“Challengers” | Anatomy of a scene

Hello, my name is Luca Guadagnino, I am the director and one of the producers of “Challengers”. In this sequence, we see the two male characters from “Challengers” – Patrick Zweig, played by Josh O’Connor, and Art Donaldson, played by Mike Faist – in their 20s. And they are very good tennis players. We meet them at Stanford, where Art attends school, while Patrick left his studies to become a professional tennis player. This scene in particular depicts a moment and an evolution in their friendship that was somehow sidetracked due to the arrival of a third person in their duo, which is Tashi Duncan, played by Zendaya. And what we see is basically a sort of sparkling rivalry game between these two young boys over Tashi. But at the same time, a jealousy which also inflames the relationship. Because these two guys are probably also jealous of each other, not just Tashi. “I think it makes me an honest man. You do not believe me ? “No, I’m just… I don’t know how she thinks about all this. I don’t want you to get hurt. Tashi’s character is sort of an invisible, but very deep presence in the scene. Did she say anything to you? I just feel like she doesn’t consider this a serious relationship. And I kept the shot long, because I felt like I had to stay with them to learn the grammar of their behavior, and their behavior together. And we cut away just once we realize that the manipulation game laid bare on the table by Art was spotted by Patrick. We therefore move on to a sort of reverse shot, in a very close-up, where Patrick gives a hug, in a slightly ambiguous way. So there’s sort of a constant battle between the two of them in that they fight, but they take care of each other. When the sugar passes over Patrick’s cheek, Art removes it with his hand in a very nice — and very intimate, I would say — gesture of kindness. But at the same time, they’re really tense. And I think it’s about being jealous of each other, but at the same time wanting each other, which is what we’re trying to play, and what Josh and Mike are doing a beautiful way in the sequence.