Just days before her latest project hits theaters, Zendaya talks about being a little nervous. On Tuesday, the challenger Star shared a sweet photo gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and videos from the tennis drama set on her Instagram page.
The carousel included a video of her training and a video of her co-star Josh O’Connor of her flipping a plastic water bottle to make it perfectly upside down, a video of her practicing her tennis game, and pictures of her co-stars sitting with the film’s director, Luca Guadagnino.
At the end of the gallery, Zendaya added a video of her, O’Connor and Mike Faist kissing a tennis racket and wearing Zendaya’s wig from the film – a nod to the scene from the film’s trailer where both men begin Zendaya’s character to kiss. Tashi. The brief moment quickly went viral on social media when the trailer was released.
“This is the make-out scene,” Faist, 32, says in the video before he and O’Connor, 33, lean in to kiss the thug. All three actors can be heard laughing before O’Connor appears to say, “Not again!”
“This is my first time directing a film this way, so you were nervous, but everyone’s excitement and encouragement meant a lot to me,” the 27-year-old wrote in the post’s caption. “I’m so honored to be able to do this alongside these incredibly talented, brilliant (and hilarious) people, and on behalf of all of us, we hope you enjoy the film and again… try not to too judgmental.” lol, but also #teamtashi.”
Zendaya’s Tashi Duncan is a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who is unapologetic about her play on and off the court. As a teenager, Tashi meets Art (Faist) and Patrick (O’Connor) and the trio spend an enticing time together before a serious injury on the field derails Tashi’s budding career.
Years later, Tashi is a trainer for Art, now her husband. As Tashi strategizes to redeem her husband after a losing streak, her plan takes a surprising turn when he finds himself pitted against the down-and-out Patrick – his former best friend – in the Grand Slam. As her past and present collide and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself: What will it take to win?
In a recent interview with ETthe film stars delved into the fascinating dynamics of filming intimate scenes and the comical consequences when Zendaya watched them in the room with the family.
Zendaya didn’t hold back when discussing the experience of watching the film with her parents, especially given its heated content. “It was hilarious,” Zendaya giggled when asked about the encounter. “Yes, I thought it was hilarious,” she emphasized, noting that her family members knew the film’s rating and premise in advance.
I acknowledge their previous work euphoriaZendaya emphasized that her family is used to cross-border content. “You all saw it euphoria“You know, so it’s not like our first rodeo or anything,” she remarked, grinning.
When recounting the screening, Zendaya shared how amused she was watching her family’s reactions. “It was funny because of course I’ve seen the movie many times so I know what’s coming and they were all sitting behind me and I could watch them watching and I started to think, “Oh God.” , she recalled with amusement.
Although there are no explicit sex scenes in the film, Zendaya joked about the level of discomfort the film still caused. “It’s still enough not to want to watch with your aunt,” she joked, emphasizing the embarrassment of such moments.
Leading a film with such intimate scenes wasn’t the only thing that made Zendaya nervous ahead of the film’s premiere.
Zendaya also shared with ET how to become a tennis champion Serena And Venus Williams — whose famous Fashion see Zendaya was recently recreated — replied to the project. The star previously “apologized in advance” to the sisters for their on-screen tennis skills.
While Zendaya said she hasn’t spoken to Venus about the film yet – “fingers crossed” that she would approve of her tennis skills, the actress said – she has spoken to Serena about the film.
“She was like, ‘I know they definitely weren’t real.’ [tennis] Eggs,” Zendaya revealed about Serena. “She knows. She is the best of the best.
Serena praised Zendaya as euphoria “star” recalled: “She said it was great considering I had never touched a tennis ball before.”
challenger hits theaters on April 26th.
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