Timothée Chalamet stars as Marty Mauser, a young man who will do whatever it takes to become a champion table tennis player, in the new A24 film "Marty Supreme," and the actor said he not only relates to the driving passions of his character, but feels a real sense of authorship.
The two-time Academy Award nominee, 29, recently sat down with "Good Morning America" co-anchor George Stephanopoulos to discuss the film and explained how he personally identifies with certain aspects of the title character.
"He has a huge dream. And when you have a big dream in life, and you don't really have anyone supporting you when you're young, you're your best supporter," Chalamet said. "And that comes with all the positive qualities of self-belief and all the negative qualities that border on selfish."
"'No' is not in his vocabulary," he added. "He compromises with no one, including himself."
When asked how much he shared with his character, Chalamet answered, "A significant part of who I was in my early 20s or late teens, to the degree that I was deeply motivated to have an acting career."
"This story's representative of the fact that, you know, you can pursue a singular dream that doesn't have to be a selfish one, that could be a communal one, it could be becoming the greatest table tennis player in the world, but ultimately, if you get your butt in the seat ... the ride is worth it," he added.
Chalamet said his onscreen partner and romantic interest in the film, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, 53, poses a question to Marty in one powerful scene, the response to which Chalamet said is "maybe the line I relate to the most in the film."
"What do you plan to do if this little dream of yours doesn't work out?" Paltrow's character Kay Stone, a retired actress and socialite, asks Marty in the scene.
"That doesn't even enter my consciousness," Marty responds.
Chalamet said in real life, his "parents and loved ones wanted me to have plan B, C, and D" earlier in his career, and that "at 29 years old, I can look back and go, 'That was actually great advice,' you know?"
"But in the moment, I -- I really did feel like if all my energy's not going towards a plan A, I'm gonna end up doing something I don't wanna do in life," he said.
"I hope this movie, you know, it sounds cheesy, but can serve as that engine for -- I was gonna say for young people, but for everyone, and that [they know] it is OK to dream big," he added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Chalamet praised businessman and "Shark Tank" judge Kevin O'Leary, who stepped into his first-ever movie role for the film, playing Paltrow's onscreen husband Milton.
"He was fantastic in the movie," Chalamet said. "I wasn't worried -- what was being relayed to me was an unusual level of confidence that you see on 'Shark Tank.'"
He continued, "The biggest thing that can read as insincere from a non-actor -- or from an actor -- is a level of tension or anxiety. That's the first thing as a viewer, you go, 'This person looks like they're aware that there's a camera on them or they're being filmed.' And Kevin had none of that. I mean, Kevin was all swagger."
Chalamet also said starring alongside one of the industry's most accomplished actors, Paltrow, made him feel "naive -- like I was discovering Gwyneth Paltrow's talent. That is to say, I would act opposite her and I'd go, 'Wow. She's really incredible.'"
Prior to the movie, Chalamet said he played table tennis "casually," but he "worked for six years with a ping-pong coach" for the film.
"They got me to a level where I could make it look good and precise," he said.
Chalamet has been leading a whirlwind "Marty Supreme" press tour that has included an orange Ping-Pong ball blimp flying around the country, plenty of limited-edition Marty merchandise, including custom jackets, and even a Wheaties box.
When asked about the importance of doing things for the film in a different way, Chalamet told Stephanopoulos, "I can't lie to you, the principal part is ... a feeling of authorship."
"I look at everything these days in terms of perspective and authorship. So that's part of it. But the bigger, more important thing is I want the movie to succeed. I want everything to win," he continued.
As for what "success" looks like for Chalamet when it comes to the film -- whether it means tickets sold, rave critical reviews or something else -- he added, "The real truth is that 'Marty Supreme,' I feel confident to the degree that by next summer ... I'm confident I know what it's gonna be by next summer."
