Robert Pattinson's Secret Marty Supreme Role, Explained

This article contains spoilers for "Marty Supreme."

It's common for directors and actors who enjoy working together to repeat their collaborations across multiple films, but writer/director Josh Safdie snuck a sneaky role into his hit table tennis dramedy "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 fib about it a little bit on a Vanity Fair lie detector test video when asked if he would ever work with the Safdies again. His response is pretty funny. In a conversation at London's BFI Southbank (via Variety), Josh Safdie revealed that he had Pattinson do a small voice role in "Marty Supreme," although it wasn't exactly planned from the beginning. 

According to Safdie, Pattinson voices the umpire at the British Open semifinals near the beginning of the film, a role that came about due to Safdie and Pattinson hanging out and Safdie realizing he needed a British actor to voice the umpire. Pattinson has the right accent (when he's not doing a weird one for a role) and was apparently totally game. Chalamet might 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.

Look, I'm of the opinion that Robert Pattinson automatically improves every project he touches by the sheer nature of just being one of cinema's best weird little guys (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 perfect performances in things like Bong Joon Ho's "Mickey 17," Pattinson always understands the assignment. While that means that his performance in "Marty Supreme" is pretty understated because Safdie didn't need him to steal the spotlight, it's still a lot of fun. The director explained how it all happened to the folks at the London BFI Southbank, saying: 

"No one knows this, but that voice — the commentator, the umpire — is Pattinson. It's like a little easter egg. Nobody knows about that. [...] He came and watched some stuff and I was like, I don't know any British people. So he's the umpire."

It's pretty funny that the first British person Safdie thought to ask was someone as famous as Pattinson, but it's also perfect given the pure chaos that is "Marty Supreme." Hopefully, we'll get to see Pattinson star in a Safdie flick again in the future, but for now, his vocal role is a nice treat.