Zendaya and Nicole Kidman on EUPHORIA, BABYGIRL, CHALLEGERS and more for VARIETY Magazine

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In a new conversation for Variety’s Actors on Actors issue, Zendaya and Nicole Kidman discuss shooting another season of “Euphoria,” the physical tolls taken on their bodies during “Euphoria” and “Babygirl,” “Moulin Rouge!,” Kidman’s children’s obsession with Zendaya, the three-way kiss in “Challengers,” and more. 

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Zendaya on shooting another season of “Euphoria”:

“Anyway, you get so used to a character. It feels like a skin that you just slip on. Rue just falls into me. I’m not thinking about it so much. It’s just like, ‘Oh, she’s here now’…While it was emotionally and physically draining, it was so rewarding. I was so proud of it. It connected with people…We’re supposed to do another season. I’ve only done two, but it feels like five. One season of ‘Euphoria’ is like, ‘Phew!’”

Kidman and Zendaya on the physical tolls taken on their bodies while filming “Babygirl” and “Big Little Lies,” and “Euphoria,” respectively:

Kidman: “It’s really taxing going through all of those emotions. Your [body] doesn’t…”

Zendaya: “…know that it’s fake.:

Kidman: “No. So you’re putting yourself through the trauma. On ‘Babygirl,’ there were parts that are now not in the film that we shot that gave me—it was exhausting, but it was also just emotionally disturbing. The same when I was doing ‘Big Little Lies.’ That was disturbing to my body and my psyche, because I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. I would have real bruises all over my back and body.”

Zendaya: “I still have my Rue scars.”

Kidman: “My brain would say, ‘Hold on. You’re hurt.’ So I’ve done things where they clean my chakras and pray and get out the sage. Honestly, I’ll take whatever so I can step into the next place free, and not scarred or damaged or wounded. Which sounds like I’m batshit crazy, but I’m not. Even just a massage, where suddenly you get a beautiful touch. That’s healing, and we have to heal. I’m still learning not to sacrifice my body for the sake of the art, because part of me wants to. Having to value who I am, it’s a journey. But you seem very stable.”

Kidman on why starring in “Babygirl” was not a risk:

“As soon as I heard it was called ‘Babygirl,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I want to be the babygirl.’ And so much of it is the chemistry. [Director Halina Reijn] was like, ‘What about Harris Dickinson?’”

Zendaya and Kidman on “Moulin Rouge!”:

Zendaya: “You mentioned Baz Luhrmann. ‘Moulin Rouge!’ is one of my favorite movies of all time. I could sing the whole soundtrack right now if you needed me to…When I did ‘Greatest Showman,’ I kept referencing it so many times.”

Kidman: “Baz was so formative for me. I’d always done these weird films, but I was in my head going, ‘Gosh, I’m never going to get to do the great love story.’ Suddenly, ‘Moulin Rouge!’ came, and I’m like, ‘A musical love story? I can’t do this.’ Because I don’t feel confident with the voice. Then he slowly built me up.”

Kidman on her children’s obsession with Zendaya:

“I have a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old, so we’ve grown up with you…We’re obsessed. This is the highlight for me. I get to go home and go, ‘Look, Sunday and Faith: Zendaya!’”

Zendaya on the three-way kiss in “Challengers”:

“I got asked a lot about the three-way kiss scene in [‘Challengers’], and I was like, ‘Really, it’s a four-, five-, six-, seven-, eight-, nine-way kiss,’ because there’s so many people. There’s a camera coming at us at a certain time. I know that when I go from Mike [Faist] to Josh [O’Connor], when the camera comes in, I gotta move back. There’s so many things at play.”

Zendaya on what drew her to “Challengers”:

“I was sent the [“Challengers”] script by Amy Pascal. I actually did a mock table read at my agent’s house, because everybody knows I’m bad at reading scripts—I get sidetracked. It’s hard to keep my attention on one thing. I just loved it. It was heartbreaking, but also funny, but sexy, but around sports—but not really about sports. And she was a female character that felt very unapologetic. It wasn’t like the injury made her this way; she just is who she is. And then we sent it to [Guadagnino]. Our first Zoom call, I was so nervous. I was like, ‘Maybe he doesn’t want to work with me! What if he [doesn’t] even like me?’ But he just had such a deep understanding of these characters. It’s case by case for me. Sometimes it’s the director; sometimes it’s the project.”

Zendaya on doing theater:

“I haven’t done that yet. I’m so nervous…We talked about trying not to take it home with you, and I feel like delivering every day to a live audience, that’s a lot of energy coming at you. Sometimes multiple times a day. It is such an emotionally demanding thing to do…I’ve got to rip the Band-Aid off. Maybe one day I’ll do it. I’ll stop chickening out.”

[Photo Credit: Alexi Lubomirski for Variety Magazine]

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