The Universe According to Timothée
“My superpower is my fearlessness.”
Down the corridor, while a group of schoolgirls practices their tendus in mismatched leotards, Timothée Chalamet spends nearly an hour walking in circles. He experiments with how his feet fall, adjusts the swing of his stride, pauses, resets, and brings the tips of his long fingers together. He repeats this motion again and again until every step looks effortless.
We are inside a dance studio in Hell’s Kitchen, the same New York neighborhood where the 29-year-old actor grew up. Here, Chalamet is preparing for a challenge that has tested many performers before him — the role of a leading man promoting his latest film without losing authenticity.
For his upcoming project, Chalamet has crafted his own striking concept, described as a surreal fusion between a cadet march and a psychedelic show. It serves as his vision for the press tour of his film Marty Supreme.
At the center of this spectacle stands Chalamet, surrounded by a group of men dressed in black, each wearing a bright cadmium-orange Ping-Pong ball the size of a classroom globe on his head. This eccentric ensemble, which the actor calls his “pumpkin-headed foot soldiers,” will accompany him as he promotes the film across the country.
Just a night earlier, Chalamet had introduced them to an audience of forty-five thousand people via Instagram Live, teasing the movie’s Christmas Day release.
Author’s Summary
Timothée Chalamet turns film promotion into performance art, blending discipline, creativity, and surreal showmanship in his unique vision for Marty Supreme.