- Zendaya is an awards favorite this year for her role as Tashi Duncan in “Challengers.”
- Her career began as a teenager, on Disney Channel titles like “Shake It Up” and “Frenemies.”
- Zendaya has a “complicated relationship” with child acting but wouldn’t change her career path.
“Challengers” star Zendaya says that she wouldn’t change her career — but she does have a “complicated relationship” with child stardom.
The actor, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in “Challengers,” joined fellow awards season contenders for The Hollywood Reporter’s annual drama actress roundtable. The group, which also included Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldaña, Tilda Swinton, and Angelina Jolie, spoke with each other about their iconic 2024 roles and careers.
Zendaya, 28, has been working since her teenage years, starring in Disney Channel shows and movies like “Shake It Up” and “Frenemies.” Now, she says that she’s working to cultivate hobbies — in her case, pottery and baking — outside of acting.
“I have a complicated relationship with the idea of child acting because I’ve seen it be detrimental to people,” the actor told THR. “I’m so grateful that this is how it turned out. I wouldn’t change it, but there are things that I wish I lived out privately, you know? Because you’re figuring out who you are in front of the world.”
Zendaya has previously spoken about growing up in the spotlight, telling Vogue Australia in 2020 that she navigated her transition into adulthood by maintaining a “clear vision” of her goals as well as a “very good sense of self.”
“Challengers,” which was directed by Luca Guadagnino and costars Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, also gave Zendaya the opportunity to play an adult character in Tashi Duncan. Though not exclusively, many of her previous highly acclaimed roles in series like “Euphoria” or films like the “Spider-Man” franchise have featured her as a teenager, even well into adulthood.
“For so long I was playing a teenager, way past when I was one,” she told THR. “Being able to play Rue [on HBO’s ‘Euphoria’] has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. But there comes a time when you’ve got to start playing your age and beyond. And it was a scary thing.”
