Over the last few years, Jewish actor Timothée Chalamet has portrayed an eclectic cast of characters. He’s become interstellar Duke Paul Atreides in the “Dune” movies, the titular chocolatier in “Wonka,” a young cannibal in “Bones and All” and student revolutionary Zeffirelli B. in “The French Dispatch” — and that’s just to name a few.
Now, it looks like Chalamet will take on perhaps his most oddball role yet: Marty Reisman, the Jewish “wizard of table tennis.”
Yesterday, Variety reported that Chalamet has signed on to star in “Marty Supreme,” a new film from Safdie brother Josh Safdie. According to them, the film is inspired by the late pro ping ponger Marty Reisman, but is a fictionalized story.
Reisman, who was born in New York City on Feb. 1, 1930, is an icon of the table tennis world. Yes, he was decorated. Reisman won 22 major titles overall during his decades-long career, including two United States Opens and a British Open. But “The Needle,” as he was known, also had style, verve and, simply put, was a hustler. The 9-year-old who picked up the game while recovering from a nervous breakdown became the kind of player who wore Borsalino fedoras and flashy clothes and made (and lost) millions on games. His signature moves included measuring the net with a $100 bill before a match and breaking a cigarette in half from across the table. He both opened for the Harlem Globetrotters, playing ping pong using shoes as a paddle, and had “the greatest drop shot ever seen on the face of the earth,” according to table tennis expert Sir Harold Evans.
“I took on people in the gladiatorial spirit,” he once told The New York Times. You can see that gladiatorial spirit, eye-catching flair and needle-like skinniness in this video of 19-year-old Marty Reisman winning the 1949 British Open.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Chalamet has played a Jewish character on the big screen. In 2017, Chalamet portrayed French-Italian Jewish teenager Elio Perlman in “Call Me By Your Name” in what would be his breakout role. Another Chalamet film, “A Complete Unknown,” is currently in post-production; in that biopic Chalamet plays Jewish folk-rock legend Bob Dylan as he becomes a defining artist of the 20th century.
Here’s hoping we won’t have to wait too long to witness Timothée Chalamet become “The Needle.”
