Zendaya recently shared her parents’ ‘hilarious’ reaction to her much-talked-about three-way scene in one of this year’s biggest films.
With Hollywood bouncing back after last year’s writer’s strike, 2023 has seen the release of some major blockbusters.
From Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 to Deadpool & Wolverine and Dune: Part Two, there have been plenty of films worth splurging on a cinema ticket for.
And earlier this year, we finally got the release of Challengers, where Zendaya took center stage in the lead role.
Fans were excited for many reasons, especially after the trailer teased a steamy three-way scene.
You know the one I’m talking about—when two young tennis players (played by Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor) are both vying for the attention of Zendaya’s character, Tashi Duncan.
The scene, which Zendaya said she ‘loved’ filming, takes place early on when the characters are teens.
But with all that hype, many fans couldn’t help but wonder how Zendaya’s parents would feel watching that particular moment.
During an April appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote the film, the 28-year-old actress said she ‘absolutely’ warned her big family before they attended the movie’s premiere.
But despite the heads-up, it didn’t exactly make them any more comfortable during the steamy scenes.
“Well, they know it’s a Rated-R movie,” Zendaya said.
“So I was like, you know walking into this, ‘if you can’t handle the heat, get out the kitchen’.”
She added, “But I forewarned them. It was honestly my favorite part of the night. Cause I’ve seen the movie many times.”
The best part for Zendaya wasn’t the movie itself, but watching her family’s reactions.
“I know when the scenes are coming, so basically when those scenes were happening, I just was watching my family because they were behind me.
“So I just watched them the whole time—it was hilarious.”
She couldn’t help but laugh as she saw them get ‘slowly more uncomfortable’ as the scene played out.
Even her ‘little nieces’ were there, and at 18 years old, they were apparently the ‘most uncomfortable’ watching their aunt in that kind of scene.
“It was my favorite part of the night,” Zendaya joked.
Though her family’s reaction gave her a good laugh, it wasn’t them that Zendaya was most nervous about watching the film.
She admitted she was ‘terrified’ when she learned that tennis legend Venus Williams would be attending the premiere.
The thought of Venus watching her portray a tennis player in Challengers really got her nerves going.
But when it comes to her family, Zendaya didn’t have too much to worry about.
As she pointed out in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, “They’ve all seen Euphoria, you know, so it’s not like our first rodeo or anything.”
Still, can you imagine your parents watching you share a three-way kiss with two guys on the big screen?
Yeah, that’s got to be pretty awkward no matter how many Euphoria episodes they’ve sat through!
