Zendaya says she feels “constant” pressure not to make a mistake being a Disney star and a young black woman in Hollywood. (Reuters)
When asked what she meant when she said “I don’t want to make a mistake,” Zendaya acknowledged that there is personal and professional pressure on her to make no mistake.
“It is a constant thing. 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. It is also just a personal fear, “he explained. “I want to do a good job, and sometimes that can make you afraid of things. But I will say that there is something that happens when a special character appears, at least for me, and those fears disappear. They don’t come back until it starts airing, which is when I started freaking out a little bit again. But now I am excited to return because the motivation is to work harder and be a better actress. I just want to improve. “
Zendaya has earned critical acclaim by playing Rue, which may not have happened if her agents didn’t have a clear directive on what she was looking for. The actress previously told her reps to only take her to an audition room, even if the role she wanted was not written for a black woman. (There was “no description” for Rue’s character.) While the actress said that is “absolutely” the case, she wanted to acknowledge her own privilege.
“I also think it is important to be a light-skinned woman to also recognize my privilege in that regard and to make sure I don’t take up space where I don’t need it,” she says.
“I think it was a choice for me. Our creator [Sam Levinson] Rue wrote based on his own experiences with addiction, and he’s a white man, so Rue could have been that. Rue had no description, ”revealed Zendaya. She said her “ultimate goal” is to make room for more black people in the entertainment industry.
“I am very grateful and I hope to be in a space like these women where I can create things and make space for women who are like me and women who are not like me,” she added. “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. “
