Layla Crawford is starstruck on and off the tennis court.

The 17-year-old actress exclusively told E! News about her experience working with Venus and Serena Williams on the set of King Richard.

“They’ve visited us on set. We’ve gone out to dinner with them a few times, talk to them on the Zooms and things like that,” Layla said at Cirque du Soleil’s Red Carpet Premiere of OVO on March 16. “They’re really nice. They’re very sweet people, very supportive.”

She added, “And they’re pioneers, especially for young Black women like me, so it means a lot.”

Thought it was an incredible experience, she said that working on the film with the tennis stars also added pressure for the cast to do their best to represent their story. Layla, who plays Venus and Serena’s sister Lyndrea Price, described it as “beautifully overwhelming.” 

“A lot of people know that they wanted to make sure the movie was to their standard,” she said. “So the fact that they like signed on it and they loved it, it just means so much to me, because not only are we exploring their world, we are honoring them and their story. It’s such an important one that that needs to be told.”