Zendaya will be featured on the new Vogue (Australia) issue. The issue will be on sale next week on March 2.
“Zendaya, my queen!” Two precocious 20-year-olds are slurping down a shared bowl of dumplings in downtown LA, lost in deep discussion about the show every college student with access to an HBO account is raving about. Despite explicit parental advisory warnings and unflinchingly dark subject matter that swerves head-on into underage sex, drugs and profanity, the teen series Euphoria has hit a nerve with audiences of all ages across the globe including Australia, where it’s the second most-watched new series on Foxtel. The show’s breakout success is undeniably due in large part to its star, who reigns as both Gen Z ‘queen’ and the most bankable young talent on the planet right now: Zendaya.
While I admittedly self-identify as an “old millennial”, I too found myself transfixed by Zendaya’s haunting, career-defining performance as Rue, the pill-popping, high-chasing teen struggling to find herself and her footing in friendship and family while battling mental illness. I have studied Zendaya’s impressive multi-hyphenate career arc since my days as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, taking note not just of her meteoric rise but also the prescient strategy, laser-focussed precision and courage she’s employed to pull it off, all without losing herself along the way.
But no-one can appreciate Zendaya’s dazzling ascent, from Disney child star to red carpet style icon to newly minted fashion designer and, now, bonafide superstar, quite like the fans who grew up alongside her. And I can’t help but listen in from my dinner seat.
“It’s like, I wanna be friends with her, but I also look up to her,” one of them says breathlessly, to enthusiastic nodding. “She’s the most real, authentic, naturally stunning, relatable human out there!” In truth, none of it is far off the commentary I hear about Zendaya in Hollywood’s innermost circles.
While she has never played into the pretty, popular teen tropes on screen and likes to keep a fairly low profile in real life, Zendaya is arguably one of the most popular people on the internet, boasting more than 65 million Instagram followers. Which means that when she descended upon Sydney late last year to deliver her GQ Woman of the Year award acceptance speech, which left the whole crowd enraptured, and then managed to squeeze in some sightseeing on the Sunshine Coast with her Australian Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi, the whole world watched.
Whether you met her on Disney as a young teen maths genius by day turned butt-kicking spy by night in K.C. Undercover; or on the red carpet, where she famously called out racism in the most graceful of ways back in 2015; or as a high-flying trapeze artist in The Greatest Showman; or on billboards as the face of Lancôme’s Idole fragrance, one thing’s clear: Zendaya has been defying the odds and subverting stereotypes since day one, both on and off camera.
Here’s what she had to say as she plots her next decade of level-ups.
Elaine Welteroth: “2019 was one hell of a year for you, sis! How are you feeling at the beginning of a whole new decade?”
Zendaya: “I’m feeling like I can’t wait to get back to work! The past six months have been my first real break since I was a kid, you know? This is the first time that I wake up and have the day to just do stuff, and it’s super-weird. And if I’m honest, I don’t love it. [Laughs.] Everyone is like: ‘Oh, it’s good to get time off’ and I’m just like: ‘All right, I’ve had enough!’ So for me it’s been about just being more grounded and working on things on a more personal level before the priority becomes work again. It’s an adjustment. I am testing a completely new life in a lot of ways.”
EW: “I’m curious, now that you’ve had this much time to reflect, when you think about how far you’ve come from being that young girl growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area to the life you live now, what moments stand out?”
Z: “I guess I look back and I’m proud of what I have been able to do, but I always look at things like [it’s just] the beginning, which is sometimes a blessing and a curse. Because even if I have big accomplishments, they’re very minor to me. It’s just that I have more to do. I guess that’s what makes you not be too full of yourself. So I’m grateful for that quality, but there are also times where it’s important to take in the moment and be like: ‘Wow, I did that! I’m proud of myself for that work.’ Because I’ve been able to take this time and work on myself as a human and be with Zendaya alone in a lot of ways, now I just want to get better at my craft. I want to work hard, push myself further and level up on a personal level. Which I think is a much more exciting place to be, and the pressure is different. I think I have always felt a lot of pressure to make the right move, take the right steps. This year is about getting better; it’s not necessarily about the moves.”EW: “Everything you’ve said is really wise for anyone at any age. But being 23 and having that kind of grounding is really special. I asked a couple of 20-year-olds what they would want to talk to you about if they had the chance. One of the things they said was: ‘Tell her thank you for not ruining our childhood! There’s nothing more depressing than watching the Disney stars you grew up with as a kid go off the rails. It forces you out of your childhood too soon.’ And it’s true: you made that ascent so gracefully. Now, you’re the girl they want to be best friends with, but you’re also their role model. How do you react to that? I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve heard that sentiment.”
