Zendaya on What Serena Williams Told Her After Watching ‘Challengers’ Performance

Zendaya is revealing what tennis superstar Serena Williams thought of her latest performance in Challengers.

The actress, who plays tennis player-turned-coach Tashi Duncan in the Luca Guadagnino-directed movie, recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight about her conversation with the legendary athlete.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

• The Power of Taylor, Ryan and Zendaya: THR, Launchmetrics Look at Luxury Brands That Won 2024 Awards Season

• Events of the Week: 'Challengers,' 'Abigail' and More

• Zendaya Reveals How She and Tom Holland Dodged a Speeding Ticket

“She was like, ‘I know there definitely weren’t real [tennis] balls,'” Zendaya recalled. “She knows. She’s the best of the best.”

The Dune: Part Two actress added that Williams also shared some praise, saying, “She did say that it was great considering that I had never, never touched a tennis ball before.”

The romantic sports comedy, which also stars Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, follows “three players who knew each other when they were teenagers as they compete in a tennis tournament to be the world-famous grand slam winner and reignite old rivalries on and off the court,” according to the film’s synopsis.

Zendaya previously told ET that she was “very nervous about her [Williams] seeing my tennis skills,” and “apologized in advance” to Serena and her sister, Venus Williams.

Earlier this week, at the Los Angeles premiere of Challengers, the Euphoria star revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that she got advice from her Dune co-star Timothée Chalamet about working with Guadagnino. Chalamet starred in Guadagnino’s 2017 film Call Me by Your Name.

“He said wonderful things,” Zendaya, who is also a producer on the film, shared. “Luca is brilliant and I’ve wanted to work with Luca for a very long time and this just seemed like the absolute perfect thing.”

Challengers hits theaters April 26.

Best of The Hollywood Reporter

• 13 of the Best Chase Scenes in Movie History

• Here Are All 13 of Taylor Swift's Documentaries and Live Concert Movies

• 11 of Pedro Pascal's Most Memorable TV Shows and Movies