“Challengers” director Luca Guadagnino reveals peach moment is not “Call Me by Your Name” reference

"I think nods never should be gratuitous," the director tells "Entertainment Weekly."

Yes, there are two moments in Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino's new movie Challengers where peaches pop up. However, the filmmaker tells Entertainment Weekly that the fruit has a different meaning than fans may think.

The fruit makes a memorable appearance in Guadagnino's 2017 movie Call Me by Your Name when Timothée Chalamet's character masturbates into one. In the sizzling tennis drama Challengers (in theaters now), a bowl of peaches is shown when Art (Mike Faist) is waiting to play in one of the most important matches of his career. However, Guadagnino did not intend that to be a Call Me by Your Name reference.

"I think nods never should be gratuitous," he tells EW. "But they were a nod because we are in Atlanta, and the symbol of Atlanta is a peach."

Guadagnino adds that there is a second moment he used a peach in Challengers. "The daughter of Tashi [Zendaya] and Art, when she comes into the hotel room in Atlanta, she asks for the attention of the mother," he says. "And she comes into the room holding a furry peach."

Challengers serves up a scandalous love triangle that plays out in center court after best friends Art and Patrick (Josh O'Connor) meet ace tennis prodigy Tashi (Zendaya) and instantly become obsessed with her. Their dueling adoration intrigues her, and when they ask which of them she would be interested in, she raises the stakes and initiates a three-way make-out in their hotel room. The hookup sets all three on a complicated, messy path for years as they vie for love and tennis greatness.

— Additional reporting from Gerrad Hall

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.