Brighton Beach, New York – Actor Timothée Chalamet has been developing a new character, Shend, a 30-something New Yorker navigating a life steeped in both aspiration and the realities of everyday existence. The character, born from a collaboration with filmmaker Josh Safdie, is being explored not within the confines of a traditional film shoot, but as an ongoing, improvisational performance documented for a feature in W Magazine.
Shend is portrayed as a resident of Brighton Beach, a neighborhood in Brooklyn long known as a haven for Eastern European émigrés. He lives with his mother and shares his cramped apartment with Otter, a large gray rabbit. The character’s life revolves around customized gaming controllers, Yu-Gi-Oh! card games, and a persistent, if somewhat elusive, dream of success. A key element of Shend’s personality, as revealed in the W Magazine piece, is his reliance on the presence of his rabbit for creative focus. “Because I can’t do my best work if my rabbit’s not close!” Shend exclaims during a phone call, a line improvised as part of the character’s development.
The genesis of Shend appears to be rooted in Chalamet and Safdie’s shared experiences and observations of New York City life. Safdie described Shend as being inspired by someone Chalamet knew as a child, a figure involved in modifying and selling gaming controllers online. This detail speaks to a broader theme of ambition and the pursuit of unconventional livelihoods within the city. The character also draws parallels to Marty Mauser, a role Chalamet previously played in Safdie’s film Marty Supreme, but with a distinctly contemporary edge.
“Shend is a very New York guy,” Chalamet explained, noting the character’s similarities to Mauser but emphasizing Shend’s status as a more modern outsider. The creative process, according to Safdie, prioritizes improvisation and organic moments, allowing the character to evolve naturally. “What I loved about working on Marty with Josh is he is in this level of mastery where he knows he can be totally reliant on improvisational feelings, or naturalism,” Chalamet said. “Josh knows if there’s too much fidelity to the script, the magic can be lost.”
The collaboration between Chalamet and Safdie extends back to 2017, when they first met at the premiere of Safdie’s film Good Time. Safdie, recognizing Chalamet’s unique presence, nicknamed him “Timmy Supreme” and envisioned a future collaboration. That collaboration materialized with Marty Supreme, a film that garnered nine Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe win for Chalamet. The development of Shend represents a continuation of their artistic partnership, characterized by a willingness to explore unconventional characters, and narratives.
The character’s creation was sparked by Safdie’s wife discovering a 1974 autobiography of table tennis legend Marty Reisman. This discovery led to six years of development for Marty Supreme, and ultimately paved the way for the more spontaneous creation of Shend. The process of bringing Shend to life involved a significantly shorter timeframe, described by Safdie as “two or three conversations,” highlighting a shift towards a more intuitive and improvisational approach.
Safdie sees Shend as embodying a particular vulnerability inherent in the pursuit of dreams. “Filmmaking is chasing a life that doesn’t exist,” he stated. “But when you can create life or capture life, or at least how it feels, that’s the beauty of movies.” He further described Shend as being at a crossroads, torn between the allure of fantasy and the demands of reality.
The character’s unusual attachment to his rabbit, Otter, also reveals a deeper layer to Shend’s personality. Safdie revealed that the idea of the rabbit stemmed from a long-held image he had of Chalamet as an “Angora rabbit,” a playful observation that ultimately found its way into the character’s development. This anecdote underscores the deeply personal and collaborative nature of the creative process between the two artists.
The ongoing exploration of Shend, while not tied to a specific film project at present, suggests a potential for future development. Safdie hinted at the possibility of writing a screenplay centered around the character, acknowledging that Shend’s story is still unfolding. For now, Shend exists as a living, breathing character, brought to life through Chalamet’s improvisational performance and Safdie’s directorial vision, offering a glimpse into the complexities of contemporary New York City life.
