Timothée Chalamet has reunited with Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie for a surreal and captivating editorial in W Magazine. In this conceptual feature, Chalamet steps into the shoes of a gritty New York striver with a very specific ambition. This time, however, he isn’t chasing ping-pong glory; he’s an enterprising salesman of customized gaming controllers.
In this “W-verse” alternate reality, Chalamet portrays “Shend,” a Brighton Beach local who lives with his mother and shares his space with a pet rabbit named Otter. By day, he works a shifts as a doorman, but his true passion comes alive at night when he sells modded controllers out of the trunk of his car.
Interestingly, this persona mirrors Chalamet’s authentic gaming history. Before he became a household name, the actor actually earned money building custom hardware, even operating a now-deleted YouTube channel under the handle ModController360. Shend exists as a meta-fictional blend of Chalamet’s own teenage hustle and the high-octane energy of his Marty Supreme character, Marty Mauser.
“I’ve always enjoyed imagining different trajectories for Timmy,” Safdie remarked to W regarding the collaboration. “Shend is rooted in a younger version of him—the kid who saw a financial opportunity in custom mod controllers on YouTube.”
Beyond his electronics business, the fictional Shend spends his leisure time immersed in Yu-Gi-Oh! duels at a neighborhood card shop. Chalamet reflected on how his own upbringing shaped this interest, recalling his pre-teen years spent at Midtown Comics and how the game acted as a social equalizer. For Chalamet and Safdie, Shend embodies a quintessentially New York spirit: the constant anxiety of not fitting in, which paradoxically drives a person to try and belong everywhere.
The feature is brought to life through a series of photographs showing Chalamet in character, sporting a cropped haircut and a sleek blue Prada tracksuit. The imagery tracks his daily life—from heated phone calls with customers to quiet moments at home with his rabbit.
View this post on InstagramFor those hoping to see Shend on the big screen, Safdie is already one step ahead. While the W Magazine piece is primarily visual and textual, the director considers the eight-hour shoot a successful “character test.” He hinted that Shend’s world might eventually be expanded into a proper screenplay.
As for the rabbit, Safdie revealed that Otter represents his personal view of Chalamet, whom he affectionately compares to a “giant Angora rabbit.” This comparison is so ingrained that Safdie even uses a portrait of the fluffy animal as Chalamet’s contact photo on his phone.
While we wait for a potential Shend spin-off, Chalamet is set to return to the big screen for the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve’s epic saga in Dune: Part Three, which is expected to be a massive IMAX spectacle.
Source: Polygon
