Zendaya may always be a Disney kid at heart, but she wants people to also keep in mind that she’s not a teenager anymore.
The actor recently opened up about some of the commentary regarding the age gap between her and John David Washington, who plays her love interest in the upcoming Netflix film Malcolm & Marie. FWIW, Zendaya is 24, where John is 36 — so, sure, there’s a decade-plus gap, but Z is also an adult.
That said, the actress seems to understand where some of the response is coming from, given that she currently portrays a teenager on Euphoria, and has stepped into teen roles, well, forever! As she put it in an interview with E! News Daily Pop, “I’ve played a 16-year-old since I was 16.”
Good points
Zendaya went on to explain that fans who have been following her career basically grew up with her. “It’s like watching your younger sibling now, you know, they’re grown,” she added. “So it’s hard for people to wrap around the idea that I am grown in real life. You know, even though I do play a teenager on television still.”
She definitely makes good points, so if you find yourself bristling at the Malcolm & Marie age gap, that might be the reason why. Still, it’s always good to remember that actors are not the characters they portray on screen; as much as fans might associate Zendaya with K.C. Cooper (or more recently, Rue Bennett), at the end of the day, she’s her own person.
But make no mistake; Zendaya definitely hasn’t lost sight of her Disney roots. As she recently revealed in a Variety interview, she still thinks of herself as a Disney kid too. “And to a degree, I am grateful for that,” she added. “That’s where I started, and I learned so much from that experience.”
Another thing Zendaya is grateful for is the experience of shooting Malcolm & Marie alongside Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. “Sometimes when you don’t see the roles that you want, sometimes you gotta be a part of creating them,” she told E! News. “So I’m grateful Sam wrote this movie for us.”