Director Luca Guadagnino hinted at a ménage à trois between the main characters in the tennis film
Daniel Craig might think the saucy scenes in Challengers were the ‘biggest c**k tease in movie history’, but Zendaya had a very different opinion.
Although Luca Guadagnino’s sports drama was centred around chaos on the tennis court, the action which unfolded in the bedroom also played an integral part in the plot.
For those who still haven’t got around to watching it, the 2024 film sees Zendaya star as tennis prodigy Tasha, who finds herself stuck in a love triangle with fellow players Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor), who are also best pals.
Tashi goes on to marry Art, only for her promising career to get cut short due to an injury – prompting her to instead coach her husband to become a star on the court.
Years later, he finds himself competing against his former best friend and Tashi’s ex, Patrick.
So the general running themes in Challengers are tennis and trios – and actor Daniel Craig has got some pretty big opinions about Guadagnino’s decision to hint at a ménage à trois.
In one sexually-charged scene, Zendaya locks lips with both Faist and O’Connor, but stops short of an actual threesome.
This obviously came as a huge disappointment to a lot of fans, including Craig.
While chatting with O’Connor for Variety’s Actors On Actors segment, the Casino Royale star shared his thoughts on the raunchy moment in Challengers.
The intimate scene was one of the most talked about moments in Challengers (Warner Bros)
He praised the film’s director Guadagnino, who also directed Craig’s latest film, Queer, for staging an elaborate ‘setup’ of the storyline, which built up to ‘the moment of love’.
“And you see a love between the two guys that trumps everything around it,” he said. “I’m just a sucker for it. What else is there?”
O’Connor then chimed in and said: “I think that’s what was going on in this film: Yes, there’s the tennis backdrop, but the desire these three people had for each other that’s torn apart.
“And there’s an invisible magnet that’s dragging them back together. That was definitely a Luca component that was bubbling underneath.”
Hilariously, Craig then quipped: “The scene in the hotel room, where they don’t have sex with each other, is the biggest c**k tease in movie history.”
Although it was an anti-climax for a lot of viewers, Zendaya previously revealed that she ‘loved’ shooting the intimate scenes with Faist and O’Connor.
Daniel Craig shared his thoughts on Zendaya’s steamy smooch with her co-star Josh O’Connor (YouTube/Variety)
She opened up about what she thought of the three-way smooch while speaking to the Mirror ahead of Challengers release in April this year.
Describing her character Tasha as ‘extremely driven’, Zendaya said: “She’s a go-getter and she is totally ruthless.
“The intimate scenes were so good – I loved it. I felt very lucky to be partnered with those guys.”
The California-born star continued: “And whatever the moment, it always felt like they always had my back and I had theirs.
“We were so lucky to have a director in Luca Guadagnino who really encouraged us all to collaborate and to bring our own ideas.
“It was a really exciting creative process.”
In fact, Zendaya found it more difficult to prepare herself for the role of a top tennis player rather than locking lips with her co-stars.
“I had an amazing group of people who helped and I learned a lot about air tennis especially and how to look like I know what I’m doing,” she said.
“We trained for something like six weeks, which was pretty tough. Hopefully, we did a good job and people won’t be too upset.
“But I’m not about to give up the day job, that’s for sure! Playing tennis was definitely the most challenging part of making Challengers.”
