“The tennis is the s*x, the s*x they’re all desperate for is on the court” - Zendaya, Josh O'Connor & Mike Faist on their upcoming 'Challengers' movie
Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist are set to play the main leads in the upcoming tennis-centric 'Challengers' movie. The trio recently opened up about their experience while shooting the film.
Written by Justin Kuritzkes and directed by Luca Guadagnino, 'Challengers' will release in 2024. The romantic sports comedy-drama follows the story of a Grand Slam champion who has to play against his wife's former lover on the Challenger circuit after a fall from grace.
Speaking about the movie to Empire, Zendaya, who plays the wife-coach Tashi Duncan, lavished praise on director Guadagnino. She's in awe of how good he's in finding "sensuality and desire" and how much he can convey with just glances.
“What Luca’s really good at is finding sensuality and desire,” Zendaya said. “There’s so much in just glances. The tension builds. Not having the release is a good thing sometimes.”
Josh O'Connor, who potrays the character of Patrick, equated the tennis in the movie to "s*x," saying that it's metaphor for what they are desperate for and a way for the characters to deal with tension.
“The tennis is the s*x,” O’Connor said. “Those moments are so s*xy. The film is dealing with the tension before and after. The s*x they’re all desperate for is on the court.”
Meanwhile, Mike Faist, who plays Art Donaldson, revealed that Luca Guadagnino knew nothing about tennis before signing on to direct the film and that he was more interested in the "bodies and sweat."
“He had no knowledge of tennis going into this,” Faist said. “And I think he had only a vague interest in certain tennis specificities. He was more interested in the bodies and sweat.”
"I'm stingy about tennis stuff, but it genuinely looks like the worst movie ever made" - Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle on 'Challengers'
Meanwhile, Taylor Fritz's girlfriend and social media influencer Morgan Riddle has shared her thoughts on 'Challengers,' saying that it looks like the "worst movie ever made."
The American added that she's not going to watch it, saying so in a Q&A session she hosted on Instagram a few weeks earlier.
"Im sorry, Im not even just saying this because Im stingy about tennis stuff, but it genuinely looks like the worst movie ever made?? I can't want to never watch it," Riddle said.
'Challengers' was initally set to release this year but has been pushed to 2024 due to the Hollywood writers' strike and has been rated R for explicit language and mature content.