Zendaya on finding fame at 14: 'I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position'

She made her screen debut at the age of 14 in the hit Disney series Shake It Up and went on to become one of the most well-known actors of her generation – yet Zendaya wishes she had completed high school with her peers. 

In an interview ahead of the release of her new film, The Challenger, the 27-year-old actress says she paid a heavy price for fame.

“I have complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor,” she tells Vogue.

“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 happening, and just kind of became grown, really.”

Zendaya is the only child of Claire Marie Stoermer and Kazembe Ajamu, but she has five half-siblings on her father's side.

She dropped out of high school when her career took off but managed to graduate at the age of 18 while she was working on her show, KC Undercover, which she also produced. 

“I'm almost going through my angsty teenager phase now, because I didn't really have the time to do it before,” she says.

READ MORE| Zendaya returns to the big screen with Spider-Man: No Way Home

Her early start paved the way for her future success. She won a Golden Globe award, went on to become the youngest two-time Emmy winner, and was named one of the most influential people in the world by TIME magazine in 2022.

She's had roles in HBO's hit series Euphoria and Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming movie, and is a successful singer with a self-titled album to her name – yet despite all this she still suffers from anxiety.

“Now, when I have these moments in my career – like, my first time leading a film that’s actually going to be in a theatre – I feel like I shrink, and I can’t enjoy all the things that are happening to me."  

Still, she's putting her best foot forward on the red carpet to promote her latest film. 

In The Challengers, Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a tennis player who, following an injury, coaches her husband into a tennis champion.

In an interview with Elle last year, the Dune actress said it was refreshing to break away from the high school roles she played in the past. 

“As I get older, you know, I can’t play a teenager for the rest of my life," she said.

“I felt like it was a good step into a more, I guess you could say, ‘grown-up’ role and into that next phase.”

SOURCES: ELLE.COM, PEOPLE.COM, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK