Challengers Is A First For Zendaya In More Ways Than One

Superstar Zendaya has been acting professionally since 2010, beginning with the role of Rocky Blue on the Disney teen sitcom "Shake It Up." Her first film gig was playing the voice of Lollipop, a talking pony in "Super Buddies." Zendaya continued to star in teen sitcoms and high school dramas for over a decade, appearing in "Frenemies," several "Spider-Man" movies, the remake of "Zapped," and the acclaimed HBO drama series "Euphoria." It's worth noting that Zendaya was already 23 when she was cast in "Euphoria," forcing the actor to remain in high school for years after her real-life high school graduation in 2015 (figuratively speaking).

The number of times the 27-year-old actor has played an adult is scant. Her first "adult" role came in the 2021 film "Malcolm & Marie," on which she served as executive producer. That same year, Zendaya also played the voice of Lola Bunny in "Space Jam: A New Legacy," and Lola is certainly an adult character, even if she is an anthropomorphic rabbit. Incidentally, Lola was invented the year Zendaya was born. One might argue that Chani from the "Dune" movies is also an adult role, but both Chani and Paul Atreides are depicted as teens in those films.

Luca Guadagnino's new tennis/love triangle drama "Challengers," then, is only the third time Zendaya has professionally played an adult and the first time she's played a parent. "Challengers" begins when the three central characters — played by Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor — are 31 years old and facing down the tennis world's version of a midlife crisis. In a new interview with Vogue Magazine, Zendaya talked about playing a mom and her relief in not having to go back to high school.

It's worth noting, however, that "Challengers" is told in flashback, and at the beginning of the film, the three characters are 17 or 18, so Zendaya wasn't wholly free of playing a high schooler. The flashbacks also trace the three lead characters as they traverse the rockier parts of their 20s, and they each play teens, 20-somethings, and dejected 31-year-olds with equal aplomb. Zendaya found playing a slightly older character refreshing, saying to Vogue, "I'm always in a high school somewhere. [...] And, mind you, I never went to high school." That's something of an odd statement, as Zendaya did indeed graduate from Oak Parks High School in 2015. Perhaps she's referring to the fact that her performing, acting, and modeling careers probably kept her away from regular classroom attendance, and it's likely her education was completed remotely via on-set tutors and home-schooling.

Zendaya was happy to get away from lockers and desks, though. "[It] was refreshing," she said. "And it was also kind of scary because I was like, 'I hope people buy me as my own age, or maybe a little bit older,' because I have friends that have kids or are having kids."

Those who have been following Zendaya since her days at Disney might still see the actor as the precocious teenager she so often played, although she has been transitioning away from that studio's squeaky-clean image for many years, proven by her presence in the sex- and drug-soaked "Euphoria." Her ubiquity on billboards, on magazine covers, and now in a Luca Guadagnino film proves that she's well past the need to play high schoolers.

"Challengers" opens in theaters on April 26, 2024.