Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman (born September 1, 1996 in Oakland, California), better known mononymously as Zendaya, is an American actor, singer, model, and dancer. She has been performing since age six, though the Disney Channel original series Shake it Up was her first project as a main character (in this case, as Raquel "Rocky" Blue).
Zendaya began her professional career working as a fashion model for Macy's, Mervyns and Old Navy, also being featured in an iCarly toys ad (along with Stefanie Scott), appearing as a back-up dancer in a Sears commercial featuring Selena Gomez, and starring in Kidz Bop's 2009 music video for its cover of the song "Hot 'n Cold".
Zendaya rose to major prominence for her starring role on Shake It Up alongside Bella Thorne, forming a comedic duo trying to dance their way to stardom. Her first movie role was a starring appearance in the 2012 Disney Channel Original Movie Frenemies alongside Thorne and Scott. Her role as the title character in the Teen Superspy action comedy show K.C. Undercover was her last main appearance on Disney Channel before she launched her career in movies.
Among her most famous film roles, Zendaya has played Michelle Jones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man Trilogy, Anne Wheeler in The Greatest Showman, and Chani in Dune (2021) (also being slated to reprise the role in Dune's sequels). Her leading role as Rue Bennett on the HBO series Euphoria has also received mass acclaim, boosting her status as an adult actornote and winning her two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe in "dramatic lead actress" categories. Her first Emmy win made her, at 24, the youngest actress to ever win in the Drama Lead Actress category, and the first Disney Channel alumnus to receive the award.
In addition to acting, Zendaya has also ventured into music. She signed with Hollywood Records in August 2012, releasing her major-label debut single "Replay" as well as a self-titled debut album in 2013. Further music releases were scarce, and she has publicly stated in years since that she does not plan on returning to her music career. However, she has sung and danced for several projects she acted in, namely The Greatest Showman and Euphoria. She was also runner-up on Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars.
Also, she is Meechee.
Discography:
- Zendaya (2013)
Selected filmography:
- Shake it Up (2010 — 2013) as Rocky Blue
- Good Luck Charlie (2011)
- Pixie Hollow Games (2011) as Fern (voice)
- Frenemies (2012) as Halley Brandon
- Dancing with the Stars (2013) as herself
- Zapped (2014) as Zoey Stevens
- K.C. Undercover (2015 — 2018) as K.C. Cooper
- Lemonade (2016) as herself
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (2017-present) as Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- The Greatest Showman (2017) as Anne Wheeler
- Smallfoot (2018) as Meechee (voice) note
- Euphoria (2019 — Present) as Rue
- Malcolm & Marie (2021) as Marie
- Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) as Lola Bunny (voice)
- Dune (2021) as Chani
- Dune: Part Two (2024)
- Challengers (2024) as Tashi Donaldson (nee Duncan)
Tropes associated with her works:
- The Ace: On Dancing with the Stars.
- Child Popstar: She was once a Kidz Bop vocalist.
- The Cover Changes the Gender: In her cover of Justin Bieber's song "Boyfriend", which she retitled "Girlfriend". There are some significant lyric changes as well.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Unlike Shake It Up, Zendaya does perform the theme song for K.C. Undercover ("Keep It Undercover").
- The Fashionista: She's well-known for her fashion and was the youngest-ever winner of the CFDA fashion icon award.
- First-Name Basis: She is mostly credited with just her first name. According to her, she said that she dropped her last name because she "thought it was cool, like Cher or Prince".
- Follow Your Heart: "Something to Dance For".
- Heavy Meta: Like "Love You Like a Love Song", "Replay" is a catchy pop song describing a love interest as being stuck in her head like a catchy pop song.
- Idol Singer: As per usual for a teen starlet these days.
- Playing Against Type: Zendaya as Rue Bennett, a teenage drug addict in an HBO show, is a very far cry from her known previous roles like Rocky Blue and K.C. Cooper.
- Real-Person Fic: After the release of MCU Spider-Man trilogy and Dune there have been a number of fanfics written about her and her co-stars Tom Holland and Timothée Chalamet. During her Disney days there was a pretty big fanbase for her and fellow Disney star Ross Lynch, likely due to them being the biggest male and female stars on the network at the time
- Romance on the Set: She's rumored to have dated Jacob Elordi after shooting Euphoria together. She and Tom Holland are now in a relationship, which started shortly after meeting while working on the MCU Spider-Man films. The Parker mojo runs through multiple franchises it seems.
- Silly Love Songs: Every song on her debut album, except for "Putcha Body Down", qualifies as this.
- Statuesque Stunner: 5 feet 10 inches. Plus heels, she was taller than her DWTS partner Val (who's 6 feet himself), and two inches taller than Tom Holland, the Spider-Man to her MJ.
