{"id":89796,"date":"2024-04-13T07:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T21:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=250812"},"modified":"2024-04-17T14:15:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T14:15:29","slug":"zendaya-challengers-interview","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/zendaya-challengers-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Zendaya: \u201cWe Say \u2018Challengers\u2019 Is ‘Codependency: The Movie’!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Zendaya as Tashi in Challengers<\/em>, directed by Luca Guadagnino, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film. Credit: Niko Tavernise \/ Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou don\u2019t know what tennis is\u2014it\u2019s a relationship\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is one of the first lines Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), the tennis wunderkind, \u201cgoing to turn her whole family into millionaires\u201d, coquettishly uttered to Patrick Zweig (Josh O\u2019Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) in Luca Guadagnino\u2019s sensual sports romance, <\/span>Challengers<\/span><\/i>. The boys (who were dubbed \u2018Fire & Ice\u2019 during their teenage years thanks to the dynamic doubles act that swept the tennis circuit<\/a>) don\u2019t know it yet, but this observation will be the tether that not only defines their careers but their lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Guadagnino\u2019s body of work is rife with references to quiet intensity\u2014see: the tension between the audience and Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s \u2018Elio\u2019 in <\/span>Call Me By Your Name<\/span><\/i> as the credits roll over the held frame of him weeping by a fireplace\u2013and overt intimacy. Let’s also not forget <\/span>that<\/span><\/i> infamous peach scene, as well as the profoundly carnal cannibal love story, <\/span>Bones And All<\/a>. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In <\/span>Challengers<\/span><\/i><\/a>, though, Guadagnino turns the tables on desire by putting power in the spotlight and asking: What does it look like to want to win at all costs?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Zendaya as Tashi and Josh O\u2019Connor as Patrick in director Luca Guadagnino\u2019s\u00a0Challengers. <\/em>Photo credit: Niko Tavernise \/ Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Centre to this story is the destructive m\u00e9nage \u00e0 trois binding Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach to her husband Art, the champion on a losing streak, and Patrick, the naturally gifted but washed-up ex-best friend of Art and ex-boyfriend to Tashi determined to come out on top. In a standoff between past and present, Art and Patrick face off (and face the consequences of their actions) in a \u2018Challengers\u2019 competition, a standalone tournament open to amateurs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With each backhand (both figurative and literal), a volley of extreme dominance unfolds before viewers. Off the court and in a private room in one of Sydney\u2019s luxurious hotels, this kinetic energy is palpable between the cast, too. \u201cWe say it’s \u2018Codependency: The Movie\u2019,\u201d Zendaya jokes. \u201cTennis is the metaphor we use to express that.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

For the 27-year-old, her character\u2019s strength derives from her control\u2014control over her future in the face of a career-ending injury and control over the people around her. (Tashi uses a $431 Augustinus Bader cream to smooth her ACL scar, if that\u2019s any indication of her rigour and obsession.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Challengers<\/em> press conference in Sydney, Australia. Credit: Caroline McCredie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trajectory of the trio\u2019s whirlwind relationship sets its course one night when Tashi surprises Art and Patrick in their hotel room for a bout of underage drinking, a seductive flex in her ability to manipulate people, and a lesson in the queer undertones of male dorm room antics. \u201cThat scene where there\u2019s a three-way kiss\u2026 puts them in this tornado that allows them to be incredibly nasty, act badly, act brilliantly, compete and push each other,\u201d Josh O\u2019Connor tells me during the press conference.<\/span><\/p>\n

