“The tennis is the sex” in Challengers, says Josh O’Connor
According to Challengers' Zendaya, "Not having the release is a good thing sometimes"
Aux News Challengers
Luca Guadagnino is a director with a sense for sensuality, and Challengers promised to be one of his sexiest films yet. Just look at the trailer, which bumps along to Rihanna’s “S&M” as Zendaya invites her “two little white boys” to join her in bed. On that tease alone, it would seem that Challengers is promising an explicit good time.
Except tease might be the more accurate word, because according to Josh O’Connor, Challengers’ sex is more… metaphorical? “The tennis is the sex,” he explains in an interview with Empire. “Those moments are so sexy. The film is dealing with the tension before and after. The sex they’re all desperate for is on the court.”
In other words, if you were desperate for actual intercourse on your screen, you may be out of luck. Isn’t that always the way: the tennis is the sex, the cannibalism is the sex, the not eating the peach is the sex. When will the sex be the sex? Not this time around. Nevertheless, “What Luca’s really good at is finding sensuality and desire,” says Zendaya, who plays tennis champion Tashi Duncan. “There’s so much in just glances. The tension builds. Not having the release is a good thing sometimes.”
Speaking of not having a release, Challengers won’t be having one this year. The film has been delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, and is now set to premiere in April 2024. Guadagnino’s movie is one of the few to have pulled out of the Venice Film Festival, which will go on sans Hollywood stars but will reportedly feature an appearance from Woody Allen.
For his own part, Guadagnino believes that the Challengers script, bereft of sex though it might be, will win an Oscar, as he told Fantastic Man last year. (The screenplay was written by Justin Kuritzkes.) He is also aware that people have thoughts about him not showing sex in his films. “I think there’s a shallowness in what he’s saying, and a self-seriousness that I find disappointing. Because I would never put myself in the position of saying something about the artistic perspective of someone else,” he said in response to Ocean Vuong’s criticism of Call Me By Your Name. “It’s not about liking the film or not; that’s another story. I think to complain about not literally showing sex—it’s a little bit of a narrow way of looking at that movie.” We’ll try to broaden our perspective before Challengers.
20 Comments
Not really interested in the movie itself but I like the cut of this guy’s jib.
Well, I don’t like the Unwholesome love triangle. If they wanted a love triangle they could have had a more innocent one than Tashi (Zendaya’s character) sitting on a bed with TWO guys she apparently does not even Know. A Successful TEENAGED GIRL at the top of her career would Not Dangerously risk it all by going to the hotel room of Unknown Men. It’s ridiculous on its face. Great art rings true. THAT does NOT. Now that we know they don’t have sex, that is a relief. Zendaya is so wholesome in real life she does not even drink alcohol. And she is a vegetarian. It would be nice if her First lead role in a Major Motion Picture were a more wholesome one. Can’t even imagine them handing a young Sandra Bullock such a script. And Sandra blithely mentioned early on that she would always have beer with pizza! Again – wholesome Zendaya is the one who does Not drink alcohol.
Zendaya is an actress, she portrays characters on the screen who are not her in real life.Teenage girls make all kinds of bad decisions, as do teenage boys.“Now that we know they don’t have sex, that is a relief.”I’m not even sure what to say about that…
This is a…disturbing post
Donald Trump doesn’t drink alcohol. Do you think that makes him wholesome?
Not having the release is a good thing sometimes
[Movie shelved indefinitely]
It’s nice that the photo caption identified O’Connor as an actor in the film, because the article text sure didn’t.
Thank goodness there is No sex! There’s enough coarseness in the world already. Some subtlety is definitely in order. I feel better about the film than I did before having Josh’s input. Bless you, Josh! Having wholesome Zendaya play a character in a sordid film that serves as the vehicle for her First Lead Role in a Major Motion Picture, seemed terribly unfair and the worst sort of typecasting. In real life, Wholesome Zendaya does Not even drink alcohol and is a vegetarian. EUPHORIA is enough “grittiness” for a lifetime. But here’s a curious thing – if there’s “no sex” in CHALLENGERS, why the R rating?
I agree with wholesome, wise Zendaya. Zendaya is so wholesome she does Not even drink alcohol in real life. And she is a vegetarian. It would be nice if some of her grownup roles reflected that there are literally millions of wholesome black girls and women in the USA. There is No chance of a successful TEENAGED GIRL, self-disciplined and talented enough to be at the top of her Professional Career, risking it All by Dangerously going to the hotel room of Two Men she does not even know! Great art rings true. That does NOT. Thank goodness Josh has now revealed that the three TEENS do not actually have sex in that scene. Hope his revelation is not too little too late. By putting out that, apparently misleading “bedroom” scene in the very first trailer for the film, Luca and company may have inadvertently cut their audience in half! And having the three of them promoting the film from the same venues might remind people of what appeared to be a lurid encounter. SMH
What an insane call to title this movie Challengers, when it so obviously should be called Ballplay.
I guess Greenballs doesn’t have the same ring.
I find it odd there’s an interview with the actor at all, I thought the strike’s prohibition on promotion was why the film is delayed.
He’s a British actor, so my guess is he was promoting a British project, which would be under the British guild.In addition to that, a lot of interviews and promotions for films and projects were done before the strike.
Is this film a British project? I thought it was delayed because it fell under the strike rules.
Something that’s been really interesting/irritating to see wrt this movie is how, back when the trailer was released, literally every single mention of it online that I saw was accompanied by a joke about Tom Holland getting cucked. Not just in the comments, but sometimes by the publications themselves.It’s dumb for obvious reasons. But it’s interesting because one of the new big right-wing obsessions seems to be seeking out and loudly condemning men who allow their partners to fuck other men. It’s weird, but it’s also a blatant projection of their own insecurities and thus kinda funny. But also feels like Tom Holland’s catching some strays, even from mainstream places, so IDK.
Yeah. I think it’s awful
the right is HEAVILY into cuck porn.
I haven’t really seen that….But if anything, it’s more of a sexist attack on Zendaya, as it’s demotes her to being centered Tom Holland, despite being an Emmy winning actress who carries her show, and is incredibly talented.
best of success for the project. Zendaya does intriguing “indie style” stuff in between major studio films. Sidebar, rest in peace to her Euphoria co-star Angus Cloud
I’m not a prude by any means but do movies really need explicit sex in them these days? The internet exists. “We have the technology.” If I want porn I’ll watch porn. Films like this exist for something else.