Zendaya says her new film Challengers has gifted her the “most unapologetically cruel and direct” character she has ever played.

The Spider-Man actress attended the UK premiere of the Luca Guadagnino movie in London on Wednesday.

Speaking to Sky News, she says it is a joy to have added Tashi Donaldson to her acting portfolio.

“She is so complex, complicated and messy, and I appreciate that about a character,” explains the 27-year-old.

“I don’t think you always love her. I don’t think you always hate her either and that was my challenge, to make sure that she has fragility and sensitivity as well as harshness and directness.”

Zendaya adds: “I don’t necessarily always play the good guy. I like to believe I have characters that are multi-faceted and dimensional in some kind of way, and I think she is the most unapologetically cruel and direct character that I’ve played.

“It was interesting to play someone also who is closer to my own age – while we do get to see her at 18, we do also get to see her grow as a woman and visit and understand different parts of her life.”

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The Dune actress stars alongside The Crown’s Josh O’Connor and Tony award-nominee Mike Faist, who play two tennis players besotted with Zendaya’s Tashi.

Guadagnino, who previously directed Timothee Chalamet’s Call Me By Your Name and Bones And All, is at the helm of the project.

“When you first start a job, it’s like the first day of school, so we were all a little bit shy, working out how to be with each other,” says O’Connor, who previously won a Primetime Emmy award for his role in Netflix’s The Crown.

He says his character Patrick’s personality was the toughest task for him to portray.

“Luca [the director] took me to the side, took me by the ear and said: you’re the most confident man in the world. You have got to be so full of bravado, which was terrifying, but it was so good because it shook me out [of my shyness].”

O’Connor says, thanks to Challengers, he was able to raise funds for a mental health charity.

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“Being in the gym and having to get fit was a new thing but I loved it and because of doing this film, I carried on training and did the London Marathon for Mind charity, and it was the best thing I ever did.”

Challengers is in cinemas on 26 April.

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