This April sees Zendaya cross a milestone it honestly feels like she should have reached ages ago: a legitimate leading role in a theatrical film. The actor has been one of the biggest stars of Generation Z and a much hyped starlet for years now, and yet a quick glance at her Wikipedia page reveals a shockingly short resume.
The Oakland born star’s adult film career, after a childhood in the Disney Channel machine leading sitcoms like “Shake It Up” and “KC Undercover,” really only started in 2017, with a brief supporting turn in Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Opposite her eventual real-life boyfriend Tom Holland, she only had a scant 10 minutes or so of screentime as the sarcastic teen MJ — hardly a star is born moment, despite what the advertising for the film would have you expect.
Zendaya would reprise her role in future Spider-Man films, and her screentime increased with each installment. But the near blink-and-you’ll-miss-her nature of her “Homecoming” performance set a precedent for her career, which has seen her demonstrate a lot of potential with little real follow through. After her “Spider-Man” role, she showed up in 2017 theaters again to play a fairly minor supporting character in “The Greatest Showman.” In 2021, she appeared in the much hyped role of Chani in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” adaptation, only for her screentime to be compared to that of a perfume ad — she would eventually get some actual things to do in the 2024 sequel. Her other film credits amount to a spattering of voice roles (Lola Bunny in “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” Meechee in “Smallfoot”) and an honest to god first-billed lead role, her only before this year, in Sam Levinson’s Netflix drama “Malcolm and Marie” — a rather wretched misfire that didn’t quite set her or costar John David Washington up for the Oscar success they might have been hoping for.
On TV, it’s of course a different story. Levinson might have been responsible for the failure that was “Malcolm and Marie,” but he’s also responsible for her most acclaimed role, as recovering addict Rue in the discourse generator/HBO teen drama “Euphoria.” Her committed, volatile performance found acclaim, and earned her two Emmy Awards; her work as an executive producer on the project also helped establish her as a decision maker with an unusual amount of control over her projects for a young celebrity. Still, despite that, and with absolutely no insult to her acting abilities, it’s probably fair to say that Zendaya’s star image is more about her likable personality and gorgeous fashion offscreen than it is anything she’s done on film.
So that makes “Challengers,” her new film with Luca Guadagnino, feel like the movie we’ve been waiting for her to make for years now. Also starring Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, the tennis drama casts her as Tashi, a gifted tennis prodigy turned embittered coach following an injury, who navigates her desires for a former flame and her husband against the backdrop of a US Open-qualifying tournament. Not only is this an unqualified leading role, with Justin Kuritzkes’ script positioning Tashi as the fulcrum of the characters’ queasy threeway relationship, but it’s a very adult role as well, loaded with the history and maturity Zendaya struggled to embody in “Malcolm and Marie.” After spending her 20s delivering earnest, openhearted performances as young women and often literal teenagers, Zendaya is now 27, and “Challengers” feels like a deliberate turn of the page onto the next chapter of her career, an announcement and demonstration of the abilities she has thus far only hinted she’s capable of.
With “Challengers” in theaters April 27, IndieWire is looking back on Zendaya’s bright but scant career, to determine what sticks out in her short filmography. The “Spider-Man” series is lumped together as one entry, as are the “Dune” films. Voice acting roles in projects like “Smallfoot,” minor one-episode roles in sitcoms like “Blackish,” and her early work as a child star are excluded from the list. Projects are ranked based on Zendaya’s performance, rather than the overall quality of the film or TV show itself. Read on for eight of Zendaya’s performances, ranked from worst to best.
8. ‘Malcolm and Marie’ (2021)
Who Zendaya plays:Marie, a recovering drug addict and the girlfriend of writer-director Malcolm Elliot (John David Washington). Sam Levinson’s film focuses on one tense night in their relationship, after the premiere of his new film, as Marie confronts Malcolm over his selfishness and strip-mining of her own trauma for the plot of the movie.
Is she good? It’s clear why ‘Malcolm and Marie’ was an appealing project for Zendaya. After only portraying teenagers very far into her career, here’s a ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ riff that allows her to play a truly adult woman and explore the bruised, complicated edges of a longterm relationship. But ‘Malcolm and Marie’ is an empty disaster, and Zendaya is frankly a big part of the reason why. Whether it’s an issue with Levinson’s direction or her own limitations at that stage of her career, Zendaya feels strained and labored in the role, desperately trying to conjure a sense of lived history and simmering resentment that dissipates quickly like a mist. If she doesn’t embarrass herself as much as Washington (who gives a genuinely terrible performance), Zendaya’s work exposes many of her weak spots as an actor that she otherwise has done well to conceal.
