Non-Actors in Film: Authenticity, Oscars & the Industry’s Allure
A table tennis enthusiast with a 30-year jail sentence to his name inadvertently brought an unexpected level of realism to the set of Josh Safdie’s new film, Marty Supreme, starring Timothée Chalamet. The incident, recounted by Chalamet, highlights a deliberate strategy employed by Safdie and fellow director Paul Thomas Anderson to populate their films with non-actors, prioritizing lived experience over traditional acting technique.
Chalamet recalled a scene where he was attempting to provoke an emotional response from an extra. “I’m really getting in the guy’s face and I’m really trying to gain him angry with me,” he said. After multiple takes failed to elicit the desired reaction, the extra revealed his past. “I did another take, and then the guy said, ‘I was just in jail for 30 years. You really don’t want to fuck with me. You don’t want to notice me angry.’ I said to Josh, ‘Holy shit, who do you have me opposite, man?’”
Safdie’s approach echoes that of Anderson, who recently cast James Raterman, a retired Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security Investigations special agent, in his film One Battle After Another. Raterman, discovered through a documentary series about the opioid crisis, embraced the role of Colonel Danvers, emphasizing the collaborative spirit fostered by Anderson. “He allowed me with the other actors to pull it off the cuff,” Raterman said. “He said, ‘Jim, when you read the script, don’t pay attention to the words on the page; pay attention to what is it that I demand you to do at that particular time.’”
The inclusion of non-actors is a long-standing tradition in cinema, dating back to early Soviet films and Italian neorealism. More recent examples include United 93, which featured real flight crew and personnel. Jennifer Venditti, the casting director for Marty Supreme, described the goal as “recreating the cinema of life,” blending the skill of professional actors with the “texture and mystery” of those without formal training. Venditti, who too cast Kevin Garnett as himself in Safdie’s 2019 film Uncut Gems, is nominated for a new Oscar category recognizing outstanding casting.
Marty Supreme, set in 1950s New York, features a diverse array of non-actors alongside Chalamet, including supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis, former basketball players George Gervin and Tracy McGrady, playwright David Mamet, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, and high-wire artist Philippe Petit. Catsimatidis, who ran for mayor of New York in 2013, said Safdie cast him as a “New York character,” utilizing his natural persona. “The lines that I used are things that I do in real life, so I wasn’t acting: that was me,” he stated. Petit, known for his 1974 walk between the Twin Towers, believes non-actors bring a “freshness” to a role, offering a unique perspective unburdened by traditional acting conventions.
Gervin, nicknamed “The Iceman” during his San Antonio Spurs career, plays the owner of a table tennis parlor in the film. He noted Safdie’s meticulous approach to casting, stating the director “was in control of what goes in and what goes out.” McGrady, via email, added that non-actors “bring something real” and “an authenticity that comes from people who’ve lived a different life.”
Paul Grimstad, a musician, writer, and Yale University professor, appears in both Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another. He told the New York Times that acting was “incredibly fun” and that his experience as a lecturer provided valuable preparation, citing the “verbal performance” inherent in teaching.
While the practice of casting non-actors can yield compelling results, it also presents challenges. Catherine O’Rawe, a professor of Italian film and culture at the University of Bristol, notes that the industry often struggles to support these “accidental stars” beyond a single project, lacking the infrastructure to nurture their careers. The initial acclaim can fade, leaving non-actors without the established networks and training of professional performers.