MoviesNewsTalk
Zendaya a known actress who usually played teens in past performances like in the Euphoria series or in the Spider-Man series made a jump to more mature roles specifically for her newest film titled Challengers. In a recent roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter Zendaya indicated a big shift in role choices and explained her feelings toward leaving behind adolescent characters. The discussions featured other actresses like Angelina Jolie showcasing Zendaya's growing influence within Hollywood and the industry.
Zendaya noted the transition from adolescent characters into more adult roles in Challengers prompted her to step outside her comfort zone. The new challenge came from wanting to represent more mature parts. In Challengers Zendaya was both the lead actress and played a large production role that she notes is different compared to past performances that only needed acting skills. Zendaya found this challenging because the process involved additional decision-making on a film's final shape in addition to performing the part that required additional skillsets.
Zendaya mentioned being drawn to the complex passion of tennis star Tashi Duncan in Challengers which mirrors her own intense devotion to acting which has made her a global movie star. Zendaya's career started very early so her own concerns about career continuity is highlighted when asking what do I do if this disappears that mirror that fear Tashi experiences losing her passion. Zendaya expressed how being fully engaged from young age is a struggle to differentiate life outside work and stated “Wait who am I when I’m not working?” as she expressed she has also begun taking on new hobbies in her personal life such as pottery and baking to find enjoyment and activities that aren’t connected to entertainment industry and to define life and find joy apart from work which shows growth as both person and artist.
Zendaya admitted she experiences a conflicted personal opinion regarding the concept of child acting because of seen negative impacts upon young people in media from a young age that highlights the need for support and care. Despite her personal challenges growing up in front of the public Zendaya recognizes positive things from the opportunities while acknowledging specific areas like privacy for growth that are harder. Zendaya feels that having to “figure out who you are in front of the world” is an isolating situation where one cannot make mistakes or be fully self-defined because of the need to appear appropriate. Zendaya also mentions her desire to please everyone yet not fully know who her authentic self was as challenges in young media fame life.
Zendaya recognizes her demanding nature and perfectionism she often feels when approaching a project. To prepare for her part as Tashi Duncan Zendaya faced tough learning curves to show the authentic skill and movement. She felt she was “in way over my head” with training as tennis required skills completely unknown to her at the time with coordination requirements that were intense and complex for the player character to convey. Zendaya who usually wears glasses struggled to see ball during this training using this frustration to find her own way to get the role completed showing innovation and new creative angles to prepare. Zendaya approached the project through her dance background seeing the moves of a tennis player as a complex choreographed series for each game in a similar fashion as her past training with dancing styles. After finding this perspective the work seemed easier and more accessible and more realistic when portrayed in final production that had even Serena Williams mention her excellent ability and talent although they noted no real balls were used. Zendaya noted her performance in Challengers led to Golden Globe nomination further exemplifying her hardwork to master the sport.
Zendaya noted that during Challengers training period that included many exercises with Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist put her body into the best shape that she had ever felt. The production crew put Zendaya into extremely heavy constrictive costumes when on the set of Dune which she says was strenuous at first however helped tone up her body as she walked through sand with heavy layers daily. The heavy and layered costumes for Dune proved incredibly challenging because walking in a vast landscape of Jordan also involved extremely distant bathroom facilities which added new layers to set challenges to stay hydrated and healthy for daily routines.
The heat and difficult environment forced Zendaya to carefully regulate her water intake during Dune production. She eventually developed a heatstroke from not drinking sufficient amounts of water during intense work times as the Dune suit also involved ten minutes of stripping off layers to be able to simply use the facilities which became a very high concern for her own safety when production began. Zendaya called her mom on bathroom floor mentioning ‘I feel terrible’ in one such instance that further illustrates need to prioritize one's health and make conscious decision while production.
