"Mike Faist had to eat between 8000-10000 calories a day" - Coco Gauff's coach Brad Gilbert reveals 'Challengers' star's intense training regimen

Coco Gauff's coach, Brad Gilbert, recently shared details about his experience working with the actors on the tennis-themed film 'Challengers.' He opened up about Mike Faist's rigorous training regimen and diet as the actor prepared for his role as Art Donaldson.

Gilbert has had a prolific coaching career, guiding American tennis legends like Andre Agassi to six Grand Slam titles and assisting Andy Roddick in winning the 2003 US Open. Before coaching Gauff, he coached notable players, such as Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Alex Bogdanović, and Sam Querrey.

In a recent interview with Variety, Brad Gilbert revealed that Mike Faist had to undergo a significant weight gain diet for his role in "Challengers." Gilbert said Faist was thin and that the producers needed him to gain 30 pounds to fit into his role because he had a later start compared to his co-stars Zendaya and Josh O'Connor.

“Mike had to eat between 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day because they wanted him to gain weight. He was coming off ‘West Side Story,’ and he was super thin. He had to work on his tennis and gain like 30 pounds. I had Zendaya in Los Angeles, so we got her on a program right away, and Josh was working, so [Faist] had the latest start.” Gilbert said

Gilbert added that Faist’s character draws inspiration from the playing styles of Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, especially their big serve and one-handed backhand, and this helped in shaping the actor's gameplay.

“Mike’s character was built on that classic Roger Federer and Pete Sampras play. He’s supposed to have a big serve and a one-handed backhand, so we had more of an idea with his game.” Gilbert said.

---

Coco Gauff's coach Brad Gilbert shares how Zendaya "prepared" him to coach reigning US Open champion

Coco Gauff at the Mutua Madrid Open - Day Three

In the same interview, Gilbert also stated that coaching Zendaya on the set of the movie 'Challengers' helped him prepare to coach Coco Gauff.

Before Gilbert started coaching Gauff in August 2023, he was part of the crew for the tennis-themed movie, which premiered in April 2024. Since his coaching partnership with Gauff, the 20-year-old has won the US Open, Cincinnati Masters, the Washington Open, and the 2024 ASB Classic in Auckland.

Gilbert stated that he took Zendaya to watch some tennis matches to help her form her character and later told her that she somehow prepared him to coach Coco Gauff.

“What helped her early on was I took her to a Pepperdine University vs. Arizona State men’s match. We went to UCLA for a women’s match. When the match was over, Z didn’t want to leave. She stayed and took a lot of notes, and I think the visual of seeing it live helped her form some thoughts on her character,” Gilbert said.

“In some sense, and I told Zendaya this, she somehow prepared me to get ready to coach Coco,” he added.