American actress Zendaya leads the Challengers cast with what is believed to be her most dramatic performance yet. Her masterful performance in Challengers is evidence of her growth as a performer from her younger days as a child model and Disney star. In the Luca Guadagnino-directed romantic sports film, Zendaya plays the poetic glue that holds the film’s main characters together.
With an initial release date affected by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Challengers premiered in Sydney, Australia, on March 26, 2024. However, it is scheduled for release by Amazon MGM Studios on April 26, 2024. Since its premiere, Challengers has received critical acclaim. Here’s the top Challengers cast and the characters they play.
Zendaya as Tashi Duncan
Zendaya plays Challengers’ protagonist, Tashi Duncan. Her character was a teen tennis prodigy with a career-ending injury at the peak of her career. Although she picks herself from the dust to become a tennis coach and marries a tennis champion, her tale in a Challenger is far from motivational. As her husband’s professional tennis coach, Tashi plots to help with his comeback after a losing streak. However, it puts her in a love triangle between her husband and his former best friend, as well as Tashi’s ex-lover.
With a growing list of credits outside of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Spider-Man movies, Zendaya stars in her first sports movie in a lead role (excluding her voice role in Space Jam: A New Legacy). With her role in Challengers, she completes the list with all three actresses who have played Spider-Man’s love interest playing a professional tennis player. Actress Kirsten Dunst from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy played pro tennis player Lizzie Bradbury in Wimbledon (2004), while The Amazing Spider-Man’s Emma Stone portrayed Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes (2017).
To help her prepare for the role of tennis coach, Zendaya worked with pro tennis player-turned-coach Brad Gilbert for three months. Most of Challengers’ praise regarding the cast performances has been Zendaya’s immensely portrayal of her character. While the threesome scene is one of the movie’s highlights, an intimacy coordinator was on set to make the actors feel much more comfortable.
Mike Faist as Art Donaldson
Mike Faist, an American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumnus, joins the Challengers cast playing Art Donaldson. Faist’s character is a successful professional tennis player who’s recently on a losing streak. Art Donaldson is married to former tennis prodigy-turned-coach Taishi Duncan. However, with Challengers interspersed with flashbacks, Art’s backstory shows he had a best friend while younger. The movie stretches over 13 years.
In the flashback, Art Donaldson and his best friend Josh O’Connor found themselves competing for the love and attention of a teenage Taishi Duncan. In the present, Art seems to have won as he’s happily married to Taishi. Although a career-ending injury takes Taishi out of the sport, Art offers her a job as his coach. As always, Taishi is committed to excelling as a coach.
When her husband continues his losing streak, she convinces him to enter a low-level championship that’ll help reignite his passion and winning. However, things take a surprising turn for the unsuspecting Art Donaldson, as he’s expected to play against his former best friend, Josh O’Connor. To make matters worse, he knows there’s still a powerful sexual energy between his wife and former best friend. Movie audiences will recognize the Art Donaldson actor from playing Riff in West Side Story (2021) and Roger Sharpe in Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2022).
Josh O’Connor as Patrick Zweig
British actor Patrick Zweig joins the Challengers cast as Josh O’Connor. Before his casting, Jacob Elordi, Austin Abrams, and Dominic Fike were initially considered for the role. Josh O’Connor completes the love triangle between Challengers’ leading married couple, Art Donaldson and Taishi Duncan. Without giving away spoilers, O’Connor is reunited with his best friend and ex-lover when Taishi decides her husband plays in a low-level championship. Besides the flashbacks to show their romantic connections and attractions, in the present, Josh O’Connor struggles to keep his feelings in check when he reunites with Taishi.
Although Patrick Zweig might not be close to an A-list actor, he has starred in several popular movies and TV shows. His most recent movie role includes portraying British photographer Antony Penrose in the Kate Winslet-led biographical drama Lee (2023). On television, he’s known for portraying Lawrence Durrell in The Durrells (2016–2019), Marius Pontmercy in Les Misérables (2019), and Charles, Prince of Wales in The Crown (2019–2020).
Besides these three lead actors, the Challengers cast also includes actors playing several supporting characters. Nada Despotovich and Naheem Garcia play Taishi Duncan’s mother and father, respectively. Others include Darnell Appling as New Rochelle Final Umpire, AJ Lister as Lily Donaldson, Jake Jensen as Finn Larsen, and Hailey Gates as Helen. If you enjoyed reading about the Challengers cast, read meet the cast of John Krasinski’s ‘IF.’
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