Nobody loves pingpong like Susan Sarandon loves pingpong.
The actress’s obsession is on full display in the new movie “Ping Pong Summer,” in theaters and on demand this Friday. The 1985-set comedy, which premiered at Sundance, tells the coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old boy who loves the game. He crosses paths with Sarandon, who stars as the mysterious town weirdo who is also — what else? — a pingpong champion.
One can only imagine the delight the 67-year-old Academy award-winning actress must have felt when she got her hands on the script.
The “Thelma & Louise” star, who will appear opposite Melissa McCarthy in next month’s “Tammy,” first went public about her favorite sport back in 2009. That’s the year she and her partners opened a pingpong club, SPiN, in the Flatiron neighborhood after Sarandon attended a pingpong party hosted by one of her business partners, Franck Raharinosy. (The actress is now reportedly dating another of the partners, Jonathan Bricklin, 37.)
“I think that Susan got very intrigued by our concept of pingpong parties and the super diverse group of colorful characters that were attending those,” Raharinosy tells The Post. “She loves the fact that it is an activity where women can easily win against men, and kids also can compete with adults.”
Now, there are SPiN locations in Los Angeles, Dubai and Toronto. Sarandon frequently advocates for the sport, and in 2012, she and SPiN donated $100,000 worth of pingpong equipment to make it a sport in New York schools, according to Raharinosy.
So at this point, Sarandon must be a champion, right? Turns out, she’s not exactly a pro.
“I’m not a competitive person, so I’m not one of those people who gets hooked on something and plays it constantly,’’ she told the Guardian last year. “So I’m just not very good.”
Sarandon’s stats
Celebrity she’s beaten: Jimmy Fallon
Favorite style: That of Swedish player Jan-Ove Waldner, known as “the Mozart of table tennis”
Favorite player: Alex Lipan, a tween NY champ
Amount of her personal money she spent on pingpong equipment for schools: $95,000
Amount she put her billiard table up for — on Craigslist — because it’s not pingpong: $3,000
Number of SPiN locations: 4