Zaaamn, Zendaya!
Zendaya is entering her villain era in provocative tennis drama Challengers that smolders with shady shenanigans, hilariously messy moments, and explosive exchanges between deeply flawed characters like the one below:
Directed by Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan–a former tennis prodigy-turned-winning-obsessed coach who’s unapologetically #TeamTashi on and off the court.
Married to a champion down on his luck (Mike Faist), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes an unexpected turn when he faces off against his washed up ex-BFF Patrick (Josh O’Connor) who’s also Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.
As their pasts and presents collide, Tashi must ask herself how far she’s willing to go and what she’s willing to do to win.
“Typically, I play the person that ultimately is easier to empathize with,” said Zendaya in her cover story interview with VOGUE. “There was something about her that felt very, ‘Oh, damn.’ “Even I was kind of scared of her.”
Check out the trailer below:
Once again making magic with famed stylist Law Roach, Zendaya has served up tennis-inspired slays while commanding carpets as Hollywood’s leading-lady-of-the-moment on the global Challengers press tour.
“I feel like I shrink, and I can’t enjoy all the things that are happening to me, because I’m like this,” she told THR when asked about relishing in her first major leading role. “I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try sh*t. And I wish I went to school.”
Challengers opens in theaters April 26.