Tyler, The Creator has been a paragon of creativity in his career, going from rapping and producing to designing clothes and creating TV shows. But nearly 15 years after his debut, there’s one arena he’d had yet to step into: acting in films.
That changes this Christmas, as Tyler makes his film acting debut alongside Timothée Chalamet in Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, which is VERY loosely based on table tennis icon Marty Reisman. A24 dropped the trailer for the film today, giving us our first glimpse of the film’s cast and plot set to Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” as well as Tyler (billed here by his real name, Tyler Okonma) in his first major role.
The film is described as a sports adventure comedy-drama, following Chalamet’s Marty Mauser as he works to become a star table tennis player. Hijinks ensue, including some that seem wildly out-of-place for this kind of story, but hey, it’s a Safdie movie. You sort of have to expect things to go a little off the rails. Tyler appears to be one of Marty’s rival players, but there’s also a bit where they share some smiles. The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, and Kevin O’Leary.
Tyler’s good buddy, ASAP Rocky, is also making his own forays into film this year, facing off with Denzel Washington in Highest 2 Lowest, out this Friday. You can watch the trailer for Marty Supreme above.