Zendaya Expresses Regret Over Skipping School for Child Acting Stardom.
“I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early.”
Zendaya, now a pop culture mainstay and fashion icon, began her ascent to fame nearly 14 years ago on the 2010 Disney Channel show “Shake It Up.” Reflecting on her early fame and starting her career at 14, Zendaya recently shared her thoughts with Vogue for their May cover story, coinciding with her new film “Challengers,” releasing on April 26. She expressed ambivalence about her early start in the industry, stating, “I don’t know how much of a choice I had. I have complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor.”
Zendaya observed that starting young in the industry can have negative impacts, noting, “I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to realize: I’ve been doing what I know, but this is all I’ve known.” Her early career, coupled with the responsibility of financially supporting her family, accelerated her maturation process. She described her early life as being pushed into an adult role, saying, “I was thrust into being the family’s breadwinner very early, leading to a lot of role reversal and premature adulthood.” Now, in her current life phase, Zendaya feels she’s experiencing her rebellious teenage years, remarking, “I’m almost going through my angsty teenager phase now because I didn’t really have the time to do it before.”
Zendaya, actively promoting her eagerly awaited tennis movie alongside Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, has been captivating on the red carpet. However, she shared that the pressure to be “perfect” during her formative years has led to self-doubt, particularly as she steps into a leading role in a theater-bound film. “I feel like I shrink in these moments, unable to savor the experiences,” she admitted, attributing this to the lack of casual trial-and-error opportunities in her youth. Reflecting on her past, Zendaya also expressed a longing for a more conventional upbringing, saying, “I wish I went to school.”
