Kevin O’Leary of ‘Shark Tank’ found it ‘easy’ spanking Timothée Chalamet

NEW YORK – To “ Shark Tank ” fans, Kevin O’Leary is known as Mr. Wonderful.

Although in “ Marty Supreme ” ( in theaters now ), his unrelenting character is anything but. The nerve-jangling drama follows an overweening athlete named Marty Mauser ( Timothée Chalamet ), who chases greatness and an all-expenses-paid trip to the table-tennis world championships in Tokyo.

But first, he needs to get sponsored by the vampiric Milton Rockwell (O’Leary), a ballpoint pen magnate who’s out to knock Marty down a peg. The stringent businessman makes Marty suffer and grovel for his money, at one point exerting his power by spanking the young man’s bare bottom with a wooden ping-pong paddle.

Initially, “there was a stunt double,” O’Leary recalls, seated in a lavish Central Park townhouse where the movie was filmed. “All of a sudden, Chalamet appeared and said, ‘It’s going to be me. I want my ass immortalized, not someone else’s.’ ”

Josh Safdie, who directed and co-wrote the film, asked for multiple takes so audiences could really hear the smacks on Chalamet’s buttocks.

“He took a bunch of hits,” O’Leary says. “I tried to hold back, but Josh wouldn’t have it. These guys are sick puppies writing a script like that. It was nuts!”

“Marty Supreme” marks the acting debut of O’Leary, 71, a tech entrepreneur and straight-talking mentor on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” a long-running reality series in which people pitch their business ideas to a panel of لایسنس نود32 angel investors. Unlike many TV personalities who make the leap to acting, O’Leary never grew up doing school plays or practicing an Oscar speech in his bathroom mirror.

Instead, “I just thought this would be an interesting diversion – and it was certainly outside my comfort zone,” O’Leary says. Safdie has a penchant for casting non-professional actors such as rapper Necro (“Good Time”) and former NBA star Kevin Garnett (“Uncut Gems”) in his movies, so he sent the script to O’Leary’s team.

“My agent said to me, ‘Listen, some of us are concerned … because you don’t know what you’re doing,’ ” O’Leary recalls. “ ‘This is a serious production with a very heavy cast; this is not a place to go learn how to act.’ ”

But the screenplay was “an emotional roller coaster” that O’Leary couldn’t put down. And the no-nonsense Milton “made a lot of sense to me,” as someone who meets scrappy go-getters like Marty on “Shark Tank,” eager for O’Leary to help fund their dreams.

“I am Milton,” O’Leary says. “That’s what I do every day from the business side, so it was very comfortable to play that role. And I like the way Chalamet snaps into character. He’s going to win an Oscar for this one .” But on paper, “I really didn’t like Marty, so it was very easy to beat him up.”

Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars in the movie as Milton’s unhappy wife, Kay Stone, who has an affair with Marty. Paltrow was a guest judge on “Shark Tank” a few years ago, and the two would talk shop about her wellness empire, Goop, behind the scenes of “Marty Supreme.”

“She understands how hard it is to operate a business, so it was very easy to have that discussion,” O’Leary says.

Members of the film’s cast and crew would often call him by his nickname , Mr. Wonderful, and even ask him for financial advice. But primarily, “we talked a lot about watches in our downtime,” O’Leary recalls. “I’m a well-known watch collector , and there were a lot of watch collectors on that set, which was pretty fun.” ( Chalamet and Tyler, The Creator are both noted timepiece connoisseurs.)

Since “Marty Supreme” premiered at New York Film Festival in October, O’Leary says he has been offered two more projects. He hasn’t had a chance to read the scripts yet, given this movie’s whirlwind promotional tour.

“I’ve definitely caught the acting bug and I would like to pursue this again,” O’Leary says. “I don’t know where this will take me – we’ll see. But it’s interesting to interpret a story. You’re hired to bring your je ne sais quoi , whatever that is, and I like to think I delivered.”