Zendaya admits she felt “pressure” before “Challengers” hit theaters this weekend.
The actor, fresh off the release of “Dune: Part Two” earlier this year, opened up to Entertainment Weekly about how she’s handling the release of the steamy Luca Guadagnino-directed tennis drama.
“I always am nervous — I wish I was joking,” she recently told EW.
She continued, “From a personal perspective, this is my first time leading a film in this way, so I’ve felt that pressure, that fear, burden, or whatever from the beginning of just wanting to make something that I’m proud of and enjoy it, and sometimes that can be very difficult.”
The Golden Globe and Emmy winner stars as Tashi Donaldson, a tennis prodigy who retires and becomes a coach following an injury. Her character is submerged in a tense drama on and off the court as two friends/tennis players (played by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor) fight over her.
She described the characters in the film as “incredibly complex and interesting,” noting that it’s difficult to answer what the film is about “in under an hour.”
“It’s impossible to sum it up or define it, really, because it’s a comedy, but it’s not, but it’s a drama, but it’s not, it’s a sports movie, but it’s not. It’s undefinable in this really beautiful way,” Zendaya said.
“It’s something that people just have to experience for themselves and they will enjoy, I think, judging the characters and arguing about it after and changing their minds and coming up with theories and ideas.”
Zendaya, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, revealed that she heard “wonderful things” about Guadagnino from her “Dune” co-star Timothée Chalamet, who starred in the filmmaker’s 2017 movie, “Call Me By Your Name.”
“Luca is brilliant and I’ve wanted to work with Luca for a very long time and this just seemed like the absolute perfect thing,” she said.
“When we first met about the script he had such a keen, deep understanding of the characters from the beginning and a clearer idea of the kind of movie he wanted to create. And the script was brilliant, [writer] Justin Kuritzkes is so talented and I’m so happy for him. So it all made sense.”
Variety reported that “Challengers” is expected to lead the domestic box office with $12 million to $15 million in its opening weekend.
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