Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist cover the current issue of Variety, all to promote Challengers. While Variety interviews the actors, the piece is also about the strange journey this film has had for the past two years. What was supposed to be a more art-house drama about a tennis love-triangle has gotten the promotional rollout of a potential blockbuster, and that’s after producers pushed back the release date because of the strikes last year. I also learned something new: the screenwriter developed the script after watching the 2018 US Open women’s final, the disaster which unfolded between Serena Williams and chair umpire Carlos Ramos, where Naomi Osaka ended up winning her first major title. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Zendaya on filming the threesome scene: “The only reason I really remember is because Beyoncé came out with ‘Break My Soul’ that day. I was having a great day, like, ‘Y’all. Beyoncé’s single just dropped.’ That’s what I was focused on, to be honest.” Josh O’Connor: “We lost Zendaya for like a week. She was on set, normal, chatting with us. Then one day Beyoncé released something. They called ‘cut,’ and she immediately had headphones in. She was completely lost to the world.”

Zendaya on how this is more than a tennis movie: “It’s a movie, and it’s tennis, but it’s not a tennis movie. It’s much deeper. Tennis is just a metaphor for a lot of bigger sh-t. For power. For codependency. They’re using tennis as their device to get these things out of their system. It’s the only way they know how to communicate.”

Zendaya became tennis-obsessed though: “I’m watching tennis as we speak. I’m watching Wimbledon.” As Novak Djokovic triumphed over Andrey Rublev, she said, “I was not a tennis person before this. All I really knew was, like, Serena and Roger Federer. So I just threw myself in there. I’ve pretty much seen every video, every match that’s online. It became my thing.”

O’Connor on getting fit: “I find gyms incredibly tedious. I get bored very quickly. I always catch myself in the mirror, and I’m like, ‘You look so pathetic. You look rubbish holding your weights. And out of your depth.’ So I just never really lasted.” But he’s so built in “Challengers,” he felt proud to wear a sleeveless shirt in the final tennis match in the film. The competition and camaraderie motivated him to get in shape. “There’s a piece of equipment that measures how strong your abdominals are. And Zendaya had the best abs of the three of us by a long way. I remember me and Mike laughing, but we were also furious and desperately trying to improve our strength.”

Zendaya on the racial element to the script: “It’s very clear to her that she’s coming into a place of privilege and access that she clearly didn’t grow up with, so she enjoys f–king with them about it. All of her background is riding on her shoulders. It’s clear that she’s had to fight her way in, and is dealing with it on the daily, what it means to be a Black girl in that space. Tennis means more to her than it does to them; it’s not just something she decided to do because ‘I had the luxury of getting tennis lessons as a kid.’ This is it for her. This is what’s going to take care of herself and her family and the future. There’s so much riding on it.”

[From Variety]

As I read more about the film, it feels like there’s one big “tennis flaw” in the script – the idea that Zendaya’s Tashi would be this amazing young player and everyone knew she was on the verge of becoming a superstar, AND she was putting that on hold to go to Stanford. That… rarely happens. I don’t think that’s ever happened in tennis’s open era. Someone as good as Tashi would have turned pro at 16/17, if not before. As for Zendaya becoming tennis-obsessed… I love it. I love the idea that she’s watching all of the YouTube highlights videos and doing deep dives into Serena Williams and Justin Henin’s rivalry. Some people have suggested that Zendaya might have even used Jelena Ostapenko as an inspo for some scenes. I HOPE SO!

This week’s Variety cover story:

‘Challengers’ Heats Up: How Zendaya’s Star Power and a Sexy Love Triangle Could Give Gen Z Its Next Movie Obsession https://t.co/DLqK9sulZ7 pic.twitter.com/AKnOSJI2e5

— Variety (@Variety) April 24, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.