The graceful young girl from the Disney Channel with the beautiful name Zendaya flew into Hollywood with lightning speed! Collaboration with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, playing MJ in the new Spider-Man movies, a fantastic duet with Zac Efron in The Greatest Showman, and finally, over 110 million Instagram followers. But wait, there’s more!
Here are 15 fascinating things you never know about Zendaya.
1. Zendaya is deliberately using only her name because it’s cool, like Cher or Prince. At least that’s what she thinks.
2. She is the only child of Claire Stormer and Kazembe Ajamu. But she has five more brothers and sisters from her father’s side. Surprisingly, the actress was born already an aunt — she has nephews and nieces older than her. How does that work? Don’t ask.
3. If Zendaya had not become an actress or singer, she would have chosen the profession of a teacher, like her parents, or would have joined the NBA (eventually).
4. In The Greatest Showman, where she played an aerial acrobat, Zendaya performed most of the impossible trapeze tricks herself.
5. She once had a cute schnauzer named Midnight, who died in October 2015. Now her pet is a miniature schnauzer named Noon. Get it? Midnight and Noon?
6. Zendaya auditioned for the lead role in Alita Battle Angel, but the part went to Rosa Salazar. I don’t know which of the two would be better, honestly.
7. During the casting process for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Zendaya didn’t really know what the project was. She thought it was an audition for some up-and-coming teenage comedy set in school.
8. When she was just 16 years old, she was already credited as a producer on KC Undercover. Zendaya played the main role and helped with the project’s creation, making some changes to the script.
9. Zendaya’s parents stopped telling her what to wear when she was two years old, allowing her to experiment with styles. Experiments like this helped the actress deal with her insecurities. In terms of style, she was inspired by stars like Madonna, Erica Badu, and her own father.
10. A limited-edition Barbie doll was created by Mattel, based on Zendaya’s image at the Oscars in 2015.
11. Zendaya celebrated her twentieth birthday by launching a $ 50,000 fundraising campaign for the Convoy of Hope movement for women’s rights.
12. Zendaya is a vegetarian. However, she does not like vegetables. Funny, I know. She can handle her greens but prefers pizza.
13. Zendaya is not only an actress-slash-singer but also a pretty good writer. In 2013, her book titled “Between U and Me: How to Rock Your Tween Years with Style and Confidence” was released. In it, she answered millions of intriguing questions fans asked her on social media.
14. The actress is very superstitious. She never forgets about throwing spilled salt over her shoulder and won’t cross a black cat’s way. At least not until she crosses paths with Black Cat in the MCU.
15. Zendaya advocates natural beauty. The actress even posted a before and after picture of one of her photos. There was clearly no need to do any retouching. That’s why Zendaya always urges everyone to love themselves as they are.
