King Richard The The Williams Method, in Spain, brings to the big screen the serena and venus father story. With Will Smith in the role of the father, who has already earned him the Golden Globe, the The film recounts the steps taken by Richard Williams to take his daughters from the humble neighborhood of Compton to the elite of world tennis. “Serena and Venus are going to revolutionize the world,” Papa Williams pointed out as he went out of his way to explain his infallible plan to turn his daughters into the best players on the planet.
The The final stretch of the film focuses on Venus Williams‘ first professional tournament. Presented to the Bank of the West Classic en Oakland con 14 aos. After beating Shaun Stafford in the first round, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario was measured, at that time the 2 of the WTA although in the film they present her as number 1.
Marcela Zacaras (27 years old) plays the Spanish in the film. The Mexican tennis player, currently 258th in the female ranking, adds 16 singles titles (all on hard court) and 25 doubles within the ITF circuit.
Marcela Zacaras, on the set, and Arantxa Snchez Vicario, in an image from 1994.
The film producer Trevor White spotted Zacaras at the WTA Newport tournament in early 2020. The Mexican fell in the first round against Sara Errani (6-1 and 6-2), but she fit perfectly with the profile that White was pursuing for the role of Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. “I was looking for professional players who spoke Spanish and looked a bit like Arantxa and I fit that description,” says Zacaras, who has Rafa Nadal as a reference, to MARCA.
I saw videos of Arantxa’s matches, we have many similar shots, I just had to change the serve”
The paper was not yet his. He won it on the track and racket in hand. He not only had to play and return balls from one side of the court to the other, but also show emotions inherent to the development of a match: anger, happiness, sadness… Shortly after, he received confirmation that he would make his film debut. “It was an amazing feeling because I’ve been playing tennis since I was very little and I was going to be in a movie about the Williams sisters and play an icon like Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario“Recalls Zacaras, who dyed her hair black to play the four-time grand slam winner.
The coronavirus pandemic delayed the production of the film. It was not until the end of 2020 that Zacaras headed to Los Angeles. It was six weeks between the quarantine prior to filming and the filming of their scenes. I shared sequences with Will Smith y Saniyya Sidney, the actress who plays the role of Venus Williams, and the Canadian tennis player Ayan Broomfield, Sidney’s body double.
Marcela Zacaras, Will Smith, Ayan Broomfield and Reinaldo Marcus Green, director of the film.
The chemistry between Zacaras and Broomfield, with two ITF doubles titles (Victoria, in 2014 and Petit-Bourg, in 2015) and partner of fellow tennis player Frances Tiafoe, it was noted on the set: “We have been friends since we were young. Before serving each point, we analyzed the blows we had given. We got along very well and that helped a lot. We repeat many blows. Director [Reinaldo Marcus Green] He explained to us more or less how he wanted the match to unfold”, reveals the semifinalist of the ITF Mexico 05A in November.
Zacaras used videos of Arantxa to prepare the character, including the duel with Venus in the Oakland tournament . “My shots are a bit similar to hers, I just had to change my serve,” he says. The filming of the encounter between Venus and Arantxa required two weeks of recording. It is the culminating moment of the film that some licenses are allowed.
The film licenses: number 1 of Arantxa and dramatization of the match
‘The Williams method’ advances Sánchez-Vicario’s number 1 status by a few months. That November 1994, Steffi Graf was leading the WTA ranking. The Spanish will not command women’s tennis until February 6, 1995. The development of the match also passes through the cinematographic sieve. With 6-0 and 3-1 up for Venus, it is recounted how Arantxa Snchez-Vicario heads to the locker room. “It throws her off. We can’t do anything. She just has to say she needs to go to the bathroom. It’s a dirty trick,” Jon Bernthal in the role of Rick Maccci, trainer of the Williams sisters.
“Nine minutes,” Will Smith despairs, as Richard Williams, in the changing room tunnel when he sees Zacaras return, as Arantxa, to the track. Venus no longer adds any game. The Spanish chained 11 consecutive to win by 0-6, 6-3 and 6-0. “It’s still early to say if she’s going to win Grand Slam tournaments. But she’s already a great player,” Arantxa said of Venus Williams at the time. “I’ve had a lot of joking comments about the scene where I go to the bathroom when Venus was winning, but deep down everyone is happy with the movie. It was shot with real tennis, no tricks.” on camera,” says Zacaras.
I’ve had a lot of joking comments about the scene where I go to the bathroom when Venus was winning.
The Mexican has experienced a similar situation in his career. “It has happened to me that some rival has gone to the bathroom but not for so long or they ask for the physio. I have never done it. I don’t think it helps me at all to do that, but there are those who do it and it works for them,” he says. . In the men’s circuit, for example, Andy Murray accused Tsitsipas at the last US Open of going to the bathroom for eight minutes before starting the fifth set to cool down the match. The ATP took steps this year to limit these types of breaks to one per match and to a maximum duration of three minutes, with an additional two if a change of clothes is required.
Zacaras has not only lived a dream with this experience in the cinema. He stays with the teaching of humility of actors of the stature of Will Smith: “When you see him from afar he seems like a very imposing person, he impresses you, but when you deal with him, he leaves you speechless. He is one of the most simple, humble, kind and cheerful people I have ever met”, he says of his shooting partner and firm candidate for the Oscar this year.
Marcela Zacaras with Serena and Venus Williams, at the premiere of the film.
On the red carpet of the premiere I coincided with Serena and Venus Williams (“I had a good time with her, we talked about moments in the film”), but she has not been able to speak with Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario to find out her opinion on her interpretation. He wouldn’t mind repeating it in the cinema, but while the season has already started. It has been marked to reach the Top 200, but above all to enjoy. “I want be happy playing tennis, fight for good results but without getting frustrated”. The Zacaras method.
