Since the HBO series Euphoria, there is no longer any doubt that Zendaya is a great actress. But how does she perform in the role of a professional athlete? For Challengers, which has just opened in cinemas, Zendaya has several months of training accepted in order to deliver a convincing performance.
She recently appeared on BBC’s The One Show with her co-stars Mike Faist (West Side Story) and Josh O’Connor (La Chimera). The three of them talked about the filming of the film together adrenaline-charged sports film and of course her training. It was also a question of who put the most effort into their role.
Challengers: Tennis training was so hard for Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor
To ensure that the tennis scenes in Challengers are as convincing as possible, the team led by director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name). Experts from sports worked together. Zendaya explains in the interview:
We had an incredible group of people accompanying us during training. We had many, many weeks of tennis training under the direction of Brad Gilbertwho is a famous tennis coach himself.
Warner Bros.
Zendaya in Challengers
The Internet is particularly enthusiastic about a video of Zendaya training with her Stunt double Kara Hall Wangler shows. Both execute the movement sequences almost perfectly synchronously. This discipline can definitely be felt in the finished film. Every impact hisses across the big screen with incredible force.
A fan commented on the video on Twitter with the following words:
I can’t stop watching this video of Zendaya training for Challengers with her stunt double.
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Who has himself put the most effort into it? If we can believe Faist, then it was Zendaya. “You are a monster, you are crazy”he says to Zendaya on The One Show. Even before training together, she trained alone for three months, as Women’s Health breaks down in a detailed report.
Zendaya and Co. had to get up at 6 a.m. for the tough Challengers training
The three months of training in Malibu were followed by six more intensive weeks in which Zendaya stood on a tennis court in Boston with Faist and C’Connor before the first thing was officially said. We had to leave at 6 a.m the stars were on the mat so that Gilbert’s training could start promptly at 7 a.m.
Warner Bros.
Zendaya in Challengers
The trio wasn’t just active on the tennis court. Strength training in the gym was also part of the daily routine to get in shape. In addition to the physical hurdles, Gilbert also prepared the Challengers cast for the mental challenges that every tennis player has to face on the court.
In the end, the tennis action worked like a dance routine, so that Zendaya & Co. were perfectly coordinated with their counterparts. Particularly exciting: the style of Zenday’s character was modeled after real models. Gilbert modeled his training on tennis stars Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Challengers has been running since then April 25, 2024 in German cinemas.