Challengers Writer Reveals How Serena Williams Helped Inspire Zendaya Movie

Secrets and passions from the past come to the fore when Art and Patrick face off in a tennis tournament and former tennis player Tashi is left out.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com about what inspired his script for Challengers, screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes revealed that one tennis incident in particular sparked the idea for a potential cinematic moment.

Kuritzkes recalls: “I was watching the US Open in 2018 and it was the final between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams. And there was this really controversial call towards the end of the match where Serena Williams was penalized for receiving a practice on the sidelines, and she got upset and said that didn’t happen, but the referee still penalized her.

More like this

“And I had never heard of this rule that you’re not allowed to talk with your coach during the match, and it immediately seemed really cinematic to me.”

The screenwriter further explained how to exploit the emotions involved: “Yes, because you are all alone on this field, in this huge stadium, in this high-stakes match. And there is another person who cares as much about what’s happening to you that this is the case, and you can’t talk to them.

“And I started thinking, well, what if you were to talk about something really important? What if it was beyond tennis? What if it was about something that was happening in your life and you had to talk about it during the match? How would you do that?

“And so that was really the beginning of the movie for me.”

Although he emphasized how the moment with Williams helped inspire the film, Justin Kuritzkes was quick to point out that none of the characters in the film had a particular real-life counterpart.

“I mean, the characters are completely fictional,” he confirmed. “I’m obviously inspired by a lot of tennis players in terms of their stories on the tour, you know – like, for example, reading the book Open by Andre Agassi was a huge inspiration for the film, because it is so hyper specific about the life of an athlete and the feeling of being at the top of your game, falling in love with the sport and having to do it anyway.

“And I think it was really… it felt really new to me. I’d never heard anyone describe a life in sports like that. So things like that were very inspiring.”

Learn more:

The Challengers will arrive in UK cinemas on Friday April 26, 2024.

Check out more of our movie coverage or visit our TV guide and streaming guide to find out what’s on. To hear more about TV’s biggest stars, listen to The Radio Times podcast.