Audiences flocking to cinemas on Christmas Day for the premiere of Marty Supreme, the new Timothée Chalamet vehicle, will be watching a performance that almost never happened. Kevin O'Leary, the globally renowned entrepreneur and Shark Tank star, has revealed he nearly passed on the project entirely by accident, almost leaving his script to gather dust.
The Script That Nearly Got Away
In an interview with the Daily Mail, O'Leary confessed that he first received the script roughly a year ago. 'I first got the script about a year ago,' he stated, 'then I forgot about it.' The document was sent via email as a PDF. Being at his lake house at the time, O'Leary drove into town to have it printed at a local shop, intending to read it on his dock with a pencil to make notes. However, the script was left on a bar and 'fell off my radar screen.'
The Hollywood fates, it seems, had other ideas. By pure chance, a guest at the lake house picked up the forgotten script early one morning after a long night. He was instantly captivated. 'By the time I got up at 9:30, he was still flipping the last pages,' O'Leary recalled. The guest's emphatic reaction was: 'Kevin, have you read this f****ing thing? This is the most insane story I've ever read. The guy who wrote this is a very sick person.' This random endorsement from a friend who knew nothing about the project piqued O'Leary's interest.
Being Cast as the 'Real A**hole'
Despite the compelling recommendation, O'Leary remained hesitant. His uncertainty was short-lived after a conversation with director Josh Safdie, known for Uncut Gems. Safdie was brutally direct about why O'Leary was perfect for the role of Milton Rockwell, one of America's richest men in 1952. 'Look, let's just clear the air on this first,' O'Leary remembers Safdie saying. 'We've been talking to a lot of people about this role and we need a real a**hole for it and you're it.'
This assessment was later echoed, albeit more critically, by a New York Magazine review published on Wednesday. The critic wrote, 'It brings me little pleasure to inform you that Kevin O'Leary, or Shark Tank's Mr. Wonderful, is excellent in Marty Supreme.' The review noted his lack of professional acting experience but conceded it worked because he was essentially 'playing himself. Which is to say: a fat-cat entrepreneur and bona fide jerk.' O'Leary appears to have taken no offense, agreeing with the core assessment that his public persona was precisely what the role demanded.
Overriding Advice and Stepping into Character
Taking the role was not a straightforward decision. O'Leary's own talent agency advised him against it, warning of the risks to his carefully built brand. 'They said, "Kevin, we built a pretty big franchise for you... We're not all 100 percent behind this idea of you taking a scripted role, because the risk is you're going to s**t the bed,"' O'Leary revealed. He pushed back, insisting that to keep life interesting, he must attempt endeavours outside his 'comfort zone.'
Months later, he found himself on set opposite method actor Timothée Chalamet, preparing for his first scene. O'Leary described Chalamet's intense process: 'We talked for a couple of minutes... Then Chalamet gets up, walks about 20 feet, doesn't talk to anybody, comes back and boom. He's in character.' This transformation made O'Leary's job easier. 'He's not Timmy Chalamet anymore. He's Marty Supreme. And then it was very easy once he's the kid, and I'm Milton, to crap on him, because he was an arrogant little a**hole.'
O'Leary remains unabashedly unorthodox about his foray into acting. 'I don't know what the rules of acting are,' he said. 'I don't care. I've never taken acting lessons. I probably never will. I'll let the critics decide whether I s**t the bed or not.' Based on early reactions, it seems the risk paid off, potentially unveiling a surprising new career avenue for the Shark Tank star just in time for the film's Christmas Day release.
