Josh Safdie are bringing to theaters a complex tale of greatness, growth, self-destruction, ambition, and ping pong. Premiering on December 25, 2025, the Josh Safdie-directed and written Marty Supreme follows the tale of Marty Mauser (Chalamet), a rising star in the professional table tennis world in 1950s New York City, who goes to hell and back in the pursuit of his larger-than-life dreams.

Before the sports comedy-drama movie’s panel at CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil on December 5, I spoke with Chalamet and Safdie for Screen Rant about Marty Supreme and its relationship to their larger career goals. Given how much the pursuit of greatness defines the core character conflict and story of the well-reviewed Marty Supreme, I asked the duo about how they see the movie contributing to their own ambitions related to greatness and the legacies of their careers.

Chalamet’s acceptance speech at the SAG Awards earlier this year included a declaration of his ambitions to be one of the Greats, citing names like Viola Davis, Daniel Day Lewis, and Marlon Brando as inspirations. However, Chalamet says that Marty Supreme isn’t a realization of his pursuit of greatness but rather more like “running a lap,” while going on to praise various talent from the film. Safdie, meanwhile, reflects on his “hope for glory” akin to Marty, specifically the glory of connecting with people who go to see his movies:

“Jordan (Screen Rant): Timothée, you said at the SAG Awards that you’re striving for greatness. How do you believe Marty Supreme contributes to you achieving that goal?

Chalamet: I don’t know if it does. I look at this movie like running a lap and running a lap with Josh, who’s my director, fierce leader, and collaborator on this. You know, we had an amazing script. He brought an amazing team together.

Jack Fisk is an incredible production designer, Miyako [Bellizzi], our costume designer, Darius Khondji, the amazing cinematographer, a great cast. So, I look at it more like a creative experience that you can be in pursuit of doing something great, in pursuit of something that you hope resonates with audiences. But you never really know when you’re there. And certainly, a production schedule is so arduous, you don’t even know which way is up when you’re shooting.

Jordan (Screen Rant): Josh, similarly, how do you see Marty Supreme expanding on your legacy now, as a solo director, and moving forward?

Safdie: I think what I take from Marty, and what I see at least in myself and Marty, is, you know, the hope for glory. You know you could equate greatness and glory. And I think for many years when I was making Uncut Gems, and showing up at theaters sometimes and seeing two or three people, those two or three people were so important to me, and they still are.

I think about them every single time I come out into a theater, because the glory that I felt in connecting with people, it transcends. That’s the human experience. That’s what movies are all about for me, and in all honesty, that’s why Lenin said film is the most powerful art form, because it is.”

Alongside collaborator Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme is just one lap in Timothée Chalamet’s larger marathon in his pursuit of greatness in the film industry. However, as he emphasizes by listing out those who worked on the film, like the production designer, costume designer, and cinematographer, Chalamet credits the success of Marty Supreme to being the sum of its parts.

With the film’s team around him, Marty Supreme goes beyond just “the pursuit of doing something great” and the hope of the project landing with audiences for the Oscar-nominated actor. Chalamet elaborates that the difficult process of shooting a film like the upcoming A24 drama makes it complicated to assess whether it’ll later resonate with audiences, and we realistically won’t know the true impact of Marty Supreme on his legacy until long after the movie hits theaters.

Similarly, as Josh Safdie directs his first feature film on his own, he compares Marty Mauser’s pursuit of glory to his own hope for glory with his movies. However, rather than in the world of table tennis, Safdie aspires to the glory that comes with people going to see and connecting with the films he makes.

Timothee Chalamet on the phone in a hotel room in Marty Supreme

The context of that pursuit is now a bit different with Marty Supreme than it was with his most recent feature, Uncut Gems, which was made with Benny Safdie as the co-directing Safdie brothers. Uncut Gems became a substantial critical and commercial success in 2019, launching the Safdie brothers further into the spotlight after the comparatively more moderate success of 2017’s Good Time.

Not only is Marty Supreme his first directorial feature film without his brother, but the prospects of connecting with a much broader audience pool in theaters are significantly greater with the 2025 movie’s more expansive launch this month. As the enthusiasm for the film continues to grow with its release date approaching, the glory that Marty Supreme has already attained pre-premiere only makes the anticipation for Josh Safdie’s future projects and connections with audiences stronger.

Currently, Marty Supreme holds a 97% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which stands as the second-best of Timothée Chalamet’s movies (behind Lady Bird at 99%) and a career-best for Josh Safdie. While reviews only account for a portion of a film’s overall legacy and success, the overwhelmingly positive response ahead of its premiere is already indicative of an important reality connected to Chalamet and Safdie’s hopes for greatness: Marty Supreme is resonating and connecting with the people watching it.