Challengers' Stars Zendaya and Josh O'Connor Dish on Playing Villains in Upcoming Film

Zendaya admits there's a "villain-esque" quality to her character, Tashi Duncan, in the film Challengers.


It looks like Zendaya wins the serve in Challengers, at least when it comes to being the baddie. The actress is best known for portraying the kind-hearted girlfriend of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and Sony movies which feature the friendly neighborhood Spider-man. But next year, Zendaya gets to play a more “villain-esque” character in the tennis pro turned coach, Tashi Duncan. And one of her co-stars, Josh O’Connor, joined Zendaya in a recent conversation about how good it is to be bad. O’Connor said in an interview with V Magazine:


"We were just saying the other day that our characters in this film are horrific."


Zendaya added:


"They’re terrible."


The first trailer for the film shows a love triangle forming between Zendaya’s character Tashi and both O’Connor’s Patrick and Mike Faist’s Art. At one point in the trailer, Patrick refers to Tashi as his girlfriend. And later, after an injury sidelines Tashi from playing tennis, it’s revealed that she is married to Art. O’Connor said in the same interview:


"They are so terrible. And we just released the trailer this week, and a few of my friends were like, ‘Oh my god, it’s so nice to see you smiling in a film.’ And I was like, ‘Oh god.’ If they think they can see the real Josh with an American accent, this is not it. I am not like this, I promise [laughs]."


Zendaya continued:


“But that’s what was so fun, right? I hate to say villain, but there’s a villain-esque quality there to all of the characters. And I think that was fun.”


Zendaya Relishes Playing a ‘Villain-esque’ Role


Director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Bones and All) takes the helm of Challengers, but this particular love story will present moviegoers with a much different Zendaya than they're used to seeing on the big screen. For her and co-star, Josh O’Connor, the actors knew immediately that their characters were bad eggs. O’Connor said in the same interview:


"When I first read the script, my immediate thoughts were, ‘Patrick’s a villain, Tashi’s kind of a villain, and poor Art.’ All I could think was, ‘This poor guy.’"


Zendaya added:


“Oh my god, I know. I felt that once, and then I read it again [laughs]."


Mike Faist is tasked with portraying “poor Art” in Challengers. Faist is fresh off of his mesmerizing performance as Riff in Steven Spielberg’s remake of 1961’s West Side Story. In addition to the trio of complex characters filling out the Challengers’ roster, there’s something to also be said about the underlying theme in Guadagnino’s upcoming movie. Zendaya also told V Magazine:


“Love each other and don’t manipulate your friends or your spouses. I often call this movie ‘Codependency: The Movie.’”


O’Connor added:


“I love that as a tag. I can already see that making its way around.”


Zendaya also addressed how fans are interpreting the characters and storyline of Challengers just from watching the first trailer, and how things aren’t always as they seem: “Just wait — you have no idea.” O’Connor concurred:


“Just wait – you’re going to be really surprised.”


Challengers opens in theaters on April 26, 2024, because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, after initially being scheduled for a theatrical run starting on September 15, 2023.


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