Timothée Chalamet’s newest role may never appear on-screen

Timothée Chalamet has reunited with Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie for a surreal and deeply idiosyncratic feature in W Magazine. In this experimental collaboration, Chalamet steps into the shoes of a quintessential New York grifter with a niche ambition. Rather than chasing table tennis glory, this version of Chalamet is a street-level entrepreneur specializing in custom-modded gaming controllers.

This alternate-reality persona, dubbed “Shend,” hails from Brighton Beach, where he resides with his mother and a pet rabbit named Otter. By day, Shend works as a doorman, but his true vocation unfolds under the cover of night, selling modified hardware out of the trunk of his car.

The character is rooted in a surprising slice of reality. Long before achieving global superstardom, a teenage Chalamet actually operated a YouTube channel under the handle “ModController360,” where he showcased his handiwork for a digital audience. Shend exists at the intersection of fact and fiction—a cocktail of Chalamet’s own history and his latest cinematic transformation into ping-pong legend Marty Mauser.

“I’ve always found it fascinating to explore these divergent paths for Timmy,” Safdie remarked regarding the project. “Shend is a tribute to a younger version of him—a kid who saw a business opportunity in the gaming community and went for it.”

Beyond his hardware hustle, Shend is a devotee of the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card scene, spending his downtime at local card shops. Chalamet noted that the game’s diverse community resonated with him during his own youth in Midtown Manhattan, describing Shend as an embodiment of the “New York spirit”—someone who feels they belong nowhere and thus attempts to belong everywhere.

The W Magazine editorial is visually chronicled through shots of Chalamet in a blue Prada tracksuit, sporting a tight crop. The imagery captures the mundane and the manic: intense card battles, heated negotiations over the phone, and quiet moments of domesticity with his rabbit.

Safdie views this project as more than just a photo shoot; it’s a creative workshop. “This functions as a character test,” he explained. “Shend is a fully realized person now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up developing a screenplay around his life.”

The director’s affinity for Chalamet is summarized in his peculiar choice of contact imagery; Safdie revealed that Timothée is saved in his phone not as a headshot, but as a portrait of a large Angora rabbit. Outside of this whimsical experiment, Chalamet remains busy with high-profile projects, including the continued expansion of the Dune universe.

Source: Polygon