Is ‘Marty Supreme’ bombing at the Baftas a bad omen for Timothée Chalamet?
In Marty Supreme, Timothée Chalemet’s Marty Mauser won’t let anything stop him from becoming a ping pong champion, and in real life, it started to feel like this drive for success was rubbing off on Chalamet, who admitted to wanting to be ‘one of the greats.’ Yet, at last night’s Bafta ceremony, Chalamet won nothing.
In fact, one of the ngiht’s biggest shocks came when Marty Supreme failed to win a single award despite its 11 nominations. The film, directed by Josh Safdie, has been vying for wins in all of the major categories this awards season following widespread acclaim from critics, and with Chalamet bagging a Golden Globe – among other awards – for his performance, it seemed inevitable that he’d take home a Bafta, too.
It was newcomer Robert Aramayo who came out on top for his role as John Davidson in the British film I Swear, though, beating the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B Jordan, and Ethan Hawke. Chalamet sat in the audience alongside girlfriend Kylie Jenner, looking every bit the Hollywood power couple, likely expecting another celebration for the actor’s transformative and obsessive performance as Mauser, only for a relatively unknown Brit to beat him to the post. Is Chalamet now in danger of walking away from the Oscars empty-handed, too?
Historically, the winner of ‘Best Actor’ at the Baftas typically wins the same award at the Oscars. This has been the case for almost 15 years straight, with only two exceptions to be made – Brendan Fraser winning an Oscar for The Whale while Austin Butler took the Bafta for Elvis, and Matthew McConaughey getting an Oscar for Dallas Buyer’s Club against Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Bafta win for 12 Years a Slave. However, Aramayo hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar, so Chalamet’s chances of scoring Academy Award success aren’t totally impossible.
Of course, he’s got stiff competition from the likes of DiCaprio, Hawke, Jordan, and Wagner Moura, but considering that he has already won a Golden Globe for Marty Supreme, there’s still a strong chance that he could have this one in the bag. Chalamet’s campaign to win his Oscar – which comes after two previous nominations for Call Me By Your Name and A Complete Unknown – has been relentless, and he hasn’t hidden the fact that he completely poured himself into the role.
Chalamet wore contact lenses that he didn’t need so that he could wear Marty’s signature prescription glasses, while he extensively studied the art of ping pong, becoming so dedicated to the sport that he played it no matter where he was. Beginning his transformation into Marty Mauser as far back as 2018, the actor had a ping pong table brought to various movie sets so that he could become a pro. He needed to be as dedicated as his character.
And, without a doubt, he gave an incredible performance as a result. Audacious, selfish, and ruthlessly determined, Marty is far from perfect, but Chalamet brings so much life to this character who, on paper, we probably wouldn’t want to give the time of day.
From the moment Marty Supreme was released, Oscars buzz circulated around Chalamet’s name, but with only a few weeks until the ceremony and absolutely no Baftas to show for Marty Supreme, I’m sure the actor isn’t feeling as confident as he was before last night.
But there’s still every chance that he could win – this doesn’t have to be a bad omen. At the end of the day, history can say one thing, but patterns don’t always follow through. Chalamet could very likely swipe that ‘Best Actor’ crown he has longed for since he began performing, although, with the success of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another in the ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’ category, maybe DiCaprio will snatch the prize from him.
At this moment in time, the winner of the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ seems incredibly uncertain despite Chalamet once being the frontrunner. We’ll just have to wait and see if Marty wins big like he does in the film.
