King Richard's Venus and Serena actresses spent many hours in tennis training to prepare for the film. The recently released biopic centers on the true story of Richard Williams (Will Smith), the father and coach of tennis superstars Venus and Serena, who are portrayed in the film by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton respectively. King Richard's cast also includes Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, and Tony Goldwyn.
From director Reinaldo Marcus Green and first-time screenwriter Zach Baylin, the film follows the life of its titular Richard and his wife (Ellis) as they raise their total of five daughters in Compton, California, though Richard is dead set on Venus and Williams becoming tennis stars, even formulating a 78-page plan for them before they were born. Throughout the film, Richard employs the help of famed tennis coaches Paul Cohen (Goldwyn) and Rick Macci (Bernthal), though Smith steals the spotlight with his poignant performance, despite strong showings from the rest of the cast.
Now, in a recent interview with IndieWire, Sidney and Singleton are opening up about the amount of preparation that went into their roles as Venus and Serena Williams. Before they were cast, the two had never even played tennis before, which meant they had to spend countless hours perfecting their swings and serves to make their portrayals of the budding superstars as believable as possible. Read what the young actresses had to say below:
Singleton: The tennis training was a lot. It was hard. I feel like both of us were just so honored to help tell the Williams family story. So all the pain, and the soreness, and anger within myself for not getting it right, I feel like it all worked out in the end, because we finally came out with something that’s amazing.
Sidney: I was just like, "Oh, God, this is a lot harder than I thought." I remember thinking, "Oh, my God, I did so good." But the more often I think about it, I did so bad.
The extensive tennis training that Sidney and Singleton underwent to portray Venus and Serena can absolutely be seen on screen when they are practicing with their father, running drills with professional coaches like Cohen and Macci, competing in junior tournaments, to Venus' first professional match against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1994. Sidney and Singleton mastering the mechanics of tennis was paramount for making these scenes look realistic, and the two absolutely nailed that element of the performance, not to mention the more subtle aspects as well.
Smith began garnering Oscar buzz when King Richard debuted on the festival circuit in early September. Now that the film was released in theaters and HBO Max on November 19, that talk has been ratcheted up a degree. Whether or not the conversation surrounding Smith's Oscar-worthy performance as King Richard overshadows or helps draw attention to others in the film from Ellis, Sidney, and Singleton remains to be seen.
Source: IndieWire