On the day of the start of qualifying for the next US Open draw, the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams became a mother for the second time. The tennis legend, who turns 42 next month, has given birth to a daughter named Adira River. Now Williams and her husband, businessman and investor Alexis Ohanyan, have two children; six years ago, the athlete gave birth to a daughter, Olympia. Perhaps Serena’s children are destined to make her mother’s dream come true: to make it big in movies.
Energetic and creative, Williams Jr. has tried to be a versatile person since childhood. He would do his sisters’ hair and present himself as a great stylist, sew dresses and praise the career of a successful fashion designer. And between tennis practices, he wrote comics and poetry. But most of all, the girl dreamed of the stage and the cinema: in school performances, Serena loved to play sorceresses and sorceresses, she enjoyed the applause of the audience and dreamed that one day she would be on the set and meet the stars. cinema. After her success in the ballgame, the American she was introduced to the film industry, but her success bypassed her.
He wrote and acted in a film in which his brother defeated the Queen of England.
Serena has never been afraid of experiments on and off the court; no doubt just a crazy belief in her own exclusivity. In 2010, she wrote and starred in Seven Days of Hell, a comedy with an incredible plot, according to which the father of Serena and Venus Williams adopts a boy named Aaron. It turned out that she had a great gift for tennis: training with her sisters allowed her to become a tennis superstar. It’s just that Aron’s discipline turned out to be very bad: he enjoyed parties, he met the most beautiful women, he drank black, and Dad Richard kept taking him out of the police station.
Serena and Venus at the premiere of Money for Two (2005)
Photo: Frank Trapper/Getty Images
And one fine day, Aron made it to the Wimbledon final, where the real rubbish began. During the match, her opponent beat the Queen of England, Williams senior helped the stewards tame the player who ran onto the pitch, fell in love with her and had sex, and Serena promised the misjudging referee that I would shove the ball down his throat. Critics did not appreciate the creation due to the evident search for “game” in the frame and made it clear to the tennis legend that violent fantasy does not always equal a masterpiece.
The desire to improve is in Williams’ blood: in order to achieve a decent level on the set, he took lessons at the Dramatic Art Studio in New York. “My dream is to star in an action movie. Obviously, this role suits me, ”the tennis player admitted back in 2001. Serena’s obsessive desire to succeed in the cinema has caused criticism from famous tennis players: Chris Evert, 18-time winner of the single “Helmets”, even wrote a letter to Williams, literally begging him to focus on his tennis career.
Serena’s rare work received positive reviews from film critics, but she did not listen to anyone and continued to work on herself. The first appearance of her on the television screen occurred when the girl was 20 years old – she played a kindergarten teacher in the family series “My Wife and Children.” “I couldn’t get over the excitement and relax, I even took a sedative,” Williams trembled. “I am ashamed of this role, I was as unconvincing and squeezed as possible.”
He played a teacher who survived a plane crash and the victim of a maniac.
In 2021, King Richard, a drama about the father of the Williams sisters, grossed more than $32 million at the box office and received six Oscar nominations. Serena and Venus were consultants on the film, and the great success of the film prompted Williams Jr. to make a sequel; he wants her to focus more on his ups and downs both on and off the court. The champion admitted that during the second pregnancy she made sketches for the script. “Even if nothing happens, the material will be used for her memories,” dreams Serena.
The Williams sisters with their father Richard.
Photo: Paul Harris/Getty Images
Will Smith piercingly and convincingly played the father of tennis players in “King Richard” – it was these characteristic guys that Serena always admired and aspired to play similar roles. After her first job failed in 2003, she played a woman released from prison and convicted of drug trafficking in an episode of the television series Street Time. Williams so wanted to impress the audience that there was a clear outburst of emotions – the famous Leonardo DiCaprio once spoke about such a phenomenon.
“I auditioned for Life of This Guy, starring Robert De Niro. I always admired this actor. I really wanted to surprise him, and during one of the scenes I added drama and yelled, “Ahhh!” You should have seen my face, as well as Robert’s surprise. He took me aside and he said, “Are you okay? Take it easy, nobody is going to kill you.” I remember that lesson forever,” Leo admitted.
Another flop didn’t make the tennis player stop, that’s why she and Serena, so as not to listen to anyone. In 2004, she played a basketball player in the series “Law and Order”, whose father was suspected of murder, and a year later a real frenzy ensued.
In the television series The Women’s Brigade, the woman played by Williams was kidnapped by a maniac who held her captive for 20 years in a small room. The drama recounts the hardships she had to face with the captive during and after her imprisonment. Neither this role nor her participation in the famous TV series ER (she played a teacher who survived a plane crash) brought Serena recognition.
“The problem with Serena is that she acts the same in every scene. This is especially surprising in the context of other professional actors. Just like on the tennis court, she tries very hard, but on set she regularly hits the net or goes out of bounds. At the same time, she unfortunately does not accept any criticism, ”film critic Michael Boss complained.
He played on the same set with Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway.
After a series of failures, Williams finally faced the truth: she realized that she was not meant to play the leading roles. “Now I shoot to the soul. I just go out there and try to be myself. It’s a pity that I didn’t understand earlier, maybe everything would have been different, “the six-time winner of the US Open lamented. However, this did not stop the girl from starring in the second-rate comedy “Beauty Shop” (2016 ).
Anne Hathaway, Anna Wintour and Serena Williams
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Today, what is important for an athlete is not recognition, but the opportunity to communicate with well-known stars of the film industry. In the comedy Ocean’s Eight (2018), the tennis player played herself in an episodic role, but she chatted a lot with Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett and other prominent Hollywood figures.
So far, Serena’s latest film work has been the Netflix film Glass Bow – Knives Out, starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton and Kate Hudson, which was released in 2020. Williams played a personal trainer at the gym while the two main characters spoke.
After the birth of her second child, Serena will have little time for other activities, but there is no doubt that she will return to the set. After all, tennis is not only played by champions, but also for pleasure. With the cinema, Williams has the same relationship.
