‘Shark Tank’ host Kevin O’Leary, who recently appeared on ‘Marty Supreme,’ cheers on co-star Timothée Chalamet at the 98th Academy Awards. Ahead of Sunday’s awards ceremony, O’Leary spoke to Variety and CNN on the red carpet and defended Chalamet from criticism over recent comments that ballet and opera are dying arts.
“He’s a really great guy,” O’Leary told Variety. “I bet Carsi walking in here $1,000 that he would win, because I know the voting stopped long before that controversy happened. That kid is a great kid. He took a swipe at it and, by the way, gave the Opera House and Ballet a lot of publicity.”
Josh Groban, who will be performing at the Oscars ceremony, spoke about the importance of classical art: “At a time when everyone is trying to tell us how different we are and how angry we should be, we need art that reminds us of who we are as humans and who we are as humans. We need these art forms to bring us together.”
“I think the fact that[Chalamet’s comments]inspired people to talk about and celebrate these categories of art just happened to have a positive effect,” Groban said. “We’ve all said things, he’s said things to a lot of people, and I’m not going to add to that. So I’m just going to say we should support those arts 100 percent.”
O’Leary also said of his role in the film: “I always think you should step out of your comfort zone as often as possible, because you’re training your brain, which is the most important muscle in your body. It was really fun. I was working with A-listers like Gwyneth, and Timmy was amazing. Even my agent said, ‘Don’t do that. You don’t know how to act.'” I said, “Why don’t you try it?” I think I’ll try it at least once a year from now on. ”
The venture capitalist also revealed that by the end of filming the scene in Marty Supreme where O’Leary’s character hits Chalamet with a ping-pong paddle, Chalamet’s “butt was glowing red.”
“There was a stunt rear-end,” O’Leary said. “But he stood up at 3:45 a.m. and said, ‘I want this to be mine.'”
Chalamet was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Marty Moser in Marty Supreme, and was nominated for Best Picture as a producer. “Marty Supreme” was nominated for nine awards, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
