Zendaya covers the September issue of Marie Claire, and it’s a really great photoshoot. She’s a beautiful young woman, and I love the way they styled her with some chic animal prints and ‘70s vibe clothing and the little beehive hairstyle. She looks amazing. Zendaya is promoting so much stuff, I’m not even going to try to list it. Suffice to say, she will be everywhere this fall and in 2019. You can see the whole editorial and cover story here at Marie Claire. Some highlights:
On stepping out of her comfort zone, from Disney to feature films: “…I’m coming from this very different world of Disney. Having been consistently on a TV show, I felt stagnant. Not having that anymore, I am being seen as a real actress, doing what makes me feel pushed and motivated. I don’t necessarily think comfort is always the best place to live in. I’ve really found the power in just doing what makes me happy.”
On creating opportunities for more actresses of color: “What’s important to me is knowing we [Yara Shahidi, Amandla Steinberg] are not the only black girls in the industry. We kind of have been painted as the face, and that’s not the truth. It’s important to have a conversation where we are opening the door to our peers and more black women who don’t necessarily look like us.”
On changing people’s minds and dealing with rejection: “I’m an actress. We’ve all experienced getting the no’s, and that’s okay. I always tell my theatrical manager, ‘Anytime it says they’re looking for white girls, send me out. Let me get in the room. Maybe they’ll change their minds.’ And honestly, if there’s a part that I didn’t get or that I really wanted at the time, sh*t always ends up working out.”
On how Olivia Pope liberated her to make her own decisions: “I call it my Olivia Pope gut. I just had to be in tune with that and be like, ‘Listen, whatever feels right, go after that.’ There’s something liberating about making decisions for yourself.”
This is the most fascinating part to me: “I always tell my theatrical manager, ‘Anytime it says they’re looking for white girls, send me out. Let me get in the room. Maybe they’ll change their minds.’” That’s a great thing to do, and she obviously has a great team around her. But also, I wonder how often that really works. Because I would assume that it doesn’t work most of the time, and that producers still refuse to meet with her because they have it in their head that the default is always “white, blonde.” Anyway, I hope Zendaya is one of the good stories to come out of the Disney machinery. We’ll see, I have high hopes for her.
Photos courtesy of Thomas Whiteside for Marie Claire, sent from promotional Marie Claire email.
Killin’ the game.
She really is. I loved her in Spider-Man, her expression, with her unspoken feelings was so amazing.
I like the interview but she isn’t a very good actress.
My thoughts exactly! But hopefully her craft will improve 😊😊😊
Double post
She was head and shoulders and then some above her co-star (the current try-hard redhead Thorne?) in her first Disney series. She was far better than typical Disney kid actors. Her parents run a theater and she came from that theater experience.
It also sounds as though she doesn’t expect to play lead roles. A huge mistake kid actors make as adults is assuming they have to be the stars while they really need small roles to get experience.
She is definitely capable of growth (another thing that set her apart), so I wouldn’t count her out if you think she isn’t good enough now as a young adult.
She is ridiculously beautiful and stylish.
I don’t know if I’ve seen her acting, but I’m a fan of her attitude for sure. All she wants is a fair chance. Good for her for fighting for it.
I really wouldn’t bother checking out her acting- i love everything else about her- her activism, feminism, and style, she is just unbelievable- but her acting is cringeworthy.
Loooooooooove her!!! Love what she says about going out for white girl roles too considering she is half white.
I wonder why she doesn’t get more print modeling campaigns. She’s stunning and can wear anything
I know nothing about her, her acting, etc. had no idea she was on Disneystuff.
Just came here to say this girl is STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Wow. Breath taking. And I don’t think there are many truly breath taking beauties out these days…that are ‘popular’ anyway…
She is a force! I love her! Can’t wait to see her new projects.
She’s so talented, versatile, and absolutely gorgeous. I really think she’s going to go the distance, and continue to have an aspirational career.
I really wish directors would start seriously diversifying. I watched To All the Boys I loved before and *loved* it! I loved how diverse the cast was (without it being a plot point, especially) and I totally identified with Lara Jean (even tho I’m a middle aged white chick) because I’m also an introvert who was scared of real feelings and trusting people. Main characters don’t have to be blonde and blue eyed for people to relate to – they need to be well written.
ETA – Zendaya is gorgeous- more of her, please, Hollywood
She’s gorgeous.