Zendaya
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman is an American actress and singer. The recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, she was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. [|Her films] as a leading actress have grossed over $3.9billion worldwide.
Born in Oakland, California, Zendaya began her career as a child model and backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up. She then starred in and produced the channel's sitcom K.C. Undercover. For her performance as Rue Bennett, a struggling drug-addicted teenager, in the HBO teen drama series Euphoria, Zendaya won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the youngest performer to win the category, as well as a Golden Globe Award.
Zendaya made her feature film debut as Michelle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming. She reprised her role in its sequels Far From Home and No Way Home, both of which grossed over $1 billion worldwide. She has also starred in the musical The Greatest Showman, the romantic dramas Malcolm & Marie and Challengers, and as Chani in the science fiction films Dune and Dune: Part Two.
In 2011, Zendaya released the singles "Swag It Out" and "Watch Me", the latter a collaboration with Bella Thorne. Signed to Hollywood Records, she released her self-titled debut studio album in 2013, to moderate success. Its lead single, "Replay", peaked within the top 40 of the US Billboard 200. Her Zac Efron collaboration, "Rewrite the Stars", from The Greatest Showman soundtrack, reached the top 20 of several record charts and has received multi-platinum sales certifications globally. She has also written and performed several songs for Euphoria.
Early life and acting background
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman was born on September 1, 1996, in Oakland, California. Her name derives from the Shona name Tendai. Both of Zendaya's parents were teachers; her father, Kazembe Ajamu Coleman, is African-American, with Nigerian ancestry, and her mother, Claire Stoermer, has German and Scottish ancestry. She has five older half-siblings from her father's previous relationships.Zendaya attended Fruitvale Elementary School, where her mother taught. She was described as energetic and outgoing at home but reserved and shy at school. At the end of the school year, her parents had her repeat kindergarten to help build her confidence. Because of her father's passion for basketball, Zendaya's parents enrolled her in a local basketball team. After losing interest in the sport, she switched to soccer and track, but both also turned out to be unsuccessful. Around this time, Zendaya, aged six, and two of her friends performed a play at school for Black History Month. At eight years old, she joined a hip-hop dance group called Future Shock Oakland, where she performed for three years. She also spent two years dancing hula with the Academy of Hawaiian Arts.
After deciding to pursue acting, Zendaya assisted her mother, who spent the summer working as a house manager, at the California Shakespeare Theater. There, she assisted patrons with their seats and sold fundraising tickets, but her primary interest was in the theatrical performances. Her first acting role was as a silkworm in her school's production of James and the Giant Peach. Aged eleven, she began attending Oakland School for the Arts and, while still a student, was cast in several roles in area theaters. At the Berkeley Playhouse, Zendaya portrayed Little Ti Moune in Once on This Island, and in TheaterWorks' Palo Alto production of Caroline, or Change, she played Joe, a role originally written for a male performer.
By sixth grade, Zendaya played Lady Anne in Richard III and Celia in As You Like It and took part in a production of Twelfth Night. When Zendaya was in seventh grade, she and her father relocated to a small apartment in downtown Los Angeles; her mother continued to stay in Oakland. Retrospectively, she said of the experience that her father "knew what I wanted more than anything in the world", though she admitted she "missed a lot of fun things while I was pursuing my dreams and it was difficult not being able to be with my mom and my dog". In 2015, she graduated from Oak Park High School.
Career
2009–2016: Early recognition with ''Shake It Up'' and musical ventures
Zendaya began her career working as a fashion model for Macy's, Mervyns, and Old Navy and also appeared as a back-up dancer in a Sears commercial with Disney star Selena Gomez. In 2009, she was a featured performer in the Kidz Bop music video for its cover of the song "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry. In November 2009, Zendaya was among 200 girls who auditioned for the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up, which follows two teenage friends who get their big break on the local dance show Shake It Up Chicago. She originally auditioned for the role of CeCe Jones, which ultimately went to her co-star Bella Thorne; instead, Zendaya was cast as Rocky Blue. Judy Taylor—senior vice president of Disney Channel—described Zendaya as "completely engaging" with a "great presence", while saying that Thorne had "high energy" and that viewers would "want to get to know her better the instant you meet her".The first season of Shake It Up premiered on November 7, 2010, and was watched by 6.2 million viewers, becoming Disney Channel's second highest-rated premiere in its history. In 2011, Zendaya released "Swag It Out", a promotional independent single, and starred in the book trailer for "From Bad To Cursed" by Katie Alender. That same year, she performed the single "Watch Me" with Thorne, which peaked at number 86 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2011, Target stores launched a clothing line inspired by the outfits worn by Zendaya and other cast members of Shake It Up. The second season of Shake It Up premiered in September 2011. Zendaya made her film debut as an aspiring magazine editor in Frenemies, a Disney Channel Original Movie. In February 2012, "Something to Dance For" was released as a promotional single for the soundtrack of the second season of Shake It Up.
In October 2012, Shake It Ups third and final season premiered. That year, she signed with Hollywood Records. Zendaya was later announced as one of the celebrity contestants on the sixteenth season of Dancing with the Stars. At age sixteen, she became the youngest contestant in the show's history at the time. Partnered with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Zendaya finished as the runner-up to Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough in May 2013. Zendaya released her debut studio album, titled Zendaya, on September 17, 2013, through Hollywood Records. A pop and R&B album, Zendaya discusses issues of heartbreak and love. The album peaked at number 51 on the US Billboard 200. The record was preceded by its lead single, "Replay", which peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2014, Zendaya starred in the Disney Channel film Zapped, playing a high school student whose phone gains the power to control the boys around her. Jon Caramanica, writing in The New York Times, wrote that she did not "seem to be even a little thrilled", and described the film overall as "hastily written and structured". Zendaya was then cast as the lead in a Disney Channel pilot titled Super Awesome Katy. The show was picked up to series in May 2014 under the new title K.C. Undercover, with Zendaya's character renamed from Katy Cooper to K.C. Cooper. Zendaya exerted influence over the renaming of her character and the retitling of the series, also deciding several elements of the character's personality. K.C. Undercover premiered in January 2015.
In 2014, Zendaya appeared as a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway: Under the Gunn, where the contestants were challenged to design an outfit for her to wear at an upcoming concert performance. In March 2015, musician Timbaland confirmed that he was collaborating with Zendaya on her second album, following her move from Disney's label to Republic Records. In February 2016, she released "Something New" featuring Chris Brown, through Hollywood Records and Republic Records—her first official release since signing with the latter. In December 2016, Zendaya appeared as a guest judge in the season finale of Project Runways fifteenth season.
2017–2021: Rise to prominence
In August 2017, Zendaya appeared in the music video for the song "Versace on the Floor" by Bruno Mars. That year, she made her feature film debut, playing Michelle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming. She wore no makeup to her screen test, a decision that was carried through in production, and added her own embellishments to the character, including "carr around her own mug of strange herbal tea". Zendaya described Michelle as "very dry, awkward, intellectual", adding that she found it "refreshing" to play a character who was "weird" and "different", and that "a lot of young people—especially young women—can relate to that".Reviewing Homecoming, The Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian praised Zendaya as a "scene stealer", while Times Stephanie Zacharek lauded her "delightfully sullen insouciance". The film went on to gross over $880million worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2017. Zendaya then starred in the original musical film The Greatest Showman, portraying a trapeze artist who falls in love with Zac Efron's character during a time when interracial relationships were socially taboo. Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised her on-screen chemistry with Efron, while The Hollywood Reporter highlighted her for " strongest, bringing touching sensitivity to her handful of scenes". She appeared on three songs from the film's soundtrack, including "Rewrite the Stars" and "The Greatest Show", which reached numbers 70 and 88 respectively on Billboard Hot 100.
In September 2018, Zendaya voiced the yeti Meechee in Warner Bros.' animated film Smallfoot, which was met with positive reviews from critics. In 2019, Zendaya began starring in the HBO drama series Euphoria, an adaptation of the Israeli show of the same name, playing Rue, a seventeen-year-old drug addict who is also the series narrator. The show premiered on June 16, 2019, to generally favorable reception. A Guardian writer said that "Zendaya is reinvented as the self-destructive, self-loathing Rue, in what is a truly astonishing, mesmerising performance, upending every expectation of what she could do"; Doreen St. Félix, writing in The New Yorker, echoed this, stating that "it becomes difficult, and then absolutely silly, to recall the pink outlines of her early career on the Disney Channel, so grandly does she inhabit this dark new role".
Zendaya reprised her role as Michelle in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Critic Christy Lemire described her portrayal as "darkly alluring" and praised her "humorous, deadpan charm", and Todd McCarthy, in The Hollywood Reporter, lauded her for being "appealing as well as funny". The film grossed over $1.1billion worldwide, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing release of 2019. At the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020, Zendaya won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the youngest recipient of the award at 24. In 2021, Zendaya starred in and produced Sam Levinson's Malcolm & Marie, filmed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic under strict safety protocols and with a minimal crew. The film received mixed reviews, though Richard Brody described her as "the movie's only redeeming quality".
Zendaya next voiced Lola Bunny in Space Jam: A New Legacy. She accepted the role after Ryan Coogler approached her, citing both her admiration for him and her fondness for the original 1996 film. Having grown up with the first Space Jam, Zendaya drew inspiration from her family's love of basketball for her performance. She then portrayed Chani in Denis Villeneuve's science fiction epic Dune, the first installment of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel. Critic Glenn Kenny described her performance as "better than apt", while Brian Lowry, writing for CNN, said that her screen time was largely limited to "gauzy images" in the protagonist's visions. Zendaya then reprised her role as Michelle in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Brian Tallerico, writing for Roger Ebert's website, praising her chemistry with Tom Holland and her handling of the character's "emotional final beats".