We hooked up with the hottest cast of the year to get their post-match analysis and insight on Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. In the film, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist play tennis buddies-turned-arch rivals, Patrick and Art, while Zendaya, who also produced the film, plays Tashi, the would-be champion whose life and career takes an unexpected turn.
LWLies: Can you tell us about your first meeting with Luca in person?
Zendaya: My first encounter with Luca was at a Fendi fashion show in Rome. We sat next to each other at dinner. I could not speak a word of Italian and was having difficulty explaining that I needed the vegetarian option. He helped me.
Josh O’Connor: My first encounter with Luca? I went for lunch with him and my friend Jonathan Anderson. We just chatted about film and everything else and we got on brilliantly. I remember wearing a stripy jumper that didn’t fit me, and I came with a bicycle helmet because I’d cycled from North London.
Mike Faist: Luca and I first met over Zoom. He was a fan of West Side Story. We talked about Justin’s script, the role of Art, some of our favourite actors and films.
Zendaya, how did you come on board as a producer?
I’d been a producer on , and I made a film with John David [Washington], a two-hander, back in Covid days, called . So producing is not entirely new for me. But every time you, acquired the rights to the script and brought me in. And I just immediately wanted to talk to Justin to understand what his vision was and why he wrote this thing. We really connected pretty quickly over the phone. And I was like, ‘Oh, he’s cool.’
