Billie Jean King, Zendaya
John Nacion/WireImage;Neil Mockford/Filmmagic/Getty Images(2)Even in her 80s, Billie Jean King remains a champion in tennis.
The 39-time Grand Slam winner and advocate for tennis, women and LGBTQIA+ athletes commented Zendayais the upcoming film, challengerand said she hoped it did the game justice.
“We can play tennis at any time [a movie]“I like it,” said the 80-year-old King Us weekly exclusively at the QVC Age of Possibility Summit on Wednesday, April 24th. “The one thing I always worry about with any sports movie, not just tennis, is whether or not the person can look enough like an athlete while playing?”
QVC hosted the first-of-its-kind summit in Las Vegas to launch the brand’s new platform, Age of Possibility, empowering women over 50 from all walks of life to celebrate who they are. Donna Kelce, Rita Wilson, Kathie Lee Gifford and other stars joined King at the event.
The 2023 US Open Championships began on August 28th in New York City – with several celebrities in attendance. The first night of the tournament included a performance by Sara Bareilles in honor of Billie Jean King and the 50th anniversary of the same prize pool. Thank you very much! You have successfully logged in. Subscribe to newsletter Subscribe […]
King doesn’t doubt Zendaya or her co-stars’ acting abilities, she just hopes actors can capture the intricacies of professional sports as if they were playing the games themselves. This goes beyond tennis.
“I think that’s really important in a film, and then of course you have to get the other part right,” she added. “I even watch football or basketball. I think: There has to be a certain level [of play].’”
If there were any doubts, King believes 27-year-old Zendaya is up to the task, stressing that she’s sure to enjoy the film. “Good luck to her!” King added.
The summit also gave King a chance to reflect on how far the sport has come since her playing days – a time when she was publicly outed and immediately lost all her support.
“Everyone told me not to talk about it [my sexuality],” she said. “My PR people, my lawyer, everything told me not to do it. And I said, ‘I’m telling the truth, that’s too bad.’ [They said]“It will ruin your career,” I said, “I don’t care.”
She added that while coming out of an athlete today would not result in them losing all of their endorsements, it is an important starting point for the community.
“You want everyone to live their authentic life, and whatever that is, let it be,” she concluded. “The problem with everyone in the world is that they want everyone to be like them, and then you get into trouble. Every single one of them is different and we have to respect that.”
With challenger Set to hit theaters on Friday, April 26, Zendaya has been traveling across the world to promote the film, which she also co-produced. she said diversity In an interview published on Wednesday, he said that tennis was the backdrop for a film that was about even more.
“It’s a movie and it’s tennis, but it’s not a tennis movie,” she said. “It’s much deeper. Tennis is just a metaphor for something much bigger. For power. For codependency. They use tennis as a tool to get these things out of their system. That’s the only way they know how to communicate.”
With reporting by Rachel Smith