Zendaya Opens Up About Early Responsibilities as Family’s Financial Support

Renowned for her parts in ‘Challengers’ and ‘Euphoria’, Zendaya talks candidly with Vogue and British Vogue for their May cover story on her upbringing in the spotlight. The 27-year-old actress shares her complicated thoughts about her early notoriety and the demands of being a young performer.

After beginning her career on Disney’s ‘Shake It Up’ and becoming well-known for her part in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, Zendaya confesses that she feels like she was left out of the normal teenage experience. “I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position,” she says. “I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early, and there was a lot of role-reversal happening, and just kind of becoming grown, really.”

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Zendaya says she wishes she had the opportunity to grow up in a more traditional household. Thinking back on the compromises she made for her job, she admits, “I wish I had gone to school.”

Even with her success, Zendaya acknowledges that she might become overwhelmed sometimes, especially when she takes on new challenges in her work. “I feel like I shrink, and I can’t enjoy all the things that are happening to me,” she says. “I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try s—.”

Zendaya is looking forward to ‘Challengers’, where she plays a different persona than she did in her prior adolescent roles. She aspires to see more representation among her peers and recognizes the value of diversity in Hollywood. “I would love to see more who look a little bit more like me around me,” she says.

On 26th April ‘Challengers’ is scheduled to open in theaters, while on 23rd April Vogue’s May 2024 issue will be available countrywide at newsstands.

– Farheen Ali