Kevin O’Leary’s Supreme Bonkers Marty Speech Explained

Spoilers for “Marty Supreme” follow.

Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” is one of the best films of the year — a funny, thrilling and distressing comedy-drama, full of surprises. One of the biggest surprises is how good Kevin O’Leary is as Milton Rockwell, a wealthy businessman who enters the orbit of ping-pong hustler Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet. O’Leary is not an actor, but a real businessman who became famous on the game show. “Shark Tank”, where he used the nickname “Mr. Wonderful”.

Here I admit that I have never seen a single second of “Shark Tank”, so I didn’t know O’Leary, other than reading his name here and there in some articles. “Marty Supreme” was my first real introduction to the man, and I have to admit that he is legitimately great as Rockwell (note: O’Leary has said some… questionable things in real life, so I’m not commenting on him here as a person, but as an actor playing a role).

O’Leary plays a surprisingly large role in the film – it’s not just a cameo, but a supporting role in his own right. And the screenplay, by Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, gives the businessman-turned-actor a totally bonkers speech near the end of the film. We need to talk about it and what it could all mean.

In “Marty Supreme,” Chalamet’s Marty Mauser is a 1950s New Yorker with big dreams: He wants to become a table tennis star. Others scoff at the idea, but Marty is totally determined to make it a reality. Along the way, he crosses paths with Rockwell, who has built an empire via a pen company and is married to former actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), with whom Marty falls into an affair.

Rockwell, ever the businessman, senses opportunity when he meets the fast-talking Marty. But Marty is so stubborn that he blows up what could be a lucrative deal and ultimately has to crawl back to seek Rockwell’s help in the film’s final act. Rockwell agrees, providing money for Marty to participate in a rigged ping-pong match in China against Endo (Koto Kawaguchi), a famous player who beat Marty in a tournament near the beginning of the film.

Marty agrees to dive to win Rockwell’s money, but his pride ends up hurt and he demands a rematch – a real revenge. Rockwell is furious that Marty is double-crossing him, which leads to one of the film’s most memorable dialogues. As Marty prepares to play Endo once again, he tells Rockwell that he understands that he is once again missing an opportunity and that he will not get the millionaire’s money. Which brings us to the big, strange speech.

“Let me explain,” Rockwell said menacingly. “I was born in 1601. I’m a vampire. I’ve been around forever. I’ve met many Marty Mausers over the centuries. Some of them upset me, some of them weren’t straight. They weren’t honest. And those are the ones that are still here. If you go out and win this game, you’ll be here forever too. And you’ll never be happy. You will be Never Be happy.”

Marty laughs at this exchange, but the moment is so surprising that it struck me. First, we need to analyze what is being said here: Rockwell claims to be a vampire. Is he… literal? There is absolutely no indication of the supernatural anywhere else in the film, and yet the way the speech is written, with Rockwell mentioning a specific year (“I was born in 1601”), and the way O’Leary delivers it, with a devilish twinkle in his eye, gives pause that perhaps Rockwell is serious and that he really has East an immortal vampire.

Or he’s just a scary, menacing millionaire who tries to rattle Marty’s cage and emphasizes the fact that Marty’s ever-seeking nature will turn him into a metaphorical vampire. In fact, it is probably the most likely option here. And yet, the scene is so memorable, so charged, so oddthat it stays with you long after the end of the film. Maybe Milton Rockwell is full of bullshit. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s a blood-sucking vampire who’s been around for centuries.