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Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ;As pronounced by Zendaya in the following:
born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. The recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award, she was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. Her films as a leading actress have grossed over $3.9billion worldwide.
Born in Oakland, California, Zendaya began her career as a child model and backup dancer before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2010–2013). She then starred in and produced the channel's sitcom K.C. Undercover (2015–2018). For her performance as Rue Bennett, a struggling drug-addicted teenager, in the HBO teen drama series Euphoria (2019–present), Zendaya won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the youngest performer to win the category, as well as a Golden Globe Award.
Zendaya made her feature film debut as Michelle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film (2017). She reprised her role in its sequels (2019) and (2021), both of which grossed over $1 billion worldwide. She has also starred in the musical The Greatest Showman (2017), the romantic dramas Malcolm & Marie (2021) and Challengers (2024), and as Chani in the science fiction films Dune (2021) and (2024).
In 2011, Zendaya released the singles "Swag It Out" and "Watch Me", the latter a collaboration with Bella Thorne. Signed to Hollywood Records, she released her self-titled debut studio album in 2013, to moderate success. Its lead single, "Replay", peaked within the top 40 of the US Billboard 200. Her Zac Efron collaboration, "Rewrite the Stars", from (2017), reached the top 20 of several and has received multi-platinum sales certifications globally. She has also written and performed several songs for Euphoria.
Zendaya attended Fruitvale Elementary School, where her mother taught. She was described as energetic and outgoing at home but reserved and shy at school. At the end of the school year, her parents had her repeat kindergarten to help build her confidence. Because of her father's passion for basketball, Zendaya's parents enrolled her in a local basketball team. After losing interest in the sport, she switched to soccer and track, but both also turned out to be unsuccessful. Around this time, Zendaya, aged six, and two of her friends performed a play at school for Black History Month. At eight years old, she joined a hip-hop dance group called Future Shock Oakland, where she performed for three years. She also spent two years dancing hula with the Academy of Hawaiian Arts.
After deciding to pursue acting, Zendaya assisted her mother, who spent the summer working as a house manager, at the California Shakespeare Theater. There, she assisted patrons with their seats and sold fundraising tickets, but her primary interest was in the theatrical performances. Her first acting role was as a silkworm in her school's production of James and the Giant Peach. Aged eleven, she began attending Oakland School for the Arts and, while still a student, was cast in several roles in area theaters. At the Berkeley Playhouse, Zendaya portrayed Little Ti Moune in Once on This Island, and in TheaterWorks' Palo Alto production of Caroline, or Change, she played Joe, a role originally written for a male performer.
By sixth grade, Zendaya played Anne Neville in Richard III and Celia in As You Like It and took part in a production of Twelfth Night. When Zendaya was in seventh grade, she and her father relocated to a small apartment in downtown Los Angeles; her mother continued to stay in Oakland. Retrospectively, she said of the experience that her father "knew what I wanted more than anything in the world", though she admitted she "missed a lot of fun things while I was pursuing my dreams and it was difficult not being able to be with my mom and my dog". In 2015, she graduated from Oak Park High School.
The first season of Shake It Up premiered on November 7, 2010, and was watched by 6.2 million viewers, becoming Disney Channel's second highest-rated premiere in its history. In 2011, Zendaya released "Swag It Out", a promotional independent single, and starred in the book trailer for "From Bad To Cursed" by Katie Alender. That same year, she performed the single "Watch Me" with Thorne, which peaked at number 86 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2011, Target stores launched a clothing line inspired by the outfits worn by Zendaya and other cast members of Shake It Up. The second season of Shake It Up premiered in September 2011. Zendaya made her film debut as an aspiring magazine editor in Frenemies (2012), a Disney Channel Original Movie. In February 2012, "Something to Dance For" was released as a promotional single for the .
In October 2012, Shake It Ups third and final season premiered. That year, she signed with Hollywood Records. Zendaya was later announced as one of the celebrity contestants on the sixteenth season of Dancing with the Stars. At age sixteen, she became the youngest contestant in the show's history at the time. Partnered with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Zendaya finished as the runner-up to Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough in May 2013. Zendaya released her debut studio album, titled Zendaya, on September 17, 2013, through Hollywood Records. A pop music and R&B album, Zendaya discusses issues of heartbreak and love. The album peaked at number 51 on the US Billboard 200. The record was preceded by its lead single, "Replay", which peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2014, Zendaya starred in the Disney Channel film Zapped, playing a high school student whose phone gains the power to control the boys around her. Jon Caramanica, writing in The New York Times, wrote that she did not "seem to be even a little thrilled", and described the film overall as "hastily written and structured". Zendaya was then cast as the lead in a Disney Channel pilot titled Super Awesome Katy. The show was picked up to series in May 2014 under the new title K.C. Undercover, with Zendaya's character renamed from Katy Cooper to K.C. Cooper. Zendaya exerted influence over the renaming of her character and the retitling of the series, also deciding several elements of the character's personality. K.C. Undercover premiered in January 2015.
