's bizarre method acting hacks have been revealed after the star suffered a humiliating setback on his mission to become 'one of the greats'.
It took seven years to get Marty Supreme off the ground, during which time Timothee, 30, went to extreme lengths to master his role as table tennis player Marty.
Yet on Sunday, the American-French actor suffered a blip on his path to greatness as he lost out on the Best Actor award at the despite a strong start to his awards season campaign.
Timothee had had been bookies' favourite to take home the top prize until March 5, when his Variety interview with Matthew McConaughey went viral, in which he said he wouldn't want to work in ballet or opera, because 'no one cares about it'.
With mounting backlash and Oscars voting still open at the time, then became the frontrunner for his work in Sinners, resulting in Timothee suffering an own goal.
It was a miserable end to Timothee's seven-year campaign to master the role - during which time he insisted on having a ping pong table around him at all times.
Timothee Chalamet's bizarre method acting hacks have been revealed after the star suffered a humiliating setback on his mission to become 'one of the greats' (pictured in Marty Supreme)
On Sunday, the American-French actor suffered a blip on his path to greatness as he lost out on the Best Actor award at the Oscars despite a strong start to his awards season campaign
Speaking with Jimmy Fallon, Timothée explained he was dedicated to mastering the sport, revealing there was a 'six to seven year training process', after he first met with director Josh Safdie about the role in 2018.
'It was a lot of training,' he explained. 'It started during Covid and ping pong is a great thing.
'The gift of my life, the gratitude exercise. I live every morning to go "Wow. For some reason I'm getting the opportunity to work", why not go 10,000% hard.'
Previously speaking to the BBC the A Complete Unknown star said he would 'train as much as possible' in his downtime and with a coach.
This included bringing a ping pong table to the desert while filming Dune and practicing between takes on the set of Wonka.
'By the time the French Dispatch was coming out [in 2021], I was in a beautiful Airbnb on a cliffside for the Cannes Film Festival and I had a table with me... So I have a video of training with friends. It's like a gorgeous sunset.
'I think the responsibility in this movie, like in the Bob Dylan movie, if you were a Dylan fan or a guitar player, [is to make sure] that looks real to you on screen. Similarly here, if you're a ping-pong aficionado, that that looks believable to you.'
Grateful for his success in Hollywood's famously cutthroat industry, he added: 'There's worse things in life than having to learn how to play the guitar and play table tennis at a high level.'
He added: 'This is a movie about sacrifice in pursuit of a dream. And it's something I can relate to deeply.
Timothee also committed to the role by deliberately blinding himself with strong contact lenses that would blur his vision and leave him feeling 'dizzy', forcing him to wear his character's prescription glasses.
Explaining the reasoning, Timothee shared: 'From an actor's perspective, it makes you more impaired, but from an audience perspective, gives me these little beady eyes.
'But that perspective also enhances it. It got me into the world of Marty Reisman, who's living sort of a life of impairment.
'At risk of being pretentious, it's like if you gave an artist three colours instead of nine and said [do a rainbow].'
Even his speech at last year's SAG Awards for A Complete Unknown, was made with his role in Marty Supreme in mind.
During his speech, Timothee expressed his strong ambition and drive, telling his peers: 'I know we're in a subjective business, but the truth is, I'm really in pursuit of greatness.'
It took seven years to get Marty Supreme off the ground, during which time Timothee, 30, went to extreme lengths to master his role as table tennis player Marty (pictured on The Graham Norton Show in December while 'method dressing' on the promo tour
In 2024, Timothee's method acting was exposed on Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown by his co-stars, with the actor described as 'relentless' in his techniques
At the New York premiere for the film, Timothee sported a blond wig, beanie and gingham scarf, the exact same look Bob Dylan wore at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival
