Although still in her early 20s, Zendaya has already made a name for herself as an actress to be seen. From her background on the Disney Channel to her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she has garnered many fans. But here’s why her starring role in the teen drama Euphoria It’s unique.
Zendaya plays Rue in ‘Euphoria’
In the series, Zendaya plays Rue Bennett, a teenager who is recovering. The HBO drama, which also stars Maude Apatow, Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy) and Storm Reid (A wrinkle in time), aired its first season in 2019. The series has been revised for a second season.
The actor calls himself his “biggest criticism” and tells The Hollywood Reporter that he “wanted to prove” himself to the role. “When Euphoria He appeared, I was very grateful that all those fears vanished and I felt it was something I had to be a part of. So the fear became just, like, pushing yourself. “
She came from the Disney channel
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Zendaya faced a transition that many young stars before her have faced. She started with the Disney Channel series Move it and KC Undercover. From there, he entered the world of superheroes as MJ at Sony-Marvel Spiderman franchise and starred in the movie The best showman along with his former Disney star Zac Efron.
So the role in Euphoria brought pressure levels for Zendaya. “Being a young Disney actor, that’s a level, being a young black woman is a level, and being very hard on myself is another level,” she explained. However, she is “excited” about Season 2 and says, “The motivation is to work harder and become a better actress.”
How did Zendaya get the role in Euphoria?
When an actor leaves for a role, there are often specific attributes that they must have. But this is not always the case. Zendaya explains the colorblind cast of his character, saying: “Our creator [Sam Levinson] Rue wrote based on his own experiences with addiction and he is a white man, so Rue could have been that. Rue had no description.
Zendaya plans to build on this to help others in the future. She said she wants to “create things and make room for women who look like me and women who don’t look like me.” That is the ultimate goal, to make room, [because] for many black creatives, it’s not a lack of talent but a lack of opportunity. “
Janelle Monáe was also chosen this way
RELATED: Why were Janelle Monáe’s first 2 roles ‘super important’ to her?
The other black woman at the round table was Janelle Monáe, who called Zendaya “brilliant” in Euphoria. From her role in the second season of the Prime Video program,. Homecoming, she said, “This was the first script in which he did not specify “urban” or “Black”.
Monáe continued, saying: “Obviously I am very proud of who I am and where I come from, [but] There was an amount of freedom that I felt I had in that. I didn’t have to live up to some stereotype of what you think [she] represents or what blacks can be. “
