"Wish I went to school": Zendaya discusses handling fame as a child actor 

"Challengers" Paris Photocall
Zendaya talks handling fame as a child (Image via Getty)

While talking to Vogue and British Vogue for their May cover profile, Zendaya opened up about her childhood. The Euphoria actor revealed she wished she had gone to high school. Instead, she gained recognition as an actor at 14 after starring in Disney Channel's Shake it Up.

While discussing tense moments in her career, she said she carries it from being a kid who never really had an opportunity to try different things.

"I'm very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try sh**. And I wish I went to school."
Zendaya regrets not attending high school (Image via Getty)
Zendaya regrets not attending high school (Image via Getty)

She also shared her experience of being a child actor.

"I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early, and there was a lot of role-reversal happeningnand just kind of becoming grown, really."

Zendaya's parents, who are both teachers, enrolled her in acting classes early on, with plays like As You Like It and Richard III.


Zendaya opens up about entering adulthood

While Zendaya opened up about her childhood, she also revealed having complicated feelings about 'kids and fame.' She revealed that it was only when she entered adulthood that she realized that she had missed out on things.

"I almost going through my angsty teenager phase nowebecause I didn't really have the time to do it before. I didn't know how much of a choice I had."

She added,

"I have complicated feelings about kids and fame, and being in the public eye, or being a child actor. We've seen a lot of cases of it being detrimental. I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to go, Oh, okay, wait a minute, I've only ever done what I've known, and this is all I've known."

Zendaya began her career as a child model and a backstage dancer. She made her television debut at 14 with Disney Channel's Shake It Up in 2010. After the show, she starred in K.C. Undercover in 2015.

Zendaya as a child actor (Image via Getty)
Zendaya as a child actor (Image via Getty)

The actor has mainly starred in classroom-centric roles with Shake it Up, K.C. Undercover, Zapped, and Euphoria. She points out the irony of never having gone to high school, even though most of her roles involve being in high school.

"I am always in a high school somewhere. And, mind you, I never went to high school.

While discussing her upcoming movie, Challengers, the actor reveals it's "refreshing" to break away from high school roles.

"And it was also kind of scary because I was like, 'I hope people buy me as my own age, or maybe a little bit older, because I have friends that have kids, or are having kids."

"My career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight," says Zendaya about boyfriend Tom Holland

In the article, while talking to Vogue, Zendaya also opened up about her boyfriend Tom Holland's rise to fame. The pair met in early 2016 while filming for the Spider-Man reboot.

"We were both very, very young, but my career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight. One day you're a kid, and the next day you're Spider-Man. I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully."

While talking about handling fame at a young age, the Euphoria star mentioned that she doesn't want her kids to deal with it. She also wondered what her future would look like, and if she would be a public-facing person forever. Her upcoming movie, Challengers, is all set to release on April 26, 2024.

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