Molly’s Game | Who Is Player X?

Player X True Identity

Aaron Sorkin’s latest film ‘Molly’s Game’ tells the autobiographical tale of Molly Bloom. The so-called Poker Princess that ran underground poker tournaments attracting all types of individuals from Hollywood’s rich and famous to the Russian Mob. Unsurprisingly the movie sticks very close to reality and Sorkin even went so far as consulting Bloom throughout the screen writing process.

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One of the most intriguing aspects of the film is the identity of Player X. Whilst never specifically named in the film, there are several possibilities as to who it could be. On the surface Player X is a high profile Hollywood actor who does his best to derail Molly’s Game and shuns her for not acting upon his sexual advances. One of the boldest, most infuriating villains of the year – a baby-faced young movie star who belittles Jessica Chastain’s anti-hero Molly Bloom at every turn, he takes pride in destroying lives and eventually puts an end to Bloom’s high-stakes poker enterprise, forcing her to up sticks and regroup on the other side of the country.

Celebrity Fan Theory

Whilst within Molly’s book actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are heavily mentioned many have taken the inspiration for the Antagonist to be Tobey Maguire.

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In her memoir, Maguire’s name comes up a lot and not always in the nicest way. He was an avid player and responsible for bringing certain players to the table originally run by Molly’s former boss, nicknamed Dean Keith. The movie also implies that Player X had a lot of the power and brought heavy hitters in and that when Molly (Jessica Chastain) takes over the game it is his approval she needs to successfully pull off the coup. In Molly’s book, she claims that Maguire was integral to the setting up of her table and even lent her his own personal card shuffling machine to speed up hands.

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This detail wasn’t included in the movie or the fact that he allegedly asked her to bark like a seal in order to get a $1000 chip. Maguire was even nicknamed ‘Hannibal Lector’ by Molly due to his persona at the table. The film also showcases that Molly’s game was stolen by Player X, something the real Molly accused Maguire of. On the page, Bloom claims the actor started getting upset about the money she was making from tips so ended up telling his celeb pals to host their own game instead. In the film, Player X steals her game after Molly calls him out for running another player at her table and potentially ruining its integrity. “You’re so f*cked,” he tells her over the phone while she’s on her way to the empty hotel room that should have hosted her weekly game.

“It Could Be Anyone”

Aaron Sorkin says that Player X isn’t just one person, that he is an amalgamation of several celebrities who Molly wrote about. However, there seems to be another nod to it being Tobey; one of the insults Molly directs at Player X is calling him a “green-screen sh*t” and we all know how much Maguire was familiar with when he played Spider-Man.

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Maguire has yet to comment publicly about Molly’s Game.

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Thank You

Thanks very much for taking the time to check out my video on Mollys Game. I thought the film was really well acted and directed and definitely recommend that you go and check it out at the cinema. If you’ve already seen it let me know what you thought of the film and also who you think Player X is based on. You can check out more of my film theories at Deffinition.co.uk which is linked in the description and make sure you subscribe to my channel to check out all of my popular culture analysis. Thanks again. Take care. PEACE.