“He wasn’t interested in doing the minimum": Diego Schaaf explains Timothée Chalamet’s extreme training in Marty Supreme

A24's Marty Supreme is creating Oscar speculation for Timothée Chalamet's performance. The film depicts Chalamet's character as a ping-pong hustler dreaming big. The movie demands the highest level of training and skill to perform the sport in the aforementioned movie. Timothée is not new to playing extensive characters that demand a higher level of precision. Previously, Chalamet learned the extreme skill of Guitar and Piano simultaneously in Call Me by Your Name (2017).

To play the character of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, he again picked up the guitar, learned harmonica even with vocal lessons. These two roles earned Chalamet two Oscar nominations.

Diego Schaaf, the film's table tennis instructor, praises Chalamet for his tremendous efforts. He used to play the sport in Switzerland but never competed professionally. Schaaf says,

"He was singularly dedicated to getting this to be the same quality as the rest of the movie"

Why were the extreme training methods needed for Marty Supreme?

MARTY SUUUUUUUUUPREME pic.twitter.com/8FdyxEPcbY

— Timothée Chalamet (@RealChalamet) November 11, 2025

Chalamet was not doing this impromptu; he started way back before Schaaf entered the scene. He secretly trained for this while also working on many projects, like The French Dispatch, Dune: Part Two, and more.

Diego Schaaf was impressed by the actor's first-hand knowledge of the sport. The film was set in the mood of the 1950s, so Chalamet's learning modern techniques for sport was not quite enough for the role.

Schaaf is an expert who worked on movies like Balls of Fury, Forrest Gump, and more. Diego's wife, Wei Wang, is also a U.S. Olympian who helped in the betterment of the performance. Schaaf quotes,

"We really dove into it last summer,. We had to bring the mechanics of the strokes to a world-class level from the 1950s, which is distinctly different from how the sport is played today."

The commitment towards the movie from Josh Safdie, Timothée Chalamet, and Diego Schaaf was so high that at one point, they decided to use a body double. The secondary character is a professional and would do great under pressure.

Initially, this was the idea behind the progress, but they were not able to find a guy with the same required skills and matching Chalamet's physical stature.

Chalamet showed his dedication to the extent that he remembered all the techniques and timings of the table tennis perfectly. Additionally, Schaaf says,

"Different styles have very different strokes, and he understood all of it. He wasn’t interested in doing the minimum. Even when he got it right, he’d say, ‘Let’s do it again."

Wang also closely watched and shaped the professional cuts that the movie needed to exhibit the 50s-style sport attire. Schaaf added,

"Timothée, being a dancer, he understood immediately how he needed to move, but we had to make that work within the context of relatively fast play."

How the plot needed a specific professional approach

The film contains another high-profile name, Tyler, the Creator. He also trained with Diego Schaaf and Wang at their club. Tyler's skill level was supposed to be at a much lower level, as per the film's needs.

But both scenarios were not the same; unlike Chalamet, Tyler had never hit a ball before. Schaaf says he was a sweetheart, smiled the whole time while practicing, and never complained. Diego quotes:

"It’s rare to find someone who’s literally never hit a ball. He loved it. One time he came straight from the airport, ran into the club and said, 'I’m going to buy myself a table!'"

Diego Schaaf also has a cameo in the film. He had never thought of that. He eagerly wanted the film to resonate with professional etiquette. When he was offered the role, he figured that he would be there anyway. Schaaf plays the umpire for the last match in the film, Marty Supreme.

The director had many issues apart from the movie being in the perfect timeline, as Chalamet gets a crazy eye infection due to wearing actual glasses to justify Marty's signature look.

Finally, Schaaf concludes by praising the sport and discussing the possible future of the sport. He pushes Marty's goal-oriented hunger and wishes to see more of this in more people. Schaaf concludes,

"I really hope this gives the sport the breakthrough it’s deserved. People don’t realize how many levels there are. You think you’re close to the top, and there are 30 levels in between. The better you get, the more you realize how little you know."

Stay tuned for more updates.