Timothée Chalamet is channeling his teenage years as an aspiring Xbox 360 controller modder to fuel his performance as a gritty table tennis player in the upcoming film Marty Supreme, hitting theaters this Christmas.
Channeling the Hustler Spirit
While Chalamet is currently a global superstar thanks to blockbusters like Dune and Wonka, director and co-writer Josh Safdie saw a different side of the 29-year-old actor. To capture the essence of Marty Mauser—a scrappy ping pong prodigy battling against the odds—Safdie encouraged Chalamet to reconnect with the ambition he displayed as a young entrepreneur on YouTube.
“Josh was always talking about how I modded controllers on YouTube growing up,” Chalamet shared in a recent interview with the BBC. “He wanted me to tap into that part of me. The hustler part. The swaggerful part.”
The Origins of ‘ModdedController360’
Before his rise to Hollywood fame, a teenage Chalamet operated a niche YouTube channel in 2010 called ModdedController360. The channel featured the future star showcasing his custom-painted Xbox 360 gamepads. While the official channel has since been removed from the platform, archived clips remain, including a notable video where a faceless Chalamet proudly displays a “sexy” red tiger paint job.
Reflecting on the venture in 2021, Chalamet admitted to the DIY nature of his early career: “I had a YouTube channel people found. And I used to paint-mod controllers—I did three—and I spray-painted them and opened them up, and I would charge people $10.”
A Modest Startup with Modern Value
The business venture didn’t exactly skyrocket to massive success at the time, with Chalamet noting he only completed three jobs for a total profit of $30. However, the irony of his early hustle is not lost on fans today. Given his current status as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors, any surviving controller from those three original clients is likely worth significantly more than the $10 he charged back in 2010.