In 2014, Zendaya appeared as a guest judge on an episode of , where the contestants were challenged to design an outfit for her to wear at an upcoming concert performance. In March 2015, musician Timbaland confirmed that he was collaborating with Zendaya on her second album, following her move from Disney's label to Republic Records. In February 2016, she released "Something New" featuring Chris Brown, through Hollywood Records and Republic Records—her first official release since signing with the latter. In December 2016, Zendaya appeared as a guest judge in the season finale of Project Runways fifteenth season.
Reviewing Homecoming, The Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian praised Zendaya as a "scene stealer", while Times Stephanie Zacharek lauded her "delightfully sullen insouciance". The film went on to gross over $880million worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2017. Zendaya then starred in the original musical film The Greatest Showman (2017), portraying a trapeze artist who falls in love with Zac Efron's character during a time when interracial relationships were socially taboo. Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised her on-screen chemistry with Efron, while The Hollywood Reporter highlighted her for "registering strongest, bringing touching sensitivity to her handful of scenes". She appeared on three songs from the film's soundtrack, including "Rewrite the Stars" and "The Greatest Show", which reached numbers 70 and 88 respectively on Billboard Hot 100.
In September 2018, Zendaya voiced the yeti Meechee in Warner Bros.' animated film Smallfoot, which was met with positive reviews from critics. In 2019, Zendaya began starring in the HBO drama series Euphoria, an adaptation of the Israeli show of the same name, playing Rue, a seventeen-year-old drug addict who is also the series narrator. The show premiered on June 16, 2019, to generally favorable reception. A Guardian writer said that "Zendaya is reinvented as the self-destructive, self-loathing Rue, in what is a truly astonishing, mesmerising performance, upending every expectation of what she could do"; Doreen St. Félix, writing in The New Yorker, echoed this, stating that "it becomes difficult, and then absolutely silly, to recall the pink outlines of her early career on the Disney Channel, so grandly does she inhabit this dark new role".
Zendaya reprised her role as Michelle in (2019). Critic Christy Lemire described her portrayal as "darkly alluring" and praised her "humorous, deadpan charm", and Todd McCarthy, in The Hollywood Reporter, lauded her for being "appealing as well as funny". The film grossed over $1.1billion worldwide, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing release of 2019. At the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020, Zendaya won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the youngest recipient of the award at 24. In 2021, Zendaya starred in and produced Sam Levinson's Malcolm & Marie, filmed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic under strict safety protocols and with a minimal crew. The film received mixed reviews, though Richard Brody described her as "the movie's only redeeming quality".
Zendaya next voiced Lola Bunny in (2021). She accepted the role after Ryan Coogler approached her, citing both her admiration for him and her fondness for the Space Jam. Having grown up with the first Space Jam, Zendaya drew inspiration from her family's love of basketball for her performance. She then portrayed Chani in Denis Villeneuve's science fiction epic Dune, the first installment of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel. Critic Glenn Kenny described her performance as "better than apt", while Brian Lowry, writing for CNN, said that her screen time was largely limited to "gauzy images" in the protagonist's visions. Zendaya then reprised her role as Michelle in , with Brian Tallerico, writing for Roger Ebert's website, praising her chemistry with Tom Holland and her handling of the character's "emotional final beats".
During the second weekend of Coachella 2023, she joined Labrinth for a surprise performance of "All for Us" and "I'm Tired", marking her first live performance in eight years. She was also featured on the opening track, "The Feels", of Labrinth's third studio album, Ends & Begins (2023). Zendaya next appeared in the documentary Invisible Beauty (2023), which focuses on the life and work of American model and activist Bethann Hardison. She said that playing tennis helped her get in shape for her 2024 films and Challengers. Zendaya reprised her role as Chani in Dune: Part Two. She stated that she experienced heatstroke because she did not drink enough water during filming, citing a "fear of peeing herself". Her "fierce, open-hearted performance" was lauded by Vulture, and Polygon lauded her "economical" acting, deeming it a career-best.
