Zendaya Explains Why She Prefers Acting Over Becoming A Pop Star

We have witnessed Zendaya’s career consistently rise over the years going from a Disney Channel darling to an Emmy award-winning actress and style icon. Her range in Hollywood is both equally praise-worthy and inspiring and at just 25 years old her future looks brighter than ever. Starring in HBO’s Euphoria, Zendaya took on the challenge of playing a drug addict named Rue, in which she made history in 2020 by becoming the youngest person to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and she has even teased about possibly directing sometime in her career.

But with so much success in Hollywood, the possibility of the Dune star focusing on music full-time may be slim. The former childhood actress starred in the Disney Channel hit show Shake It Up where most people were first introduced to Zendaya and from there she starred in K.C. Undercover. The Disney Channel showcased Zendaya’s singing and dancing skills and in 2013 she released her hit song “Replay” from her debut album. She later followed that up with the buzzing 2016 single “Something New” featuring Chris Brown.

Since then, she would drop singles here and there for soundtracks on TV shows and films that she has starred in such as the powerful ballad “I’m Tired” along with Labrinth on the Euphoria soundtrack. So, that begs the question, will we ever get to see the young queen become a music superstar? Zendaya answered that question from her Spider-Man co-star Andrew Garfield in the cover story for Variety’s Actors on Actors issue.

Zendaya & Andrew Garfield | Actors on Actors - Full Conversationwww.youtube.com

"I was talking to Sam [Levinson] about this earlier. I was like I don't know if I could ever be a pop star," she said. "It's because as an actor, there's a level of anonymity that I get to have, which I really like."

"And I get to sort my stuff, whatever that is, through a character and nobody needs to know about it. Whereas in other forms and other mediums, it's all you all the time. I like the idea that somebody else, meaning Rue, gets to take on that stuff and I can–"

"Boundaries," Andrew added.

"Yeah, boundaries. Learning what's for me," she said before they began talking about Spider-Man.

Further along in the interview, Zendaya gushed about being an actress and how she wants to help others through her work. “I have the coolest job. I love my job so much,” she said. “But sometimes you’re just like — I dress up for a living, and I don’t want to take myself too seriously because I feel like there’s people who do far more important things than we do.”

She added, “I think for me being in service of other people’s healing through my work means that what I’m doing makes sense.”

This isn’t the first time the multi-hyphenate talked about her music and walking away from the industry. Back in March, the California native thanked fans for the support she received after releasing music for the Euphoria soundtrack.

“I stepped away from music quite a while ago, for a number of reasons, but I still really love it, so the kindness and support I’ve received the past few days just for a little tiny toe dip back into some music means the absolute world to me..thanks<3."

Even though she might not ever become the pop star her "Replay" days suggested, in honor of her love for music, below are 7 times Zendaya's singing blew us away.

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