Zendaya says new movie Challengers is ‘incredibly sexy’ despite there being NO sex scenes in the movie: ‘Tennis is the sex!’

Zendaya has branded her new movie Challengers ‘incredibly sexy’ despite there being no actual sex scenes in the movie.

The Euphoria star, 27, who plays a fallen tennis icon in the film, said ‘tennis is the sex’ in the storyline – despite the film’s steamy love triangle storyline between Zendaya’s character and co-stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist – being heavily trailed. 

She told People: ‘I’ve been asked a lot about sex scenes, like, “What was it like shooting the sex scenes?” from people who have seen the movie, and I’m like, “What sex scenes?”

‘And they’re like, “Oh my God, technically not really.”

‘We keep saying tennis is the sex in the movie, and I think tennis holds a metaphor for a lot of things: desires, passion, pain, anger, frustration. 

The Euphoria star, 27, who plays a fallen tennis icon in the film, said ‘tennis is the sex’ in the storyline – despite the film’s steamy love triangle storyline between Zendaya’s character and co-stars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist (pictured) – being heavily trailed

‘I think they all use tennis as this way of communicating with each other when they just don’t have the words.’

In Challengers, which is set for release on April 26, Zendaya’s character – an aspiring tennis star – gives up her career after suffering a major injury.

Instead, she focuses on coaching her colleague Art, played by Mike Faist, whom she falls in love with and marries.

But Tashi finds her feelings dangerously divided after Art is enrolled on the Challenger Tour, where he faces off against Tashi’s ex-boyfriend Patrick, played by Josh O’Connor.

The sizzling feature comes from Suspiria and Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino and boasts several steamy scenes.

The acclaimed filmmaker praised Zendaya’s talents, explaining she worked with tennis pro and former player Brad Gilbert to prepare for the part.

Luca gushed to Variety last October: ‘She’s wonderful. I mean, wow. We edited the movie and we almost actually don’t use any of her double. She’s so good.

He added that ‘all three leads spent like three months working very hard—technically, athletically.’

Zendaya stars as Tashi Duncan, a tennis star who gives up her career after suffering an injury. The film boasts several steamy scenes; seen with co-stars Mike and Josh

She said: ‘We keep saying tennis is the sex in the movie, and I think tennis holds a metaphor for a lot of things: desires, passion, pain, anger, frustration’

Zendaya is happily loved-up with Spider-Man star Tom Holland

In a recent interview, Zendaya admitted that having an intimacy coordinator on set was ‘very helpful,’ and praised them for keeping a ‘safe’ environment on set.

‘We had an intimacy coordinator which was fantastic and very helpful, because it was important that we felt safe,’ she told The Hollywood Reporter.

The film is suffused with ‘intense’ erotic scenes between Zendaya and her leading men, so the trio needed to find ways to decompress when they were on camera.

‘I spoke with my colleagues so that we could find a way to feel at ease. We played tennis together, we went out together, we rehearsed together,’ she shared. ‘We got to bond and feel good with each other.’