Zendaya starred in and produced the romantic sports drama Challengers, directed by Luca Guadagnino, alongside Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist. She characterized the role as an opportunity to abandon her earlier image and portray a character closer to her own age. In the film, she portrayed a former tennis prodigy who suffered a career-ending injury and became a coach. A critic for the New Statesman wrote that the film was "a brilliant showcase for Zendaya, whose on-screen magnetism has rarely been channelled so effectively". At the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in 2025, Zendaya received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Challengers. Zendaya will next star opposite Robert Pattinson in the romantic drama The Drama and in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026). She is set to appear as Michelle in (2026), and will also reprise her role as Rue Bennett in the third season of Euphoria. In March 2025, Zendaya was confirmed to star as Ronnie Spector, the frontwoman of the Ronettes, in Be My Baby, a biopic based on Spector's memoir of the same name. She will also serve as a producer on the project. Before her death in 2022, Spector personally chose Zendaya for the role.
In October 2018, Zendaya became an ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger and co-designed the Tommy x Zendaya capsule collections, drawing inspiration from the 1970s and its "strong, iconic women". Her Paris and New York Fashion Week shows were acclaimed for their celebration of diversity and inclusivity, featuring women of color, plus-size models, and models up to seventy years old as a tribute to pioneering figures in fashion. Zendaya became a spokesmodel for Lancôme in 2019, followed by Bulgari and Valentino in 2020. In June 2022, she was named the global brand ambassador for Glaceau Smartwater, and in 2023, she became an ambassador for Louis Vuitton.
Zendaya supports campaigns to raise awareness about underserved communities, underprivileged schools and to financially support schools. In September 2017, she partnered with Verizon Foundation as a spokesperson for their national #WeNeedMore initiative to bring technology, access and learning opportunities to children. In March 2018, Zendaya teamed up with Google.org to support students at a community school in Oakland funding an innovative computer science curriculum.
Zendaya is a Feminism. She has previously discussed her experience as a black female in Hollywood. She took part in the George Floyd protests in June 2020 and temporarily lent her Instagram account to Patrisse Cullors to share anti-racism resources and media. Zendaya has been an advocate for voting over the years. In October 2016, she was one of the celebrities to participate in "Vote Your Future" initiative and appeared in a campaign video. In September 2020, she encouraged her fans with Michelle Obama, and her "When We All Vote" nonpartisan organization, to check their voter registration ahead of elections. The next month, she shared a video while casting her vote to remind about voting again. In October 2013, she took part in P&G's movement called Mean Stinks, and co-hosted the nationwide live-streamed assembly joined by almost 500 schools. In September 2017, she was fronting, along with her Spider-Man: Homecoming costars, a PSA for awareness campaign Stomp Out Bullying.
In 2020, at age 24, Zendaya became the youngest recipient of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, winning for her role as Rue Bennett in the HBO drama series Euphoria. After winning the award again at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards, she became the youngest two-time acting winner. Zendaya received the CinemaCon in 2023.
Zendaya was ranked one of the best-dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter. For the September 2020 InStyle issue she and her stylist, Law Roach, chose to use all black designers, artists, and creatives. In October 2020, she won the Visionary Award at the CNMI Green Carpet Fashion Awards for "promoting diversity and inclusion in fashion and film". The following year in November, she become the youngest person to ever win the CFDA Fashion Icon award at the CFDA Fashion Awards.
| The Greatest Showman | Anne Wheeler | Michael Gracey | |
| Smallfoot | Meechee (voice) | Karey Kirkpatrick | |
| Lola Bunny (voice) | Malcolm D. Lee | ||
| Dune | Chani | Denis Villeneuve | |
| MJ | Jon Watts | ||
| Challengers | Tashi Duncan | Luca Guadagnino | |
| Athena | Christopher Nolan | ||
| MJ | Destin Daniel Cretton | ||
| Chani | Denis Villeneuve | ||
| PrankStars | Herself | Episode: "Walk the Prank" | |
| Pixie Hollow Games | Fern (voice) | Television special | |
| Frenemies | Halley Brandon | Television film | |
| The Story of Zendaya | Herself | Television series | |
| The Making of SWAY | Herself | Television dancing-preparation show; 8 episodes | |
| SWAY: A Dance Trilogy | Herself | Television dance show | |
| Lip Sync Battle | Herself | Episode: "Tom Holland vs. Zendaya" | |
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