Emmy award-winning actress Zendaya is ready to shift gears and is using diversity as her driving force.
During a recent discussion for her cover story in British Vogue’s October issue, the “Euphoria” star revealed her desire to expand her career in Hollywood by going from being in front of the lens to behind the camera. The 25-year-old hopes that with her creations, one day she’ll be able to explain to her future children what it’s like being Black in America in the present moment.
“I mean, that’s a big question. I don’t know – I don’t know what I’m going to tell them,” she admitted. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to look at what I’ve done and my body of work and see it.”
The “Dunes” star believes art is “a huge catalyst for change.” Zendaya’s ambitions to become a director appear to be fueled by her goal to contribute to a more significant cause. “If I ever do become a filmmaker, I know that the leads of my films will always be black women,” she explains.
The former Disney Channel child star sees the shortcomings of the industry. Often outspoken about Black representation in Hollywood, the star minced no words about her privilege in the business.
“I am Hollywood’s acceptable version of a Black girl and that has to change,” she said during a conversation with Uber’s now-former chief brand officer, Bozoma Saint John, at Beautycon NYC in 2018. “We’re vastly too beautiful and too interesting for me to be the only representation of that.”
Her industry colleagues are already rooting for her. “Malcolm & Marie” and “Euphoria” director Sam Levinson believes she’d make “an astonishing filmmaker.”
Zendaya doesn’t seem like she wants to wait any longer to start on that path either. “I gotta hurry up and figure out how to f—ing become a director, man,” the actress said. She continued, “I’m trying, I’m learning every day, I really am. There’s so much I want to do.” Levinson predicts she’ll be “an astonishing filmmaker.”
Earlier this year, Zendaya earned her first movie producer credit in the Netflix black-and-white romantic film. It starred Zendaya and John David Washington. The film garnered mixed reactions primarily due to the age difference between the film’s stars.
