Celebrity Matchmaker Susan Trombetti Sets Record Straight On ‘The Materialists’ And The Realities Of Matchmaking

With its high-gloss cast and sharp-edged portrayal of luxury dating, “The Materialists” imagines the matchmaking world as a blend of glitz, scandal, and high-stakes romance, but according to celebrity matchmaker Susan Trombetti, the film’s version of her industry is more fiction than fact.

Trombetti, whos spent years pairing A-listers in Hollywood through her company, Exclusive Matchmaking, says the truth is far less glamorous — and far more emotionally complex — than the champagne-fueled fantasies depicted on screen by stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal.

“Being a matchmaker isn’t as glamorous as the movie portrays,” Trombetti says. “No one is trotting around town from one party to the next. There is what I like to call the ‘sexy allure’ to the job that attracts people in masses to the industry, but nothing is that glamorous.

Trombetti says that while she does get to attend Oscars parties and movie premiers, “that’s not the norm for most matchmakers.”

“I work with a lot of truly incredible people, but the glamour along with the champagne and celebration cakes that the movie portrays when someone gets engaged doesn’t exist. Sorry to burst your bubble!” she says.

Behind the scenes, she says, the real work is deeply personal and often exhausting.

“The movie doesn’t show the emotional labor and hand-holding that goes on in finding a match, which does cause burnout for a lot of matchmakers. Fortunately, I have a team and am very selective about the clients I take,” she says.

“People are letting you in on their deepest, darkest secrets and you have to help them with that and act as a therapist and emotional support person at times without blurring the lines. It’s real! It’s intense. You feel their pain. Don’t be an empath,” she warns.

“People are that picky and the older they get, the longer their list of wants are as if they are ordering off a menu. Helping them distinguish between needs and wants while keeping them grounded in reality is an art,” she says.

She also pushed back against some of the more “absurd” plot points in the film, calling them not just unrealistic, but harmful.

“The idea that sexual assault is commonplace in matchmaking is ridiculous,” she says. “I have never heard of it happening, and if it has, it must be rare. That was so offensive and hurtful to the industry.”

As for the trope of men undergoing limb-lengthening surgery to meet womens height expectations? Trombetti says that might make for cinematic shock value, but it doesnt hold up in real life.

“We have to turn some clients down that demand men are 6 feet and over. Its not realistic,” she says. “Lets not forget, some of Hollywoods leading men arent 6 feet tall — think Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney. No one is turning them down.”

And if youre imagining stalker-level obsession from matchmakers desperate to close a deal, think again.

“No one is stalking clients. They just come to you. We would fire them,” she says. “Our matchmakers aren’t cynical about love either. Most of them are drawn to the industry out of a sense of helping people because they believe in love!”