Zendaya Explains Why She's 'Nervous' About 'Challengers' Release (2024)

By

Mekishana Pierre

Days before her latest project hits theaters,Zendayais opening up about feeling a little nervous. On Tuesday, theChallengersstar shared a sweet gallery of photos to her Instagram page that features behind-the-scenes photos and videos from the tennis drama set.

The carousel included a video of her working out, a video of co-starJosh O'Connor flipping a plastic water bottle in an attempt to land it perfectly upright, a video of herself practicing her tennis game and images of her co-stars sitting with the film's director, Luca Guadagnino.

At the end of the gallery, Zendaya included a video of her, O'Connor and Mike Faist kissing a tennis racquet wearing Zendaya's wig from the movie -- a reference to the scene from the movie's trailer in which both men begin kissing Zendaya's character, Tashi. The brief moment quickly went viral on social media when the trailer was released.

"This is the makeout scene," Faist, 32, says in the video, before he and O'Connor, 33, lean in to kiss the racquet. All three actors can be heard laughing, before O'Connor appears to say, "Not again!"

"This is my first time leading a film in this way so ya girl's been nervous but everyone's excitement and encouragement has meant the world to me," the 27-year-old wrote in the post's caption. "I'm so honored that I get to do this beside these incredibly talented, brilliant (and hilarious) people and on behalf of all of us, we hope you enjoy the film and again...try not to judge the characters too much lol but also #teamtashi."

Zendaya's Tashi Duncan is a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Tashi meets Art (Faist) and Patrick (O'Connor) as teenagers, and the trio spend a tantalizing time together beforea crushing injury on the court cuts Tashi's rising career short.

Years later,Tashi is a coach for Art, now her husband. As Tashi strategizes her husband's redemption after a losing streak, her plan takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick -- his former best friend -- in the Grand Slam. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win?

In a recent interview with ET, the film starsdelved into the intriguing dynamics of filming intimate scenesand the comical aftermath of Zendaya watching it with family in the room.

Zendaya didn't hold back when discussing the experience of viewing the film alongside her parents, especially considering its steamy content. "It was hilarious," Zendaya chuckled when asked about the encounter. "Yeah, I thought it was hilarious," she emphasized, noting that her family members were well aware of the movie's rating and premise beforehand.

Acknowledging her previous work onEuphoria, Zendaya highlighted that her family was accustomed to boundary-pushing content. "They've all seenEuphoria, you know, so it's not like our first rodeo or anything," she remarked with a grin.

Recounting the screening, Zendaya shared the amusem*nt she derived from observing her family's reactions. "It was funny 'cause, you know, obviously I've seen the movie many times so I know what's coming, and they were all sitting behind me, and I got to, like, watch them watch and slowly just be like, 'Oh god,'" she recalled with amusem*nt.

Despite the absence of explicit sex scenes in the film, Zendaya joked about the level of discomfort it still induced. "It's still enough to not want to watch with your aunt," she quipped, highlighting the awkwardness of such moments.

Leading a film with such intimate scenes wasn't the only thing that made Zendaya nervous about the film's premiere.

Zendaya also shared with ET how tennis championsSerenaandVenus Williams--whose famedVoguelookZendaya recently recreated--responded to the project. The starpreviously"apologized in advance"to the sisters for her onscreen tennis abilities.

While Zendaya said she hadn't talked to Venus about the film yet -- "fingers crossed" she'd approve of her tennis skills, the actress said -- she did speak to Serena in regards to the flick.

"She was like, 'I know there definitely weren't real [tennis] balls," Zendaya revealed of Serena. "She knows. She's the best of the best."

Serena did have some praise for Zendaya, as theEuphoriastar recalled, "She did say that it was great considering that I had never, never touched a tennis ball before."

Challengerswill hit theaters April 26.

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