NEW YORK – Garrett Hermann was walking down the boardwalk in Coney Island one day when he was stopped by a casting agent who asked if he would be interested in being in a movie that took place in the 1950’s, stating he had the “right look” for the part.

The movie was Marty Supreme — the new blockbuster hit starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Odessa A’zion about a fictional table tennis player trying to make it big. 

After auditioning in New York City, Hermann spent a day shooting his scene in Goshen, NY with legendary director Josh Safdie (who Hermann calls a “super cool and nice guy”). 

The scene depicts A’zion’s character stopping at a gas station to inquire about a lost dog. Hermann plays the gas station attendant, working on a truck as he speaks a few lines interacting with A’zion. 

The scene was shot on Big Island Road in Goshen.

Hermann, who lives in Coney Island and works as a project developer for a renewable energy company, had never done anything like this before, noting his only acting experience as “being in a few Christmas church plays.” 

On the day of shooting Hermann got his own trailer, and the wardrobe and hair and makeup team made him look like a 1950’s character, complete with fake grease and gas from the gas station. When he was done, he says Safdie gave him a pat on the back and said ‘Good job.’

The 28-year-old Callicoon native went to see the movie at Union Square, where it came out weeks before its national release, and during the Christmas holiday saw it in Rochester with his entire family, who cheered him on. 

Hermann, who is a 2015 alum of Sullivan West Central School, is the son of Chris and Jennifer Hermann of Callicoon.

It turns out the movie has another local connection—with a scene being filmed in Hancock, NY. 

Crews descended upon Fox Bowling Center where they transformed the historic bowling alley into a film set, taking great care to make sure everything was in the 1950’s time period. 

Owner Bill Gleim said the scout location team was looking around upstate New York for vintage bowling alleys. After it was confirmed they would use Fox, they were there for 27 days to complete the transformation, with only 12 hours of shooting.

“What they can do in such a short time was incredible,” Gleim said. 

Gleim and his entire family, as well as other locals (including Hermann’s Sullivan West friend Chris Scott), are background actors in the scene, which depicts Chalamet and rapper/actor “Tyler, the Creator” as hustlers at the ping pong table. 

After Christmas the bowling center hosted a 1950’s themed party to celebrate the movie’s release, and party-goers took pictures with the ping pong table used in the movie. 

Gleim, whose family has owned the bowling alley since 1973, said, “It was one of the coolest things that’s happened here.”