Zendaya has also expressed her process for creating characters comes from shy younger years creating self expression through outfits and acting in general because playing unique personalities gave Zendaya sense of confidence and power from those young times as an artist. The practice of assuming roles made it simpler for Zendaya to move outside of her shell providing a unique lens for her to grow from within this experience in many ways. When performing characters like Rue or Tashi, Zendaya stated ‘I can just be messy, let the instincts come’ that is because these are not real life people allowing her creativity to flourish as the real world implications of this behaviour are non existent in these performative situations.
Zendaya recognizes the strange nature of posing in unusual clothing in her own life, this creative outlet provides a barrier between self judgement and acting without feeling awkward. Zendaya states it allows her unique perspectives and viewpoints without putting her authentic self under intense scrutiny from outside observers. When she assumes different roles for film Zendaya fully embraces the persona making her style choices as an outward expression of the inner world of her created role characters.
Zendaya does recall attending a Beyoncé concert for her 13th birthday she specifically wanted Beyoncé to acknowledge it was her birthday with “Happy Birthday” song dedication which never happened. Even after suggestion of sitting on dads shoulders at this special event to better the chances of Beyonce noticing Zendaya still opted to avoid any attention even at that young age even though at that very moment her own devastation took place after the event. Zendaya highlights the crushing weight of unmet fan expectation to her young personality and her perspective in retrospect as a teenager seeing her very favourite musician live but without proper engagement by the celebrity.
Zendaya considers herself very perfectionistic and even mentions if one of her nails breaks it means she’s on the verge of breaking which aligns with intense anxiety and need for control that often shows itself before a performance or when exhausted or run down. Zendaya describes herself as self-critical and over controlling often taking full leadership on projects and needing control to reduce outside variables in all her artistic and non-artistic work. Zendaya has admitted in previous discussions that these traits often result in her doing projects alone where other collaborative efforts might involve less work when those she is collaborating with are not following her vision.
Zendaya confessed still holding some animosity from her time on Dancing with Stars specifically recalling losing when she was 16 that she felt highly stressful as she went through weekly live television broadcasts which was stressful during her earlier years as media presence. She regrets not approaching this experience differently and taking the moment to embrace this time instead of needing to succeed while trying to fulfill her need to satisfy everyone which she now understands is near impossible as perfectionism never satisfies ones inner doubts. The star finds a specific love for reality tv often following “Love is Blind” but states her view on the content is a type of “guilty pleasure” as she expresses empathy for people making choices when constantly filmed that sometimes show very negative traits or personalities from individuals as there actions on the cameras.
Zendaya expressed her love for dogs but her overall personality and tendencies leans more into that of a cat because like cats Zendaya expresses more self reliance versus high levels of external affection seeking like that of dogs. Zendaya noted a cats resilience in life and ability to remain mostly independent while still being an individual that lives a nine-lives sort of existence further exemplifying her independent tendencies to overcome obstacles and persevere regardless.
Zendaya openly admits she is her toughest critic that surfaces in her need to ensure perfection with all her projects whether work related or in her home life including hobbies and such. The spotlight on Zendaya is mainly known for the quality of acting but she admits she can feel uneasy about self-promotion because it makes her feel very vulnerable despite loving the process of being creative. On set, the work is judged in terms of quality with her fellow artists but when the project is shared with a broader audience that’s where she stated the intense feeling of self consciousness over each project appears causing significant self reflection. The Hollywood Reporter noted these comments further emphasizing her intense self-awareness.
Zendaya admitted she can relate to fellow actors that can be overwhelmed even by being in the same room as celebrities she respects very much. In a similar vein as Zendaya actress Tilda Swinton shared that she was once very star struck when approaching Angelina Jolie during a Hollywood event demonstrating that celebrities are also human who may be insecure at times as well. Angelina in turn revealed even she can feel quite lonely at some public events showing every personality has personal and unique internal doubts when presented on stage to audiences which was one of key notes from their roundtable conversations showing common insecurities for every performing individual regardless of fame and acclaim.