![]() ![]() Our interview, conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, is the first time Zendaya says she’s talked about Challengers in depth to a stranger, and she’s stuck figuring out Tashi’s motivations. All the things that aren’t on the page that only someone who’s got the camera can really find.”ĭress, Valentino, $3,900. “That is Luca’s specialty when it comes to filmmaking. The things that you can’t always say, but you feel,” she explains. “The way she expresses and exudes the power of her athleticism is wonderful, but at the same time, the way she goes through seduction is very beautiful in the film.” While some of the sex scenes are intense, they’re in line with Zendaya’s own views on sensuality as an implicit language. “Zendaya is a wonderful partner to work with,” Guadagnino says. To be like, ‘Ooh, can I do this?’ You could run from that feeling and stay safe and comfortable, or you can go, ‘You know what, fuck it.’”Ĭhallengers has the familiar tense, erotic undertones of a Guadagnino picture (think 2017’s Call Me By Your Name), with a timeline that jumps from high school to college to thirtysomething, allowing Zendaya to exercise the range the director wanted. “It was a little bit scary to take on, which I think is a good feeling. “I felt like it was a good step into a more, I guess you could say, ‘grown-up’ role and into that next phase,” Zendaya says. Her subtle performance of seduction onscreen makes the evolution feel more authentic than forced. At the same time, it’s not an unbelievable volte-face. It’s the type of performance she knows fans are ready to see from her (“More ready than I am,” she jokes). The role is a significant departure for Zendaya, a chance for audiences to see her in a whole new light, playing a quietly cutthroat femme fatale in a film with very adult stakes. Beauty Tip: For long-lasting makeup with a glowing finish, try Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Care & Glow Serum Foundation.It’s a movie about tennis, but not really-it’s more about the consequences of failure on a global stage.īelted dress, Sergio Hudson, $1,595. And yet, somehow, she’s never quite fully commanded the big screen like she does in director Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated tryst drama Challengers-a feat of sensual chaos that Zendaya describes as her “first time really being a leading lady, if you will.” Her character, Tashi, is a Serena-like tennis phenom who becomes a coach after an injury and finds herself at the center of a love triangle with the two most competitive men in her life, played by co-stars Mike Faist (as Tashi’s husband, Art) and Josh O’Connor (as her ex-boyfriend, Patrick). ![]() She’s so far chosen roles that optimize her unique Daria drollness, starring as a classic high school outcast in the Tom Holland–led Spider-Man franchise and an enigmatic character alongside Timothée Chalamet in the epic Dune (for a cool seven minutes). In 2020, she became the youngest actress to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, portraying a high schooler so fluently onscreen that she still reads as youthful to the general viewing public. Steven Kleinįor years, the reliably mellow actress has occupied a singular position as a next-gen movie star and full-time fashion muse with a glint of old-Hollywood charm, which started with her breaking out from her cherub Disney days at 22 to star as a recovering but often spiraling teen addict, Rue Bennett, in HBO’s drama Euphoria. She points to 2014, recalling a black Emporio Armani jumpsuit Roach styled her in, paired with an oversize bowler hat that rightfully earned mixed reviews, inspiring headlines like “Who Wore a Super Huge Hat Better: Zendaya or Lorde?” “People were like, ‘Oh no, Zendaya’s gonna start looking like this now,’” she remembers, adding that she and Roach still love that look anyway. I ask for an example of when she started taking more risks on the red carpet. Back then, Zendaya wanted her styling to be age-appropriate, so even her juvenile ensembles are more adorably nostalgic than questionable. Sitting across from me at a table in a private back room at Crossroads Kitchen, a high-end vegan restaurant in West Hollywood, Zendaya grabs her phone to share another photo of the very first outfit Roach ever picked out for her: a chrome-colored metallic blazer and miniskirt combo she wore to Justin Bieber’s 2011 Never Say Never documentary premiere that she considered “edgy” as a teen and now admits is cute. Bra top, $864, panty, $710, Dilara Findikoglu. ![]()
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