Beyond the court and behind the camera with cast and crew of ‘Challengers’

On April 20, The Panther attended the virtual press conference for the highly anticipated film “Challengers,” with director Luca Guadagnino, producer Amy Pascal, writer Justin Kurzitikes and stars Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor and Zendaya to talk about the making of the movie “Challengers,” which is in theaters now. Photo illustration by BENJAMIN PRICE, Features & Entertainment Staff Writer

The creative kernel for the 2024 film “Challengers” occurred as writer Justin Kuritzkes turned on the 2018 US Open. He became suddenly taken by how intensely cinematic the sport was. In particular, his fascination settled on the dynamic between coaches and players within the game. 

Tennis forces someone who could be so invested in a person’s success to be separated by a net or to watch from the crowd. He settled on a question that then forged the central conflict of the newly released film: What if you have to talk about something happening beyond the net about the person on the other side of it?

“Challengers” follows Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), a tennis superstar and two of her contemporaries, Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor). Art and Patrick are friends in their own right and compete for Tashi’s affection on and off the court. Her flourishing career is cut short by an injury she sustains while she’s in college. In that moment, she chooses Art and goes on to become his coach and his wife. Years later, Patrick and Art find themselves on opposite sides of the net, Patrick re-emerges in Tashi’s life, and so, the dysfunction only continues.

As for how the project got set up with producers, Kuritzkes’ agent reached out to Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor, who promised Zendaya’s involvement, which got them Kuritzkes’ creative blessing. Pascal and Rachel O’Connor both worked with Zendaya on the most recent Spider-Man trilogy. With Pascal onboard, Kuritzkes felt confident the film would come to fruition. 

“That was the moment the movie felt real for me,” Kuritzkes said.

Pascal also sought out director Luca Guadagnino, known for films like “Call Me By Your Name” and “Bones and All,” to bring this complicated romance to the big screen.

“It was high time there was kissing in movies, and Luca was the one to bring it to life,” Pascal said.

Josh O’Connor entered the film through unconventional means. Fresh off of an Emmy win for the Netflix series “The Crown,” O’Connor went to his agent with an unusual problem, saying, “I’ve got no friends.” In turn, his agent set him up on a kind of ‘friend date’ with Kuritzikes, who handed him a script to give the meeting a tinge of professionalism. O’Connor was immediately drawn to his character, Patrick. 

“(Patrick was) so confident, so front-footed…He lives life to the fullest but is very accepting of his flaws…There was no doubt. (It was) an immediate yes,” Josh O’Connor said.

Faist, who plays Patrick’s friend, foil and foe, Art, found himself similarly drawn to his character. 

“(Art is) this craftsman who’s fallen out of love with his craft…desperate to get back to that place of purity…where you’re just in your work, just in your craft,” Faist said.

Once the lead trio was set (pun very much intended) and the director selected, it was time to turn the three actors into believable on-screen athletes. Zendaya, Faist and O’Connor did six weeks of gym work leading up to the film’s production so they would appear as legitimate tennis stars. The regimen was a wake-up call for the three actors, who quickly realized what lay ahead of them.

“Damn, I got a long way to go,” Zendaya said.

Over the weeks of physical preparation, though, Zendaya started to realize that the value of the training was simply to make them look like a tennis player, not have them be one. They were looking to fake it, not attempting to become the real deal, which alleviated some of the pressure.

When asked about how music helped them sink into their characters, O’Connor recalled a playlist he made called “Boston Marathon” for the film that guided him through the film’s production. The playlist was named for the yearly marathon, which occurred around where they filmed and which O’Connor would participate in a year later. However, when asked, he couldn’t remember a single song from it.

After a quick quip from Faist — “Well, we hate each other” — he and O’Connor discussed how they found their chemistry on set. They would walk around Boston, running lines, and they commuted together every day to and from the film set. They compared their dynamic to a game of tennis — pinging back and forth, giving the other something to play with and then hitting it back.

To wrap up the conference, Zendaya invited audiences to consider the distinct perspectives of each lead while watching. Zendaya recalled that every time she’s watched the film, her allegiances have shifted between Tashi, Art and Patrick. 

“Every time I watch it, you’re consistently living with them and learning something about them,” Zendaya said.

Challengers is now in theaters. You can read The Panther’s review of the film here.