Just about everyone has heard of Venus and Serena Williams, and a new movie opening Friday tells a story that many people don’t know: how they became tennis legends. Will Smith stars as Richard Williams, who trained his tennis champion daughters.
Will Smith is Richard Williams, molding his daughters for greatness, in “King Richard.”
Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton play the future tennis champs.
Saniyya Sidney (plays Venus Williams): “We were always practicing, even when we were shooting tennis scenes. We would still go to our tennis lessons just to keep improving our skills.”
The actresses say they bonded pretty quickly with their big-screen family.
Demi Singleton (plays Serena Williams): “We had such an amazing time together. We would go to like Soul Cycle and…”
Saniyya Sidney: “Oh, yeah, I forced them all to go to Soul Cycle.”
Demi Singleton: “Yes, we needed the cardio, though, so it was good.”
Tony Goldwyn, who plays their first professional coach, is a tennis fan, but hadn’t known the whole story.
Tony Goldwyn (plays Paul Cohen): “When I read the script, I was like, ‘This can’t be true!’ You know, that Richard Williams had envisioned this entire thing before they were even born.”
“King Richard” swings into theaters on Friday.
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