Zendaya ‘loved’ shooting three-way movie scene as she got ‘lucky’ with co-stars

Zendaya has opened up about her new movie Challengers, in which she stars as a former tennis prodigy in a love triangle with her husband and his rival

Zendaya at the Los Angeles Premiere of Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Challengers’ after party (Image: Getty Images for Amazon MGM Stud)

Zendaya has spilled the beans on her latest flick, revealing she was totally into filming steamy scenes and felt she got “lucky” to be teamed up with her hunky co-stars. The Hollywood A-lister, known for her role in Dune, dishes on playing Tashi, a one-time tennis whizz caught in a spicy love triangle with her hubby Art and his arch-rival Patrick, portrayed by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor.

The 27 year old actress, who’s off-screen romance with Spider-Man star Tom Holland is no secret, gushed: “Tashi is extremely driven. She’s a go-getter and she is totally ruthless. The intimate scenes were so good I loved it. I felt very lucky to be partnered with those guys.”

She added: “And whatever the moment, it always felt like they always had my back and I had theirs. We were so lucky to have a director in Luca Guadagnino who really encouraged us all to collaborate and to bring our own ideas. It was a really exciting creative process.”

Mike Faist as Art, Zendaya as Tashi and Josh O’Connor as Patrick in Challengers (Image: 2023 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

But when it came to serving up some serious tennis action, Zendaya confessed it wasn’t all smooth sailing, as hitting the gym isn’t exactly her cup of tea. She admitted: “How did I meet the physical challenges of the role? With great difficulty. I am not one of these people who love to work out. But Tashi is supposed to be a top athlete, so there was no getting around it.”

The actress jovially confessed to the Mirror: “Thankfully, I had an amazing group of people who helped and I learned a lot about air tennis especially and how to look like I know what I’m doing. We trained for something like six weeks, which was pretty tough. Hopefully, we did a good job and people won’t be too upset. But I’m not about to give up the day job, that’s for sure! Playing tennis was definitely the most challenging part of making Challengers.”

However, Zendaya, originally from California, insists that her latest film, Challengers, is more than just a sports drama, highlighting: “It’s a complicated, sexy and interesting character piece. When I read the script, I loved it. And even now, every time I watch the movie, I question Tashi’s decisions a little more. It’s one of those stories about the choices we make and their consequences. It’s fascinating as everyone will find themselves empathising with a different character. Everyone has their own idea of who the bad guy is.”

*Challengers hits UK cinemas on Friday, April 26.