Z: “The first thing I will say is it’s important not to judge any other person’s career or trajectory, because when you’re a young actor you are growing up in front of the world. Sometimes that’s not easy. Everybody has their own path. I think for me I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to do. I had a very good sense of self and I think I also took a lot of lessons just from being in the industry for so long. I’d rather just walk the walk [laughs], which I think is why I haven’t been as much on social media. I’m just letting the work do what the work does. I also think it’s really just been about taking my time, not rushing, and trusting the right thing is coming even if it doesn’t feel like it. When I wasn’t in the position where I could say no to things, I would say yes and then, unfortunately, if it didn’t feel good all the way through my body and my being, it would always come back to haunt me. I’ve also learned to deal with that in the past few months by trying not to allow myself to worry or stress about the next move or what it is. Knowing that the right thing is going to come; and it’s going to happen at the right time. And until then, just focus on yourself and not worry so much about what it looks like to the rest of the world.”EW: “How did you know Euphoria was right for you?”
Z: “My whole everything was like: ‘I have to do this.’ I couldn’t explain it. I had no fear: it felt right. When it clicks and when it feels right, it’s right. [It’s about] trusting those instincts. I got worn out on music, because the industry felt like it wasn’t really for the music, and it didn’t make me happy. So I allowed myself to step away from it until that passion comes back or until I’m ready to step back into it. There’s no real blueprint at the end of the day for any of this shit. As people, we don’t know what we’re doing. It’s not like I can say: ‘This is the kind of career I want to have, so I’m going to do what this person did.’ I didn’t really have a map to know what the right thing was. The only kind of guide I had was my instincts and gut. So I’ve just been trying to follow that, and I think that has served me very well.”EW: “I would say so! Also, I feel in some ways going off the rails is a privilege, and for people of colour in entertainment, there’s not a lot of room for error. Do you feel that way?”
Z: “Yeah, I have definitely learned that that’s the reality. I guess it’s subconsciously a part of why in a lot of ways I don’t allow, or want to allow, myself to make mistakes. Making mistakes is the scariest thing. I don’t know about you.”EW: “It’s also the Virgo in you!”
Z: “Yeah, I definitely think that’s a part of it. I think what’s really special right now is there are a lot of really, really talented black female creators who are really doing their thing. So it’s my job to support them. I feel our job is to support each other together, whether it be working together, creating things together. Also, as I grow and get older, I think about how I can continue to create opportunities for more people in this industry. How can I do what a lot of black female creatives are doing, like the Ava DuVernays of the world? Because it’s not a lack of talent: it’s the lack of opportunity. I think some people just need a shot.”EW: “Last time I saw you, we were at the screening in New York for Euphoria. What does it feel like watching yourself play Rue and seeing people react to the show?”
Z: “It’s been very, very special. I think the most special thing is when people come up and say: ‘Hey, I really needed that.’ Or: ‘That was my story and I just want to say thank you.’ The fact that the story was so personal and that it couldn’t have been written by anyone who hadn’t lived it, people are going to respond to it. The creator, Sam Levinson, put words to feelings that people have a tough time being able to articulate, whether it be around mental health or depression. I’m just extremely lucky that I was able to be a part of that story and really humanize what Rue is going through, which is what I think a lot of people have gone through or are going through. For every person who says something to me about what the show meant to them, it warms my heart – and it means we’re doing something right.”This article will appear in Vogue Australia’s March 2020 issue, on sale Monday, March 2.
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