A central scene in director Luca Guadagnino’s film challenger was not in Justin Kuritzkes’ original script.
In the film, Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a force of nature who is unapologetic about her play on and off the court. Married to a champion, Art (West Side StoryWith Mike Faist on a losing streak, Tashi’s strategy to make amends with her husband takes a surprising turn when he faces off against the down-and-out Patrick (The crownis Josh O’Conner) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend.
The key to the film is the love triangle between the characters and their power dynamics. In the scene in question, the trio is relaxing in a hotel room and flirting.
“How often does this happen when you chase the same girl?” asks Tashi.
“Not as often as you think,” Art replies, before Patrick explains: “Usually we have different types.”
It ends with the three of them lying on the bed together and kissing.
“I don’t think that was in the script at the beginning. Not at all,” Guadagnino said Weekly entertainment. “We discussed at length with Justin the concept that the triangle needs to flesh out the possibility of all corners touching – that when you’re jealous of someone, you’re not jealous of your partner, but also of not being jealous of them Rivals selected. You want to be the object of the rival’s affection, so you are as jealous of not being part of it as of your partner being chosen.”
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Guadagnino and Kuritzkes developed the design, and this scene in particular, to increase its “usefulness and fun,” Guadagnino said. The director insisted that this moment should not be, say, a quickie.
“For me it was about staying there, staying with them, staying with the jokes, staying with the moment of embarrassment followed by the moment of excitement, and finally showing the geometry that the film is building in that moment “the power” that she had at her disposal.”
Zendaya confirmed ongoing development of the script.
“Yes, there were some drafts… Luca and Justin were working on the script in Italy before we even got together. I believe [Kuritzkes] I hadn’t really done many drafts of the original… and although it was absolutely brilliant, I know Luca wanted to put his own stuff into it, so the collaboration started quite early on.”
At the film’s premiere, the actress expressed her joy at working with Guadagnino, which included the opportunity to rehearse the role.
“Luca is brilliant. I think he has such a wonderful understanding of the human experience and deeply understands characters on another level,” she told Deadline. “That was clear when I first spoke to him about this film and these characters. He just knew in a deep sense who these people were and understood them, their hopes, their desires, their dreams, their desires, their fears.”
On a more metaphysical level, the actress recently wondered why her kissing scenes attract so much attention when she’s just doing her job.
“I have no idea. I don’t know if it’s because they want to make it viral, I don’t know. But that’s something that particularly stood out to me,” Zendaya said during an appearance on Jake’s takes after the show’s host called out the “unusual” amount of attention those particular scenes generated. “I feel like that’s not the case with other actors…if anyone else were here, you probably wouldn’t be doing this [have] asked this question.”