Zendaya says breaking away from high school roles is “refreshing,” but admits “I wish I went to school” in real life.
“I have complicated feelings about kids and fame…I was thrust into a very adult position [as a teen star]: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very… pic.twitter.com/8TG67mVezm
— Variety (@Variety) April 9, 2024
-With her upcoming movie Challengers coming soon, Zendaya reflects on her past roles being mostly HS characters:
-“I’m always in a high school somewhere,” Zendaya recently told Vogue magazine about her career thus far. “And, mind you, I never went to high school.” The actor said breaking away from high school roles in “Challengers” was “refreshing. And it was also kind of scary, because I was like, ‘I hope people buy me as my own age, or maybe a little bit older, because I have friends that have kids, or are having kids.’”
-Zendaya mentions never having gone to High School but wishing she had. Her career took off age 14 with Shake It Up, which eventually led to KC Undercover on the Disney channel and eventually an acting career started leaving no time for a proper classroom education.
Mentions having complicated feelings about kids and fame and acknowledges she became a breadwinner for her family at an early age:
“I have complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor. We’ve seen a lot of cases of it being detrimental,” Zendaya told Vogue. “And I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to go, ‘Oh, okay, wait a minute: I’ve only ever done what I’ve known, and this is all I’ve known.’ I’m almost going through my angsty teenager phase now, because I didn’t really have the time to do it before. I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early, and there was a lot of role-reversal happening, and just kind of becoming grown, really.”
Zendaya mentions struggling with expectations and also wishes she would’ve gone to school:
“Now, when I have these moments in my career—like, my first time leading a film that’s actually going to be in a theater [with ‘Challengers’]—I feel like I shrink, and I can’t enjoy all the things that are happening to me, because I’m like this,” Zendaya said while balling up her first. “I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try shit. And I wish I went to school.”
