Spider-Man star Zendaya has reflected on transitioning to more adult roles after playing a teenager “for so long”.
A former child star, Zendaya started her career on Disney Channel show Shake It Up in 2010 when she was 14 and continues playing a teen on HBO’s Euphoria.
“For so long I was playing a teenager, way past when I was one,” she said on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Actress Roundtable recently.
“Being able to play Rue [on Euphoria] has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. But there comes a time where you’ve got to start playing your own age and beyond. And it was a scary thing,” she added.
The Dune actor stars in Luca Guadagnino’s award-nominated Challengers, in which she portrays a tennis champion-turned-coach in different stages of her life.
“Challengers was my first time in a leading lady role and being a part of the producing aspect. It was all very exciting and also daunting,” she said.
“But when you read certain characters, you’re like, ‘I just can’t pass up the opportunity to play this woman.'”
On Challengers, Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a promising tennis star who’s forced to pivot to coaching due to an injury early on in her career.
The cast is rounded out by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist as Patrick Zweig and Art Donaldson, two young tennis players whose lives intertwine with that of Tashi.
Explaining what drew her to the character, Zendaya said she was able to relate to Tashi having to find herself once she loses tennis.
“She was refreshing to me. She doesn’t apologise for her need for control as her life is falling apart or for vicariously having to live through other people,” she said.
“It spoke to me because I love my job so much. I’m so grateful that I get to do this for a living. And I think, ‘What if it was all taken away?’
“Her true love was tennis. And it gets snatched from her so quickly. She doesn’t know who she is anymore without this thing.”
Her performance as Tashi earned her a Golden Globe nod as Best Actress, with the film nominated in other three categories, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Reports: DIGITAL SPY
