Challengers' Zendaya and co-stars reveal how real their tennis scenes were

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Challengers stars Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist have told how real the physically demanding tennis scenes in the film were - and how some of them took it more seriously than others.

The stars of the film about a romantic triangle in the tough world of competitive tennis joined The One Show on Thursday to reveal how they had prepared for their roles.

Blue Lights stars Sian Brooke and Martin McCann were also in the studio talking about their close friendship forged by working together on the Belfast police drama.

What, how, and why?

Taking on the lead roles in a sporting film certainly comes with a lot more preparation than many acting jobs, and Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist have opened up on the tough regime they faced to be convincing in Challengers.

But the stars admitted that some of them took getting fit a little more seriously than others as they stopped in to The One Show to talk about the film where they feature as tennis players.

Zendaya said: "We had an incredible group of people to train us. We had many, many weeks of tennis training. We trained beside each each other, we did tennis practise together, we had incredible tennis body doubles who made us look good.

"I have respect and admiration for the people who play tennis. It's tough, I'll tell you that."

O'Connor and Faist's characters are rivals both on and off the court in Challengers, but they revealed that one of them entered into the competitive spirit more than the other during training.

Watch: Challengers official trailer

Asked whether the sweat-soaked on court scenes were authentic, O'Connor said: "To be fair, Mike Faist when they called cut was running around the court doing laps, push ups, star jumps. I would say most of the sweat seen on Mike Faist is his sweat. Most of mine isn't, it's fragranced water."

Faist explained that they had been given a strict nutrition and training plan to prepare for the film.

"(O'Connor and I) were like, ok let's do this together," Faist said. "I found out a week ago Josh did not stick to the nutrition plan, he just ate whatever he wanted."

What else happened on The One Show?

Blue Lights stars Sian Brooke and Martin McCann were also on Thursday's show as they talked about the Belfast police drama's return for season two.

McCann revealed his admiration for Brooke, saying: "It's lovely getting to wake up in the morning and work with Sian. Every day is like an acting masterclass. I do think she's one of the finest actors in the country and definitely the finest actor I've worked with. I love her dearly."

Brooke told how she had "a head start" for the series as her father had been a police officer: "It was part of the fabric of my childhood. His uniform would be in the wardrobe and it wasn't alien to me, I was able to see the person behind the uniform. And that's a big part of the show."

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays.

Read more: Zendaya

• Zendaya attends Challengers premiere in London (ITN, 2 min read)

• Zendaya was inspired by the 'mothers in my life' while portraying Challengers character (People, 3 min read)

• Zendaya serves an ace in a 1994 Vivienne Westwood skirt suit with a fabulous feather bustle (InStyle, 2 min read)