Zendaya Q&A / Dune
Over the course of the past year, Zendaya has made the transition from Disney Channel princess on KC Undercover to rising young movie star with her starring roles in SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME and the sexually explicit HBO TV series, EUPHORIA. She’s supremely talented, stunningly attractive, and refreshingly low-key when it comes to her success, qualities that have won over nearly 70 million followers on Instagram.
Now the 23-year-old actress/singer is preparing to go back to work on the set of Euphoria to begin filming the second season of episodes on the critically acclaimed series. She was originally scheduled to go begin work on Season 2 in March until the coronavirus pandemic forced shooting to be delayed until August.
“I love what I do, so taking a break from [the series] definitely sucks,” Zendaya said. “We were supposed to go back to work, I believe, on March 16, and literally, three or four days before that, [we] were shut down. I was like, ‘I was so close.’ We did camera tests and hair and makeup tests, and we got to see everybody, and we had the sets were built.”
“The scripts were written, and I was just so excited — just to go back home is really what it feels like. But of course, [the coronavirus] happened and I’m just grateful that I’m in the position I’m in. I can’t complain. I’m very lucky to be safe and healthy and still know that I have a job [on] ‘Euphoria’ that will be there.”
Euphoria is a gritty drama produced by Drake and directed by Sam Levinson (son of noted Hollywood director Barry Levinson) that deals with sex, drugs, and nudity in its exploration of Generation Z. As Rue, a high school student who re-enters that world after an unsuccessful stint in rehab, Zendaya gives a striking performance as a young woman unable to escape her self-destructive ways.
The series has not only marked a definitive break with her Disney image but Zendaya believes that Euphoria’s dark look at teen culture is a highly instructive alternative to television’s often sanitised (e.g. Degrassi: The Next Generation, The OC) treatment of anguished adolescents…