Zendaya's Tennis Movie, 'Challengers,' Tests Friendship Bonds of Complex Trio

Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival due to the actors strike. (AP)
Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival due to the actors strike. (AP)
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Zendaya's Tennis Movie, 'Challengers,' Tests Friendship Bonds of Complex Trio

Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival due to the actors strike. (AP)
Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” starring Zendaya, has been pulled from the Venice Film Festival due to the actors strike. (AP)

When Zendaya first read the script for director Luca Guadagnino’s romantic sports film “Challengers,” she immediately understood that the tennis player turned coach she would portray was unapologetic about her own power and how she wielded it.
“I also think that she isn't immediately dislikable, and she isn't perfect, and she isn't trying to be and we're not making any excuses for that either,” Zendaya said about her character, Tashi Duncan.
At the Los Angeles premiere of the film, Zendaya took to the stage in her neon green halter dress and urged audiences not to judge the characters in the movie too harshly, Reuters said.
For Zendaya, it is important to have complex characters like the ones in the movie, even if it means they are not necessarily likable.
The film focuses on Duncan, a former tennis prodigy who becomes a coach following a career-shattering leg injury.
She coaches her husband, portrayed by Mike Faist, who is a tennis champion facing a losing streak. Her strategy to help him win is a surprise tournament against his ex-best friend, who is also Duncan’s ex-boyfriend.
The movie explores the often-unpredictable bond between the three main characters and how it intersects with their joint passion for professional tennis.
The Amazon MGM Studios film arrives in theaters on Friday.
“We all are kind of very quick to judge characters,” said Josh O’Connor, who plays Duncan’s ex-boyfriend.
“But I think ultimately, the three of them have got this very complicated situation thrown upon them where they all kind of love each other," O'Connor said.
As Zendaya and her co-stars delved into their characters and built chemistry over 12 weeks, they began to understand more of the psychology of tennis players.
“It seems incredibly lonely, and it's just you out there," Zendaya said. "I mean, there's someone across from you, but really you feel very isolated on your own and there's so much mental fortitude to stay focused and there's so many people watching you and every point matters so much."
Adding to the layers of her character, Zendaya worked to learn more about the sport while filming, garnering a compliment from former tennis star Serena Williams.
She sported outfits inspired by the movie while attending premieres.
"I want to try to make it feel like it's still an extension of the creative process of the making of it (the film) too," she said.



George Harrison's Early Beatles Guitar Could Fetch $800,000 at Auction

George Harrison (R) jokes with Rolling Stones' Ron Wood during a tribute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden in New York in this October 16, 1992 REUTERS/Jeff Christensen JC/MMR/AA/File Photo
George Harrison (R) jokes with Rolling Stones' Ron Wood during a tribute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden in New York in this October 16, 1992 REUTERS/Jeff Christensen JC/MMR/AA/File Photo
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George Harrison's Early Beatles Guitar Could Fetch $800,000 at Auction

George Harrison (R) jokes with Rolling Stones' Ron Wood during a tribute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden in New York in this October 16, 1992 REUTERS/Jeff Christensen JC/MMR/AA/File Photo
George Harrison (R) jokes with Rolling Stones' Ron Wood during a tribute to Bob Dylan at Madison Square Garden in New York in this October 16, 1992 REUTERS/Jeff Christensen JC/MMR/AA/File Photo

An electric guitar played by the late guitarist George Harrison in the early days of the Beatles will go up for sale at an auction next month where it could be sold for more than $800,000.
Bought from a music store in the band's birth city of Liverpool, Harrison played the Futurama guitar in the early 1960s when the band performed at the Cavern Club, toured Germany and made their first official records for Polydor.
The auctioneers say the Futurama guitar, with its sunburst finish, was one of his most played. They call it "one of the holy grails of historic Beatles guitars" and said it is expected to exceed its estimate price tag of $600,000-$800,000.
Harrison said the guitar was "very difficult" to play but he liked what he called its "futuristic" look.
"It had a great sound," he later told a journalist.
In 1964, he donated the instrument to a rock magazine as a competition prize, but it remained with the publication's editor when the winner opted for a cash prize instead of owning a piece of rock and roll history.
The guitar will be on display at The Beatles Story in Liverpool for the next fortnight before being shown at other museums across Europe. It is due to be auctioned from Nov. 20-22 in the United States.