Zendaya's co-star opens up on what it was like filming intimate scenes in Challengers threesome

Challengers star Josh O'Connor has opened up on what it was like to film intimate scenes with both Zendaya and their fellow male co-star.

Zendaya takes on the role of Tashi Duncan in the new tennis-themed movie; a young prodigy who finds herself in the midst of a very intense love triangle with two of her fellow players.

She's joined by O'Connor and Mike Faist, who play Patrick Zweig and Art Donaldson, respectively, and it's safe to say the tennis court isn't the only place where the players see some action.

The trailer alone depicts raunchy scenes and hints at a threesome taking place between the athletes, with writer Kuritzkes telling Variety: “Tennis, by its nature, is a very erotic sport... It’s very sexy."

The writer explained that director Luca Guadagnino felt it was 'very important that, in any love triangle, all the corners touch'.

"I quickly realized he meant it literally," Kuritzkes continued, which is how the film ended up with a steamy scene in which Patrick and Art start out kissing Tashi, but then begin to lock lips with each other.

Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist kiss in the movie. (MGM)

Commenting on the relationship between the players, O'Connor admitted he didn't know how to label the sexuality of his and Faist's characters.

“I think they’re everything,” he said. “I think it’s Platonic and non-Platonic. I think they’re obsessed with each other. I think it’s stronger than love - we need each other in order to feel complete.”

The actors worked with an intimacy coordinator to help make sure they were both comfortable and convincing in their scenes, with Zendaya telling Yahoo!: "With those scenes in general, they are very technical.

"The camera is involved. ... They are the fourth person. It's truly a lot more technical and put together more than people maybe understand ... Everything is choreographed, like a dance in many ways."

The actors worked with an intimacy co-ordinator. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

O'Connor added: "There are a number of aspects that make any scene work. I do think that trust in your other actors is vitally important, and that can be with things that are intimate like a three-way kiss or just generally doing any scene."

"When it comes to the intimate scenes, we had an intimacy coordinator," O'Connor continued. "Also, Luca had a very clear idea of how it was going to work, so you sort of design it like a dance. There's no question of, ‘What are we doing next?"

Challengers is set to be released in theaters on April 26.

Topics: Zendaya, Film and TV, Entertainment, Sex and Relationships

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.