WATCH: Zendaya Dishes About Her Role As Tashi Duncan in New Film, Challengers

Zendaya opens up about her role as Tashi Duncan, a tennis player turned coach, in her latest film &#039;Challengers.&#039;

Transcript

00:00 - Tashi is a departure from a lot of the characters

00:02 we've seen you play before.

00:03 And for one, we see her from childhood to adulthood.

00:05 And it's our first time seeing you in your 30s.

00:09 It's our first time seeing you as a mom.

00:10 So I'm kind of curious how you were able to kind of strike

00:13 those nuances while still showing her as a dynamic

00:17 powerhouse personality from being 17, 18 to being 30, 31.

00:22 - Yeah, you know, it's interesting.

00:25 I think for me, it's kind of a luxury to be able

00:29 to like carry a character through time,

00:32 because it means you don't have to create a backstory

00:34 for them, you already know where they were

00:36 and what happened to them and how they got the way they are.

00:39 And so for me, it was just about tracking emotionally

00:44 who she is and where she's at and what that injury does

00:49 to her and what, as she's older, what, there's like a,

00:55 when they're younger, there's a certain level of levity

00:59 and joy, there's like a sparkle, you know what I mean?

01:02 That over time fades and becomes jaded and becomes

01:07 desperate to just hold on to whatever she can

01:13 and keep her life together.

01:16 And this composure or this idea of a false composure,

01:21 maybe that she's portraying to other people,

01:24 because I think she's responsible being a coach,

01:26 being this, having all these duties, being a coach,

01:31 a mother, whatever, a business woman, she just,

01:35 she feels like she doesn't have the time to wallow

01:38 in her own self-pity or her own pain,

01:42 which I'm sure is an experience many women,

01:44 specifically black women face, right?

01:47 And so she just pivots and pushes forward

01:52 and we see through that pushing,

01:55 the cracks are starting to form.

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