This article contains spoilers for “Marty Supreme”.
It’s common for directors and actors who enjoy working together to repeat their collaboration across multiple films, but writer/director Josh Safdie snuck in a sneaky role in his hit table tennis comedy-drama “Marty Supreme” for actor Robert Pattinson, who previously starred in Josh and his brother Benny’s 2017 thriller “Good Time.” In fact, it was so sneaky that Pattinson had to lie a little about it in a Vanity Fair lie detector test video when asked if he would ever work with the Safdies again. His response is quite funny. During a chat at London’s BFI Southbank (via Variety), Josh Safdie revealed that he asked Pattinson to play a small role in “Marty Supreme,” even though it wasn’t exactly planned from the start.
According to Safdie, Pattinson voices the referee during the British Open semi-finals near the beginning of the film, a role that came about because Safdie and Pattinson were hanging out and Safdie realized he needed a British actor to voice the referee. Pattinson has the right accent (when he’s not acting weird for a role) and was seemingly totally on point. Chalamet may be the chaotic driving force behind “Marty Supreme,” but it’s fun to know that one of our greatest contemporary actors is also a part of Safdie’s ping-pong epic.
Robert Pattinson voicing the referee in Marty Supreme makes the movie even better
Look, it’s my opinion that Robert Pattinson automatically makes every project he touches better by the simple nature of being one of the best weird little guys in cinema (he’s over six feet tall, but little is a state of mind, okay?). From his more serious roles in films like “Good Time” to his absolutely bonkers but pitch-perfect performances in things like Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17,” Pattinson always understands the mission. Even though this means his performance in “Marty Supreme” is pretty subdued because Safdie didn’t need him to steal the show, it’s still a lot of fun. The director explained how this all happened to people at London’s BFI Southbank, saying:
“Nobody knows, but that voice – the announcer, the referee – is Pattinson. It’s like a little Easter egg. Nobody knows. […] He came over and looked at some stuff and I was like, I don’t know any Brits. So he’s the referee.”
It’s kind of funny that the first Brit Safdie thought to pose was someone as famous as Pattinson, but it’s also perfect given the sheer chaos that is “Marty Supreme.” Hopefully we’ll see Pattinson again in a Safdie film in the future, but for now his voice role is a treat.
