Zendaya has revealed the details behind her three-way kiss on Challengers with co-stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.
The animated film starred Zendaya as Tashi, a former tennis star who had to leave the profession because she suffered an injury early in her career.
Mike plays her husband Art, whom she turns into a tennis star, while Josh plays her ex-boyfriend Patrick, another tennis player.
When Art and Patrick face off during the ATP Challenger Tour, a love triangle forms between them and Tashi.
The Challengers became a social media sensation for the electric sexual chemistry between the leads, particularly a kissing scene involving all three of them.
Now, in an Actors On Actors interview with Nicole Kidman, Zendaya has lifted the curtain on the scene’s filming process, via Variety.
Zendaya (center) has revealed the details behind her three-way kiss in Challengers with co-stars Josh O’Connor (left) and Mike Faist (right).
The topic arose when the actresses were talking about the difference between performing a scene spontaneously or acting according to a predetermined plan.
“You can tell if someone is thinking about what they’re going to say or what they’re going to do with their hand,” Zendaya said.
‘I caught myself doing that, when you dissociate mid-take. Or you start thinking: “Why did I do that with the eye? “That was a really strange choice,” he said.
She shared that she’s been “asked a lot about the three-way kiss scene” in Challengers and revealed how she responds.
Zendaya tells investigators, “It’s really a four-, five-, six-, seven-, eight-, nine-way kiss,” because there are so many people. There is a camera coming towards us at a certain moment.
She said: ‘I know when I go from Mike to Josh, when the camera comes in, I have to back away. There are so many things at stake.’
As for her real love life, Zendaya is still immersed in her old romance with fellow international superstar Tom Holland.
Zendaya and Tom have been the subject of dating rumors since they wrapped Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, their first film together.
The animated film starred Zendaya as Tashi, a former tennis star who had to leave the profession because she suffered an injury early in her career.
Mike (left) plays her husband Art, whom she turns into a tennis star, while Josh plays her ex-boyfriend Patrick, another tennis player.
When Art and Patrick face off during the ATP Challenger Tour, a love triangle forms between them and Tashi.
Now, in an Actors On Actors interview with Nicole Kidman, Zendaya has lifted the curtain on the process of filming the scene, via Variety.
However, she repeatedly denied that they were a couple for years before they confirmed that they were romantically involved in 2021.
“He’s literally one of my best friends,” Zendaya said during an interview in 2017, shortly after the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
‘In recent months we have had to do press tours together. “There are very few people who will understand what that is at 20 years old,” he said. Variety.
In fact, both Zendaya and Tom have reportedly dated other people in the years between the rumors starting and the romance being confirmed.
Zendaya was linked to her Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi in 2019, while Tom was said to have gone into COVID-19 lockdown with English actress Nadia Parkes in 2020.
However, in July 2021, Tom and Zendaya went public as a couple when they were seen kissing in a car after visiting their mother.
Since then, the couple has not shied away from being seen together, but they have been reluctant to discuss the details of their relationship in public.
Tom shed some light on his secretive stance last year when he appeared on a podcast hosted by self-help guru Jay Shetty.
“You can tell if someone is thinking about what they’re going to say or what they’re going to do with their hand,” Zendaya said.
‘My relationship is what I consider most sacred. I don’t talk about that,’ he said. “I try my best to keep it as private as possible.”
He explained, “We both feel like that’s the healthiest way to move forward as a couple, so I try to stay as far away from Hollywood as possible.”
“Our relationship is something that we are incredibly protective of and want to keep as sacred as possible,” she said. The Hollywood Reporter the same year.
“We don’t think we owe it to anyone, it’s our thing and it has nothing to do with our careers,” added the The Crowded Room actor.