Zendaya Asks Fellow Tennis Filmmaker Serena Williams for Life Advice

Zendaya trades in her high-school backpack for a tennis racket in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, out April 26, in which she stars as a tennis prodigy turned twink-collector coach — so it only makes sense that for her dual Vogue and British Vogue cover story, Serena Williams hopped on the line. Williams is no stranger to tennis films herself, having executive-produced King Richard about her own upbringing. But rather than delve too deep into Zendaya’s training (let’s just say, the tennis ball was added in post), the pair discussed their unique shared experience beginning their careers as children.

“I don’t know how much of a choice I had,” Zendaya said. “I have complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor. We’ve seen a lot of cases of it being detrimental. … And I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to go, ‘Oh, okay, wait a minute: I’ve only ever done what I’ve known, and this is all I’ve known.’” The actor, who got her start on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up when she was 14 years old, added that becoming her family’s breadwinner so early altered her ability to appreciate career wins. “I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try shit,” she added. “And I wish I went to school.”

Williams commiserated, sharing that she had to find those options later in life by going to design school and launching her venture-capital firm. When “Z” asked for advice, Williams joked, “Ask someone else.” “I’d love to pick your brain about life and business. I think I need more mentors and community and people around,” Zendaya said at the end of their call, which the star pitched to Vogue. Could this interview — nay, perhaps this entire tennis-centric movie — all be a long con to become friends with Serena Williams? If so, it’s entirely worth it and apparently working. The ball’s in Williams’s court.