Dear Gossips,

Challengers opens tomorrow and, at least in entertainment media, the film seems to be everywhere. Zendaya seems to be everywhere.

Here she is on the cover of the new issue of Variety alongside co-stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

As Selome Hailu and Ramin Setoodeh note in the piece:

“If “Challengers” succeeds, [Zendaya] will cement herself as one of the most powerful movie stars of her generation, rivaled only by her “Dune” co-star Timothée Chalamet. Much is riding on the power of her serve.”

But it might be even more than that – and the “more” of it is in the title:

“How Zendaya’s star power and a sexy love triangle could give Gen Z its next movie obsession.”

Every generation has a catalogue of movies that become touchstones for connection. For many in my generation it’s The Breakfast Club, Stand By Me, Do The Right Thing... but also, that was before the now times, with so much to consume, on so many different platforms. How long does an obsession last? Or what qualifies as an obsession beyond the week that some songs or shows or films trend for?

If Challengers does indeed become “Gen Z’s next movie obsession” though, what are the benchmarks it has to be surpass, and what standards does it have to set?

This… is a lot of pressure. So I’m curious to see how it will perform.

That said, one way or another Zendaya will be fine. And not because of her pop culture status but because, well, she’s a work nerd. It made headlines a few weeks ago when Denis Villeneuve was on a podcast with Steven Spielberg and said that of all the actors he’s worked with, Zendaya’s the most likely to direct – and should. Luca Guadagnino is now saying the same thing. In a new interview with The New York Times published today Luca declared that:

“Because Z is a director. I told you many times, and I repeat it now to The Times.”

Directors are particular about their artform. They have too much ego to just throw it out there that so-and-so could be a director. With Zendaya what they’re seeing is the nerd in her. And the biggest giveaway to me that she is a nerd is what said in the NYT interview about other work nerds – it takes one to know one:

“I get to be with the greatest around me all the time, and I’m like, “Let me sponge and get as much from this as possible.” For many years, I was embarrassed to ask questions — I was like, “I don’t want to waste people’s time.” But you’d be surprised at how many people are like, “Oh my God, come on in. This is this film stock, this is the reference for this shot.” People love sharing what they do, and I’m lucky to be in a place where I can absorb it.”

It's true! People LOVE sharing what they do. I see this in Duana, who was the showrunner, writer, and co-director on her new show, Near of Far. She’s too conscious about not wanting to bore people when she’s asked to share what she does, but when she gets over that modesty (and I’m yelling at her all the time about this), she’s a nerd about it because she is also, on the other side of it, deeply interested in other people’s work. Zendaya has this quality, and it’s essential to being a director. You have to care and you have to understand what everyone does on a film set when you’re a director. You can’t just be thinking about yourself. This is what acclaimed directors are seeing in her. She doesn’t have the confidence yet, which is not a bad thing, but one day, one day it’s going to happen.

Click here for more on Challengers in Variety.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Zendaya Gossip

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