Zendaya covers the September issue of InStyle. For the cover shoot, she exclusively wore all Black-designers like Alietté, Hanifa and Christopher John Rogers. She also had an all-Black glam team around her for the shoot, including a Black hair stylist and Black makeup stylists. Like so many magazine interviews this summer, Zendaya’s InStyle cover interview was done remotely, via Zoom. She was interviewed by BLM activist and author Patrisse Cullors, and it sounds like Zendaya has handled lockdown well. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
How she’s doing: I genuinely don’t know how I’m doing. It’s been an interesting few months, to say the least. But I’ve been trying to remain not just positive but grateful. I’m grateful for my health and for the fact that I can quarantine safely. I know that I’ll be OK financially once this is over, but for a lot of people that isn’t the case. So anytime I start complaining, I just stop. It’s been tough to stay creative and motivated [during this time] because there are so many things that can take you down emotionally. And then, of course, everything that has happened [following the death of George Floyd] has been devastating. I didn’t know what I could do to help… Because at the end of the day, I’m just an actress, you know? And I don’t pretend to be anything other than that. If I don’t know something, then I ask people who are actually on the front lines doing the work. I’m up in the bleachers, not on the field.
She’s promoting Dune: “Dune was incredible. I wasn’t in it very much, so when I was watching the trailer, I was like, “Oh my gosh!” I called Timothée [Chalamet, who stars in it] and said, “Dude! You should be proud.” It is a big deal to even be a small part of something with such a massive cast. And I love sci-fi stuff too. It’s fun to escape into another world.
Working with an all-Black team on the shoot: “I’ve always had a Black stylist and Black hair and makeup artists. But we were able to work with two talented young Black photographers on this shoot too. We’re actually around the same age, so it was cool to be with my peers and have an opportunity to show what we can do. There are also so many Black designers people don’t know about, so having an opportunity where they can be in InStyle and get the love they deserve is really special. I hope people are like, “Oh, I like that dress!” And then go support them.
Whether she considers herself an activist: “I have always hesitated to use the word “activist” for myself. That is a lifestyle. That is a choice every day to be doing the work and devoting your life to a cause. And I don’t feel I am deserving of the title. There are a lot of words that better describe what I do. I’m an actress, but I’m also just a person who has a heart and wants to do the right thing. I care about human beings, so this time is very hard to talk about. It’s painful. I remember when I was with my dad in Atlanta shooting the first Spider-Man movie, and it was around the time that the murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling happened. I was extremely emotional, and I remember thinking about my dad, who was out picking up food at the time. And I started worrying and calling him like, “Are you OK?” I didn’t want him to go out and do anything. But my dad is a 65-year-old Black man. He’s been on this planet a long time, so he knows what he knows. But I still had that fear, and that scared me.
I’m kind of worried about Dune! I’ve never read the books but I did read a synopsis and… yeah, I was like WTF. But I love that she and Timothee Chalamet are friends, that’s very cute. As for everything else… I really wish we, as a society, didn’t expect every Black person or every Black artist to be activists or have opinions about BLM which they *have* to voice in interviews. As Zendaya talks about in the “shooting in Atlanta” section, this is her lived experience, this is her life, this is the daily trauma for her. She cares, because of course she cares and of course she deals with it as best she can. But I just wish there was less of an expectation for a homogenized “reaction” from every Black celebrity. Some people want to talk about it, some don’t and either is fine.
Photos courtesy of InStyle.
I’m so excited about Dune! My kid is named for a character. Yeah we’re nerds in our house. The movie is just the first part of the book so she’s only going to be in it a little like she said. But her part gets much bigger in the second half and in Dune Messiah. It’s an amazing book/series and has had such an impact on sci-fi movies and literature. I highly recommend reading it. Herbert was an amazing writer and the book really is an exploration of the problems of putting blind faith in a hero and thin line between good and evil. It’s simply amazing.
I’m glad she’s being honest about the fact that her role is tiny (not unimportant, but tiny) From first reactions to the trailer from those who don’t know the story, I feel like there may be some backlash from the general public when they find out several actors from that “Wow! What a cast!”, are actually there in fairly small roles.
Same here. It is an amazing series. Can’t wait! You name your kid after something scifi; I own revolving Gay Deceivers lmao.
Bahaha that’s great. It’s actually what my husband and I really bonded over. We were both ski instructors at Jackson Hole and were having beers one day after work and it came up. He was one of the only people I knew who’d read them all as well. Our daughter is Leta, so similar but just different enough it’s not really obvious. God I love these books and am so excited for the films. Especially because of the cast!
I am not into Dune, but I am going to see it for Momoa, because the plague has left me so horny in NY, that I seriously considered hitting on the maintenance guy who came up to my place yesterday, he’s on staff here. Honestly, all of them here are doable. It would be so tacky though, right?
I don’t think that kind of thirst engagement is tacky at all.
Good luck navigating his beardlessness, though.
Thank you for the encouragement Athy! I only needed a little!
My policy is don’t hit on people when they are at work. Saying, “hey, wanna grab coffee sometime?” is as far as it should go, if even that. Because, when they are at work, they have to be nice to everyone and can’t get away. I’m guessing you were joking, so here’s a more entertaining reason: lonely lady hooking up with the maintenance dude is the actual plot of so much bad pron! LOL!
Do enjoy Mr Momoa in all his glory. I feel ya on that! Plus being hot is actually part of his job, haha.
lol get it, girl!
I understand why she feels that way about the word “activist”, but I think she should go easier on herself. Activism is not some static concept which only a select group of people with very specific qualities can fit into. It’s a very wide array of things that can manifest in all sort of actions, big and small, by all sorts of people. Even if they don’t openly talk about it on interviews or promote it on social media or what-not. As you say in the last paragraph, this is a cause that’s been close to her heart ever since she was born and will be for the rest of her life because it affects her and her loved ones directly. I’m sure she does a lot of things (beyond the ones we hear about) through which her own way of activism manifests every day. And that’s more than enough. I hope she knows that.
Good for her. Calling yourself an activist is just another label, just another layer of conditioning. And it comes across as fake-woke. If you truly live it, you don’t need the label and you don’t need to preach. The point is to de-condition ourselves from all the fake labels and beliefs of who we are.
This!
Not many celebrities could honestly call themselves activists (Jane Fonda is one of the few), which isn’t a bad thing… many of them (and us) are just people who do what we can when we can to support those amazing people who are putting in the hard work (as Zendaya says, which I really respect)
I think she’s going to have a very long, successful career. She’s always comes across as wise beyond her years. I like her, and the lineup of young Hollywood breaking out these last couple of years, so much.
I must be the only who doesn’t like her. So self important and smug. Hate that nasty sneer she gives in photos. And you guys give jlo a hard time for her poses.