Zendaya has been in the public eye as a performer since she was a teenager, which she thinks is why people are having trouble seeing her in more adult roles.
The 24-year-old won her first Emmy last year playing troubled high school student Rue Bennett on HBO’s Euphoria, and she plays the younger girlfriend to 36-year-old John David Washington in Malcolm & Marie, debuting on Netflix February 5.
The actress addressed the 12-year age gap between her and her co-star in a new interview with E!, stating she thinks the controversy is because, ‘I’ve played a 16-year-old since I was 16.’
Not a teen: Zendaya has been in the public eye as a performer since she was a teenager, which she thinks is why people are having trouble seeing her in more adult roles
Age gap: The actress addressed the 12-year age gap between her and her co-star in a new interview with E! , stating she thinks the controversy is because, ‘I’ve played a 16-year-old since I was 16’
‘You have to remember, also, people grew up with me as a child.It’s like watching, I guess, your younger sibling now, you know, they’re grown…’ she added.
‘So it’s hard for people to wrap around the idea that I am grown in real life. You know, even though I do play a teenager on television still,’ she said of her role as Rue.
Both her roles of Rue and Marie came from writer-director Sam Levinson, who created Euphoria and wrote and directed Malcolm & Marie.
Grown: ‘You have to remember, also, people grew up with me as a child.It’s like watching, I guess, your younger sibling now, you know, they’re grown…’ she added
The film was shot during the COVID-19 lockdown this summer, with just Zendaya and Washington making up the cast along with a minimal crew.
‘Sometimes when you don’t see the roles that you want, sometimes you gotta be a part of creating them. So I’m grateful Sam wrote this movie for us,’ Zendaya added.
She also said that the safety of the film’s cast and crew was their, ‘number one concern,’ which they achieved by creating a, ‘bubble’-like environment.
Cast: The film was shot during the COVID-19 lockdown this summer, with just Zendaya and Washington making up the cast along with a minimal crew
Zendaya also opened up about her childhood as a ‘Disney kid’ in a new interview with Promising Young Woman star Carey Mulligan as part of Variety‘s Actors on Actors series.
Mulligan mentioned that she surely, ‘can’t think of yourself as a Disney kid now,’ though Zendaya said that’s still part of who she is.
‘The thing is, I am. And to a degree, I am grateful for that. That’s where I started, and I learned so much from that experience,’ she added.
Disney kid: Zendaya also opened up about her childhood as a ‘Disney kid’ in a new interview with Promising Young Woman star Carey Mulligan as part of Variety ‘s Actors on Actors series
‘It’s just kind of been this slow progression, and I am happy that it’s all been to prove it to myself and not to anybody else, you know? I embrace it a little bit. It’s part of my heritage to a degree,’ Zendaya said.
Malcolm & Marie debuts on Netflix February 5, with both Zendaya and John David Washington earning serious Oscar buzz.
She’s also slated to film the second season of Euphoria at some point this year, though it’s unclear when the season will debut on HBO.
Identity: Mulligan mentioned that she surely, ‘can’t think of yourself as a Disney kid now,’ though Zendaya said that’s still part of who she is