Zendaya has named her role as Tashi in the 2024 film "Challengers" as the most challenging of her career, describing the character as "crazy" and admitting the part unnerved her. It marked a significant step for the star, who rose to fame through Disney Channel roles before breaking into mainstream adult cinema with parts in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Euphoria", and required her to embody a morally ambiguous, unfamiliar type of character.

In "Challengers", directed by Luca Guadagnino, Zendaya plays a former tennis star caught in a love triangle with her ex-boyfriend and husband, manipulating both men's careers and emotions in a way that departed sharply from the more sympathetic roles she had previously played. She told Vogue the script was "really, really strong and a little crazy" and confessed to Variety that she was "kind of scared" of Tashi, having typically played easier-to-empathise-with characters before. The film, released in 2024, was well received and earned Zendaya a Golden Globe nomination, cementing her transition from teen star to serious Hollywood actor.