From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist – West Side Story), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor – The Crown) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:21 Ladies and gentlemen, Zendaya!
00:23 [CHEERING]
00:26 First of all, how does it feel to have
00:28 such an incredible reception right now?
00:30 You've been getting this all over the world at this point
00:32 for this film, girl.
00:33 I feel incredibly honored and lucky.
00:35 It's so sweet to see all of you here.
00:37 So thank you so much for taking the time to be here.
00:41 I've been seeing so much of you tell me
00:43 that you grew up with me, and then seeing pictures of you
00:45 as little ones.
00:46 And I just want to say thank you for being
00:48 on this journey with me.
00:49 I really, really appreciate you being here.
00:51 And they are so excited.
00:53 It's been hours of them-- Zendaya here?
00:55 Zendaya here?
00:55 I feel like I can just feel her presence.
00:58 Natasha Duncan is such a beautiful, complicated,
01:01 incredible woman.
01:03 I'm curious to know what drew you to her originally,
01:06 and what ways, if any, you kind of see a bit of yourself
01:09 in her?
01:09 Oh, man.
01:11 She approaches life a little bit differently than I do.
01:14 But I think what stood out to me is just
01:16 that she was incredibly complicated and complex,
01:18 and there was nothing one-dimensional about her.
01:21 And I think it felt like a big challenge.
01:26 And how do I make sure that she's still human and fragile,
01:30 and we find her gooey center, if you will?
01:35 And I just wanted to also take on the challenge of tennis,
01:38 too.
01:39 I think it's such an incredible sport.
01:41 And the idea of her being the best at it, I was like, oh,
01:44 man, OK, I'm really in for something here.
01:46 So also just the amazing people that I
01:49 get to work with as well.
01:50 The boys are so talented and so wonderful in the film,
01:52 and Luca as well.
01:53 So yeah.
01:55 I mean, the script was brilliant.
01:56 Justin is brilliant.
01:58 And it was a no-brainer for me.
02:01 This love triangle is as intense as the tennis matches
02:05 are working with Josh and Mike.
02:08 What was the highlight for you?
02:10 Just that they're wonderful people.
02:12 They're just really wonderful people,
02:13 and they made it such a wonderful place
02:16 to go to work every day.
02:18 I think we all care deeply about what we do.
02:21 But sometimes it's important to laugh and have joy
02:24 and make fun and have jokes and make sure that the work just
02:30 doesn't feel too serious all the time.
02:33 Who was the class clown?
02:34 I think it was all three of us, to be honest.
02:36 It's just based on any given moment, to be truthful.
02:40 But we just had a lot of fun.
02:42 And I think when you create a space where you feel safe
02:44 and feel supported by each other,
02:46 then you feel like you can do your best work.
02:48 And you mentioned being interested in the physicality
02:51 and the actual tennis of it all.
02:53 Talk to me about the training.
02:54 What was it like?
02:55 Because you all pulled off those tennis scenes so beautifully.
02:58 It was giving elite.
03:00 Well, we have a great director.
03:01 All right.
03:02 Shout out to Luca, absolutely.
03:05 No, I would say it's a combination of many things.
03:07 I think we had great tennis team around us,
03:13 starting with Brad Gilbert and Eric.
03:16 I don't know if Eric's here.
03:17 Oh, there's Brad.
03:18 Hey.
03:19 Hi, Brad.
03:21 But yeah, we just had a great team and support system
03:24 around us.
03:24 We had incredible-- our tennis doubles, who are obviously
03:29 really good at it.
03:31 And it was just about, I think, kind
03:32 of getting in sync with them.
03:34 And for me, I tried to like approach it
03:36 from a dance background, because I'm never going to be Serena.
03:39 OK?
03:40 So I might as well give that dream up now.
03:42 Just give it to Gab.
03:43 Shout out to Venus.
03:44 She's somewhere here on the carpet, too.
03:45 We saw her.
03:46 Venus Williams, yeah.
03:47 Is she here?
03:49 She's in the building.
03:50 I'm about to find her.
03:52 No, she's amazing.
03:54 But I knew I wasn't going to be them, right?
03:57 So I realized that I had to approach it
03:59 from a place physically that I understood.
04:01 And for me, that was dance.
04:03 So I tried to approach it from like, OK, I'm
04:05 learning choreography.
04:06 And how do I learn this footwork or this physicality?
04:10 And I really enjoyed myself.
04:12 And a producer, also.
04:14 What was that like, working behind the scenes also,
04:16 which is so impressive?
04:18 I think it's a way to be more creative
04:20 and to learn, I think, from someone like Luca
04:24 and be able to be in a space where you can support
04:26 your fellow actors and hopefully get the best work possible out
04:32 of the material when you kind of have a real role or a seat
04:36 at the table.
04:37 And I know we got to let you go.
04:38 But just quickly, you've been serving up
04:41 court couture all season, OK?
04:43 This press run.
04:45 We've got La Roche over here serving just as much.
04:48 Just really quickly, what was the inspiration
04:50 for tonight's-- how much fun have you had with that?
04:52 My not-so-secret weapon over here.
04:55 No, we just really enjoy--
04:56 I think we've played with theme dressing for many, many years
04:59 now.
05:00 And I think it's fun.
05:01 I think when you have material with rich references already,
05:05 why not pull from it and experiment through clothes?
05:10 And so that's what we try to do.
05:12 And sometimes the references are subtle.
05:14 Sometimes people pick it up later.
05:18 Sometimes it's very literal.
05:20 But we have fun.
05:21 Well, you are having fun.
05:22 I hope you have the best time tonight.
05:24 Congratulations on the film.
05:25 You were brilliant in it.
05:27 Zendaya, everyone.
05:29 Thank you.
05:30 Thank you.
05:31 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:35 [NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
05:38 [NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
05:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]