Directed by Luca Guadagnino, Zendaya’s upcoming steamy sports drama, Challengers, is set to hit cinemas on 26th April, 2024.

Starring Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, as two of Zendaya’s lovers in the movie, Challengers has created some uproar on the internet following its trailer release.

Zendaya in a still from Challengers (2024)
Considering the film coming from the helmer of Call Me By Your Name, people have seemingly raised their expectations regarding the sensual aspect of Challengers. However, addressing the buzz around those erotic scenes, Zendaya and the cast sat for an interview to set the record straight about how the film actually deals with the concept of intimacy.

The Seductive Explorations of Relationships in Challengers

After the eye-popping trailer release of Zendaya‘s upcoming sports drama Challengers, people have been constantly buzzing about the breathtaking erotic scenes.

Expecting extreme sensuality and perhaps threesome sequences after the trailer hinted at an intimate scene between Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor, netizens are losing their minds over what to expect from Luca Guadagnino’s movie.

Since the director is known for his playful explorations of relationships, much like what he did in Call Me By Your Name (2017), fans are expecting similar “peachy” moments in Challengers as well.

But we would recommend you to hold onto your horses, as the cast of the upcoming movie appeared for an interview with Empire where they addressed the buzz surrounding the eroticism in their film.

 

Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist in Challengers
Set to release on 26th April 2024, Challengers narrates the story of Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) a former tennis prodigy-turned-coach, who trains her husband (Mike Faist), against her ex-boyfriend (Josh O’Connor).

But in between this straight and simple storyline, as Luca Guadagnino finds his way to draw attention toward the love triangle, the cast offers an upsetting update on the eroticism in the movie.

Zendaya Sets the Record Straight About Sensuality in Challengers

As most people are expecting to witness Luca Guadagnino’s focus mainly on the characters and their relationships, Challengers will certainly do so.

However, instead of showing particular s*x scenes or raunchy eroticism, Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor claimed that the filmmaker has turned tennis into s*x.

“He had no knowledge of tennis going into this. And I think he had only a vague interest in certain tennis specificities. He was more interested in the bodies and sweat.” Faist said of Guadagnino’s approach.

Although tennis isn’t a sport that particularly comes off as sexy, Mike Faist noted that Luca Guadagnino surprisingly had the ability to turn the game erotic with his focus on “bodies and sweat”.

Similarly, even Zendaya noted how the filmmaker finds “sensuality and desire” in everything and therefore builds the tension around the movie.

 
A scene from Challengers trailer

“What Luca’s really good at is finding sensuality and desire. There’s so much in just glances. The tension builds. Not having the release is a good thing sometimes.”

Keeping the wild action confined to the tennis court, Josh O’Connor stated that the filmmaker has turned the challenging moments that are filled with adrenaline into sensual scenes. Stating how the characters find the s*xual release that they need, in the sport, O’Connor noted,

“The tennis is the s*x. Those moments are so sexy. The film is dealing with the tension before and after. The s*x they’re all desperate for is on the court.”

Zendaya and Josh O’Connor in Luca Guadagnino‘s movie
Although people are expecting raunchy sequences in the movie, it seems like an upsetting update for them, as the actor noted that Luca Guadagnino won’t directly deal with the aspect of s*x, instead, he is set to transform tension and adrenaline-filled scenes into something hot.

Challengers will hit the theatres on 26th April, 2024.