Challengers Is About to Make Mike Faist a Huge Star

For a certain group of film fans, this week feels like school just got out for the December holiday break. The wide release of Challengers is finally imminent — if you’ve been anxiously waiting to see it, welcome to the club. Our final countdown is here! (If you are one of the lucky folks who already attended a screening, please be cool.) Between the tension-filled trailers, Zendaya’s unbelievably stylish press tour, the heart-pounding score remix, or the thrill that comes from having director Luca Guadagnino’s name front and center, hype is incredibly high in the cinema community for the forthcoming tennis drama.

Zendaya is a true A-list talent, and she’s having an especially great 2024 between the enormous success of Dune: Part Two, the great reviews for Challengers, and the presumptive cancellation of Euphoria. But as we get closer and closer to the film landing on the big screen, I’ve found myself concerned with her co-stars. The drama at the heart of Challengers is between Zendaya’s character, Tashi, Josh O’Connor’s Patrick, and Mike Faist’s Art. It’s that last name we gather here to discuss today, because Mike Faist is due to become a full-fledged movie star.

Naturally, as someone who is a huge fan of Faist, I’m thrilled to see his career take off in such a huge way — I’ve been here for years, proudly carrying the banner, so to speak. But this is a Luca Guadagnino project of the star-making kind we’re talking about, so before the actor is launched from living as a beloved figure in certain theater-adjacent circles to a new threshold of fame, let’s dig through some of his essential work.

The best starting point for any Mike Faist itinerary is onstage: In 2011, he originated the role of Morris Delancey in Newsies (which yes, I did end up seeing once it transferred to Broadway). The Delancey brothers are the villains of the story, but that doesn’t mean Faist was any less lovable in the role or production, one positively jam-packed with the most exaggerated Brooklyn accents you’ve ever heard. It takes a lot to tear focus away from Jeremy Jordan, and Newsies is full to the absolute brim with young talent, but playing a scrappy, young villain can be as much fun as playing the lead. Faist understood the assignment — and besides, his offstage sweetness felt like the cherry on top.

The professional filming of the stage musical is on Disney+ right now — if you were so inclined, you could close out this article right now and start watching, and I wouldn’t even be offended — but unfortunately, it was filmed after Mike Faist had moved on the production. (Those who were following its Broadway run, 2012 – 2014, remember searching the depths of Tumblr for clips of the original cast, and combing through the backstage vlogs.)

There’s also the very noteworthy Dear Evan Hansen, which followed the trajectory of a show like Hamilton and broke beyond the Broadway ecosystem to become a full-fledged cultural phenomenon. Here, Faist starred opposite Ben Platt as troubled teenager Connor Murphy, a performance that earned him a nod at the Tony Awards.

As someone who was lucky enough to catch Faist in a live performance, I can confirm that there’s something electric about watching him onstage; the energy shifted depending on his involvement in certain scenes. It’s something the creative team behind the West End stage adaptation of Brokeback Mountain probably noticed, too — Faist went on to lead that production opposite Lucas Hedges. In Dear Evan Hansen, though, Faist held his own against the headline-making, Tony-winning performance by Ben Platt, believable and haunting behind his grown-out curtain of hair.

One of Faist’s big general public breakthroughs honestly should have been even bigger: I’m referring, of course, to Steven Spielberg’s masterful 2021 adaptation of the classic West Side Story. While Faist’s performance as Riff was certainly acclaimed, he deserved to go all the way to the Oscars for his performance as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang. He’s a live wire onscreen as Riff, playing him deeply dangerous and unpredictable while still managing to find moments of humanity.

West Side Story is a masterclass in how to bring a musical to the screen, not just in how gorgeously it was shot, but in how it was cast. There’s so much Broadway talent in the mix — Ariana DeBose rightfully took home the Oscar for her turn as Anita; former Billy Elliott David Alvarez is a powerful Bernardo. Rachel Zegler, of course, is nothing short of revelatory as Maria. Mike Faist slides right into the mix and the former Newsie energy jumps out in moments like his tiff with Tony at the docks, confirming that Steven Spielberg should honestly direct more musicals because he knows how to make them come all the way to life.

So for anyone prepping to slip and fall into Mike Faist nation, there’s more good news: Not only will he be in Challengers, but he’s also part of the cast of The Bikeriders, set for release this June. All years should have multiple Mike Faist theatrical releases — hopefully 2025 and beyond will learn this important lesson.