Acting debut
Sports star Boll stars in Hollywood film
Updated February 26, 2026 – 1:34 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Timo Boll is the most famous German table tennis player. Timothée Chalamet the upcoming superstar of cinema. Both can now be seen together in a Hollywood film.
Germany’s table tennis icon Timo Boll has joined the cast eight months after retiring. The 44-year-old has taken on a role in the Hollywood film “Marty Supreme”. The film, inspired by the story of table tennis player Marty Reisman, is nominated for nine Oscars and is celebrating its German premiere in Düsseldorf.
Filming in New York presented Boll with unexpected challenges. He played against Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet at a table tennis table and had to repeat five rallies perfectly according to the script. “The next day I had terrible muscle soreness,” Boll told the German Press Agency.
How did Boll’s film debut come about? Director Josh Safdie was looking for actors for the table tennis scenes who could realistically recreate the game. Safdie, himself a table tennis fan and Boll supporter, wanted Boll for the role and decided against casting. The German flew to New York in autumn 2024 to film the scenes. In the film he plays Vladimir Sebek, a table tennis player from Czechoslovakia, and had to learn the style of the 1950s to do so.
Boll, who topped the world rankings four times and won silver twice at the Olympics, describes Chalamet as very focused and draws parallels between the work of an actor and an athlete. “When he goes to the set and stays on the set – he doesn’t see anything to the right or left. Then he is extremely focused,” said Boll. “It’s similar to us athletes.”
Although Boll received an invitation from the actors’ union after filming, he is not planning any further film career. “I think it was my last film project. I don’t want to be an actor,” he said. Nevertheless, he is looking forward to the Oscars on March 15, even though he won’t be in Los Angeles. If the film is successful, Boll could adorn himself with it for the rest of his life, similar to Ralf Moeller with his role in “Gladiator”.
