Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks came up with a novel way of bonding with their co-stars before they started to shoot their upcoming thriller, The Better Sister.
While many stars may connect over the script or characters, the pair had a different approach. "We took everyone to play padel, which is an indoor racket sport," explained Elizabeth.
What is padel?
Not heard of padel? You're not the only one. While pickleball seems to be making headlines as it grows in popularity across the world, Elizabeth assured us that padel tennis is the new star sport to play.
"It's a fancy pickleball," she chuckled. Elizabeth was speaking to an audience of critics, tastemakers and journalists – including HELLO! – at an exclusive screening event in Hollywood for The Better Sister alongside co-star Jessica.
"We took the whole cast to this padel place," she explained. "And not just once, because we got addicted. We played a lot. It was really bonding and fun because it was also like a day out. We all had to take the subway to Brooklyn and go to the place and run around – and then be really vulnerable on a court because this one [points to Jessica] is smashing overheads."
Jessica is another advocate for the sport, which is a mix of squash and tennis. "I've played it a decent amount," The Sinner actress admitted, advocating padel over pickleball. "Pickle is the thing, we get it. But padel is coming. Get ready! It's so fun."
The sporting contests between the cast was Jessica's idea and acted as the perfect bonding experience before the cameras started to roll on their new limited series.
"Padel is very fun," continued Elizabeth. "We did it pretty early on and then we did it decently often. I thought it was very grounding for all of us to just be sweaty around each other and play and compete and have fun. It was a great idea."
With a cast that includes Corey Stoll, Kim Dickens, Lorraine Toussant, Matthew Modine, and Maxwell Donovan, we just wish we were a fly on the wall for the sweaty sessions in New York, where the show was shot.
The Better Sister is released on Prime Video on May 29.