The new movie Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, had its premiere in Rome on Monday. Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist star in this film about love, relationships and tennis.
Challengers follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a young tennis player who has to stop playing due to an injury. She becomes the coach of her husband Art (Faist). Tashi’s ex-boyfriend Patrick (O’Connor) is also a tennis player, setting up a love triangle.
There are intimate and emotional scenes between the characters. “We had an intimacy coordinator which was fantastic and very helpful, because it was important that we felt safe,” said Zendaya.
She explained further about the erotic scenes: “We played tennis together, went out together, rehearsed together. We got to bond and feel comfortable with each other.”
Faist agreed, saying spending time together in rehearsals helped create real friendship before filming.
O’Connor, who has worked with Italian directors before, said “It was an honor to be directed by Luca. The script was great, as was the cast.”
He was attracted to playing Patrick because the character is very different from himself.
The film was written by Justin Kuritzkes and produced by Rachel O’Connor, among others. O’Connor said a challenge was the short production schedule due to Zendaya’s Dune commitments. But she said “Everyone was completely involved and wanted it to become a reality.”
After delays, Challengers will be released in Italian theaters on April 24 and in the U.S. on April 26.