Daniel Craig left the theater feeling slightly underwhelmed after watching Challengers. Speaking on Variety’s Actors on Actors, the James Bond star admitted that he found the famous intimate scene in Luca Guadagnino’s film rather anticlimactic.
Daniel is currently promoting his latest film, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, in which he plays an American immigrant in Mexico who becomes infatuated with a younger man (Drew Starkey).
The 56-year-old actor recently sat down with Josh O’Connor, who worked with the Italian director on the romantic sports drama Challengers.
Daniel Craig held nothing back when describing one of the most famous scenes from Challengers
Image credits: Lia Toby/Getty Images
“The cool thing about Luca is he’s not afraid to take some source material and stretch it out and make it into something through his eyes,” Josh said in the December 17 talk.
“Obviously, I love the end of [Challengers],” Daniel responded. “I love where it goes to: All of that setup, and you get to the moment. Which is what Luca’s about — he wants to hit the moment of love.
“And you see a love between the two guys that trumps everything around it. I’m just a sucker for it. What else is there?”
The film explores a complicated love triangle involving Tashi (Zendaya), a former tennis prodigy turned coach after an injury; her husband, Art (Mike Faist), whom she trains; and Patrick (Josh O’Connor), Tashi’s ex-boyfriend as well as Art’s rival and former best friend.
The characters’ relationships culminate in the men’s match on the ATP Challenger Tour.
In a famous intimate scene from the film, Tashi and the two men kiss on a hotel room bed, but they do not engage in an actual threesome, as she stops things before they can escalate any further.
The James Bond actor was expecting more from the sports drama film’s bedroom scene
“I think that’s what was going on in this film: Yes, there’s the tennis backdrop, but the desire these three people had for each other that’s torn apart,” Josh told Daniel. “And there’s an invisible magnet that’s dragging them back together. That was definitely a Luca component that was bubbling underneath.”
Daniel couldn’t help but comment on the viral scene from the film that left him quite disappointed.
“The scene in the hotel room, where they don’t have s*x with each other, is the biggest c**k tease in movie history,” he quipped.
Zendaya, on the other hand, said she “loved” filming the steamy scene.
“The scene in the hotel room, where they don’t have s*x with each other, is the biggest c**k tease in movie history,” the British actor said
“The intimate scenes were so good – I loved it. I felt very lucky to be partnered with those guys,” the Golden Globe winner told The Mirror ahead of the film’s release in April.
“And whatever the moment, it always felt like they always had my back and I had theirs.
“We were so lucky to have a director in Luca Guadagnino who really encouraged us all to collaborate and to bring our own ideas.
“It was a really exciting creative process.”
Describing her character, the actress said: “She’s a go-getter, and she is totally ruthless.”
Zendaya, who’s not a massive fan of physical exercise, trained for six weeks to look like a tennis pro.
“How did I meet the physical challenges of the role? With great difficulty. I am not one of these people who love to work out. But Tashi is supposed to be a top athlete, so there was no getting around it,” she added.
“Thankfully, I had an amazing group of people who helped and I learned a lot – about air tennis especially and how to look like I know what I’m doing. We trained for something like six weeks, which was pretty tough.
“Hopefully, we did a good job, and people won’t be too upset. But I’m not about to give up the day job, that’s for sure! Playing tennis was definitely the most challenging part of making Challengers.”
Challengers actor Josh O’Connor praised director Luca Guadagnino for how he handled the characters’ chemistry in the love triangle
The Call Me By Your Name filmmaker explained that the iconic bedroom scene wasn’t originally in the script. “The idea [is] that Tashi can see what they don’t want to see or they cannot see, which is this incredible attraction that they have not only for her but also for one another.
Guadagnino highlighted how the love triangle underscored themes of youthful desire and jealousy. “We discussed at length with Justin [Kuritzkes, screenwriter] the concept that the triangle needs to flesh out the possibility that all the corners touch — that if you’re jealous of someone, you’re not jealous of your partner, you’re jealous also not to be picked by the rival.
“You want to be the object of the affection of the rival, so you’re jealous of not being part of it as much as you are jealous of your partner being chosen.”
You can watch Variety’s Actors on Actors conversation between Daniel Crag and Josh O’Connor below
Image credits: Variety
The film received four Golden Globe nominations: Best Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy, Best Actress in a Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy (Zendaya), Best Original Score, and Best Original Song (Compress/Repress).
Guadagnino’s latest film, Queer, is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs. Set in 1950s Mexico City, it follows William Lee, an American expatriate, and his relationship with GI and fellow American Eugene Allerton.
Jason Schwartzman, Henry Zaga, Omar Apollo, and Lesley Manville also star in the period drama.
“The threesome scene is blown way out of proportion,” a viewer said
