I coached Timothee Chalamet during seven-year training for new table tennis movie

Timothée Chalamet spent seven years training in table tennis alongside the best Britain has to offer in his pursuit of greatness.

The Hollywood star has been tipped to earn a third Oscar nomination for his role in Marty Supreme, set to be released on Boxing Day.

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The American actor plays Marty Mauser, who is loosely based on the life of ex-table tennis champion Marty Reisman in 1950s New York.

Timothee Chalamet prepares for new film

Chalamet’s over half-decade preparation for the role saw him train as much as possible while he worked on the set of films like Wonka.

The 29-year-old brought a ping pong table to the desert while filming Dune and teamed up with current stars to master the sport.

One of those is professional Josh Bennett, who will be playing at the World Championships in London next year and has a role in the film.

“I didn’t know about the previous seven years that he’d been training,” Bennett exclusively told talkSPORT’s Hawksbee & Baker.

“It was crazy to hear that, but yeah, as soon as I got out there, it was absolutely fantastic seeing him training.

“I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but hopefully when everyone goes and sees the film, they’ll see just how much his hard work’s paid off for him.

“Initially, I wasn’t out there for that purpose [to help him train” Bennett continued. “I was out there for my own potential little role, but I ended up giving some sort of small, little, tips and tricks here and there and helping with practising.

“He’d obviously already gone through so many years that there was a limited amount that was needed, so it was interesting.”

Marty Supreme release date UK

Bennett, who is also a human factors specialist at Jaguar Land Rover, has since expanded his varied CV with a cameo in Marty Supreme.

“I’ve got a little character, he teased. “I’m an English player.

“Obviously, again, can’t spoil too much, but hopefully you’ll see my face pop up in the movie a few times, which is pretty cool.

“I was lucky enough to go to an early screening, but I’m definitely going back again. I was just looking out for so many different things, and you don’t actually get to sit back and take it all in.

“I’m definitely going to watch it again, but it was just awesome, and as you can see, the reviews so far have just been fantastic.”

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While studying at the University of Nottingham, Bennett was also a professional table tennis player for a Belgian league 1 team.

Opening up on how he got into the Olympic sport, he explained: “I started as soon as I could pick up a bat.

“It’s a family-led thing, my mum and her two brothers all played, and then I’ve actually got two siblings as well.

“My older brother plays, and my younger sister, so as soon as I could pick up a bat, I basically didn’t have a choice, the bat was in my hand.

“Ever since then, I’ve been training and practising and playing all sorts of competitions, fortunate enough as well to obviously play abroad in some international tournaments representing England.

“The opportunities that table tennis has given me has just been fantastic.”

World Table Tennis Championships 2026

Bennett hopes Marty Supreme helps table tennis experience the same boom chess did from Netflix’s ‘The Queen’s Gambit’.

The release of the Hollywood smash couldn’t be timed better for the sport, ahead of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships.

“It’s actually been a hundred years since the UK has hosted the world championships,” Bennett explained live on talkSPORT.

“The first one was back in 1926, and that was actually the first ever world table tennis championships.

“Then, coming this April-May, we’ve got the world team table tennis championships back in London, so I’m going to absolutely be there.

“It’ll be fantastic to watch, and hopefully with the film coming out, it might get a few new people into the sport and get them along to come and watch the worlds as well.”