"I had ADD, so I played it a lot as a kid, and it takes an intense focus, and the frustration when you lose that focus is heightened, and the precision that it takes,"
"So I was trying to match that."
"It's fast, and it's a dialogue between two people in close proximity to one another."
Josh Safdie grew up playing table tennis with his father and played extensively as a child because of ADD, which made the sport's intense focus and precision compelling. Research into post‑World War II New York table tennis revealed Lawrence's Table Tennis Club and figures like Marty Reisman, who inspired the film's protagonist Marty Mauser. Ping‑pong suited a fleet‑footed, quick‑witted lead and matched a pattern of high‑IQ players who struggled in school. The sport's low prestige reinforced a story of solitary ambition and doubt. The game offered rapid, intimate exchanges that posed cinematic rhythm and translation questions.
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