I ask the actors\u2014all in the early stages of their lives but at the top of their game\u2014how they brought the competitive nature on set, embodying characters who stop at nothing to get what they want. O\u2019Connor responds on behalf of his cast mates. \u201cThe competitiveness is out of having an obsession with each other,\u201d he answers. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll three of them are desperate for connection, whether it’s Art seeking to restore the love in his marriage or Tashi to restore this three-way love affair. Likewise, the tennis to [Patrick] is the utmost connection. He’s always trying and searching for that with Art and Tashi. So, competitiveness comes secondary to that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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(L to R) Mike Faist as Art, Zendaya as Tashi and Josh O’Connor as Patrick in Challengers<\/em>, directed by Luca Guadagnino, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film.
Credit: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, where do the lines between \u2018the love of tennis\u2019 end and \u2018love\u2019 and \u2018tennis\u2019 begin? Ultimately, the two-hour run time is propelled by three factors: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross\u2019 techno score (not too dissimilar to the dirty drums featured on Nelly Furtado\u2019s \u201cManeater\u201d that plays in the film\u2019s trailer), Guadagnino\u2019s titillating visual language and each character\u2019s motivation to capture and captivate Tashi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zendaya plays Tashi\u2019s awareness of her \u201ctwo little white boys\u201d attempts to win her like a grand slam with masterful acuteness. But as Furtado sings and Guadagnino posits, you may \u201cwish you never ever met her at all\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“The obvious thing to do is read Tashi and be like \u2018She\u2019s unlikeable, she\u2019s too much, she\u2019s messy.\u2019 You judge her immediately. My job was trying to find her gooey centre.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile she’s ruthless, and I love [that], there\u2019s something to her. I think it’s grief\u2026 grief of a career and a life that she never got to live. Her one true love was always tennis and she\u2019s trying however she can to be close to it, to touch it, to do it. She uses people to get that feeling because she can’t do it on her own anymore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat becomes very real once her tangibility and closeness to tennis is threatened by the fact that her husband is ready to be done. These people are lifelines to her. They\u2019re holding herself up and keeping her alive. So, I think it was figuring out her nuance and not making her just bitchy because I don’t think she is. There’s a reason behind everything she does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mike Faist stars as Art and Zendaya as Tashi in Challengers.<\/em> Credit: Niko Tavernise \/ Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The latter quality can also be attributed to Zendaya. Undoubtedly one of Hollywood\u2019s strongest voices, you\u2019d struggle convincing anyone that this was the actress\u2019 first leading credit in a theatrical release, given the calibre of her filming credits. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a tactical ease to how Zendaya navigates her on-screen evolution, especially with <\/span>Challengers <\/span><\/i>marking the first time we see her play a mother. In person, the assumption of Zendaya\u2019s adolescent veneer as a former Disney child star (as she exhibited in her award-winning portrayal of \u2018Rue<\/a>\u2019 in<\/span> Euphoria<\/a>)<\/span><\/i> fades away. All that remains is a warm, captivating and commanding powerhouse of a woman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachel O\u2019Connor, a producer on <\/span>Challengers <\/span><\/i>who<\/span> was also in Australia to promote the film, had the privilege of witnessing this deft transformation first-hand. (She first met Zendaya on Marvel\u2019s <\/span>Spider-Man: Homecoming <\/span><\/i><\/a>when she was only 19). \u201cIt’s just incredible to see,\u201d O\u2019Connor told <\/span>GRAZIA <\/span><\/i>on the red carpet at the Sydney film premiere<\/a>. \u201cShe\u2019s as formidable, hardworking and talented behind the camera as a producing colleague as she is in front of the camera as a star,\u201d she added. Zendaya herself doesn\u2019t see it that way.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mike Faist, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor at the premiere of Challengers<\/em> in Sydney, Australia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c[Tashi] enjoys power in a way I don’t think I would ever be comfortable with, I have an uncomfortable relationship with that idea,\u201d she divulged. <\/span><\/p>\n

But where Tashi seduces to enact her destiny, Zendaya has a secret power of her own to command a room: fashion. (And her image architect, Law Roach<\/a>, of course.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Join GRAZIA on the red carpet at Challengers Sydney premiere and global opening.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c[Premieres and press conferences] can be daunting and scary, so for me, clothes are a way to create a little shield,\u201d she said of her signature \u2018method dressing\u2019 approach<\/a> to red carpet style<\/a>. \u201cI create a character so you’re not really yourself out there, you’re someone else. This time we’re gonna have fun with whoever this tennis lady is I’m creating.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On the \u2018tennis lady\u2019, Zendaya imparted a stern warning: “Don’t judge her.” <\/span>“I say \u2018don’t judge\u2019 because your opinions will change every time you watch it,” she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The fun part about the film is you never have the answers you want. That makes you question everything and question yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Challengers <\/span><\/i>will be released in Australian theatres on April 24. For more on the film, watch the trailer below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n