7. ‘The Greatest Showman’ (2017)
Who Zendaya plays:Anne Wheeler, a trapeze artist in ‘The Greatest Showman’s’extremely fictionalized portrayal of PT Barnum’s famed circus. Anne’s gorgeous performances attract the attention of Barnum’s business partner Phillip (Zac Efron), but their love is complicated by the racial divisions of the late 1800s.
Is she good? Zendaya certainlylooks great in the Michael Gracey musical, bringing strong presence and great fits as the free-spirited circus performer. But the hokey musical isn’t exactly the greatest moment for any of its stars, and Zendaya in particular has the misfortune of being siloed off into an embarrassingly cliché ‘love triumphs over racism’ subplot. Even more frustrating, Anne isn’t afforded any agency in this love story, with Efron’s Phillip receiving all of the attention; she’s essentially just his prize for overcoming the prejudice of his family. Zendaya acquits herself to the role just fine, and she and Efron kill their big musical number ‘Rewrite the Stars,’ but on a whole, ‘The Greatest Showman’ barely gives her anything to do.
6. ‘The OA’ (2019)
Who Zendaya plays:Yes, Zendaya is in ‘The OA,’ the famously weird Netflix sci-fi series probably most known nowadays for its fans’ campaigns to bring it back over anything that actually happens in it. She’s not a big part at all, however; she appears in the second season as Fola, a supporting character in a storyline involving private detective Karim (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and his search for a missing girl named Michelle. A puzzle expert and a friend of Michelle, Fola helps Karim untangle the mystery, which involves an online game called ‘Q Symphony.’
Is she good?In a career defined by careful choices for her next steps and selective acceptance of projects, Zendaya’s recurring part in ‘The OA’ Season 2 is delightfully random, casting the star in a small, not particularly showy supporting role. She’s mostly there to deliver exposition about the game Karim is cracking and keep the plot moving. As a result, it’s one of her most easy to forget performances, but she’s perfectly fine, and conveys Fola’s growing obsession with the online game well.
5. ‘K.C. Undercover’ (2015-2018)
Who Zendaya plays:Zendaya’s last Disney Channel project, ‘K.C. Undercover’ follows in the footsteps of other kid sitcoms about teens living double lives. Her character K.C. Cooper is a math prodigy who discovers her parents are undercover spies and gets recruited by the same agency to act as an agent against a mysterious criminal organization.
Is she good?Most of Zendaya’s Disney Channel output has been excluded from this list on account of how young she was at the time, but ‘K.C. Undercover’ is, technically speaking, her first real work as an adult; she was 18 when the pilot premiered in 2015, and stuck with the show for three seasons, long past her MCU debut in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’ Beyond its significance in helping Zendaya transition out of cutesy tween roles, ‘K.C. Undercover’ also saw her co-produce on the project, setting her up to eventually work in a producing capacity on ‘Euphoria’ and ‘Challengers.’ The role is more than just a stepping stone though; Zendaya is legitimately good in the family comedy, with a bright, spunky, sarcastic screen presence that manages to feel relaxed and effortless compared to the often strained and hyper performances of other Disney shows. It didn’t win her any (non-Kids Choice) awards, but ‘K.C. Undercover’ is a graceful transition between Zendaya’s child star past and her mainstream A-list present.
4. ‘Spider-Man’ Film Series (2017-2021)
Who Zendaya plays: Michelle Jones-Watson, or MJ (as in, Mary Jane Watson). Initially an apathetic and blunt high schooler with few friends, MJ eventually falls in love with Peter Parker (Tom Holland), and becomes a trusted ally in his crime-fighting exploits as the superhero Spider-Man.
Is she good?The Spider-Man franchise hasn’t always done right by its female leads. Consider the weak writing poor Kirsten Dunst was often saddled with as Mary Jane in the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy, or Emma Stone’s cheap death as Gwen Stacy in the aborted ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ films. Zendaya, in her first real film role (if you don’t count a voice role in ‘Super Buddies’ and an appearance in Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’), gets similarly short shrift in ‘Homecoming,’ where she’s a glorified cameo, albeit a funny one with some killer line delivery. But the sequels ‘Far From Home’ and ‘No Way Home’ fix this by integrating her into the plot more closely, allowing her to demonstrate real agency instead of being a simple damsel in distress. Zendaya’s a total charmer in the role, and the best part of either film is her lowkey but endearing chemistry with Holland. Watching the films, it’s no surprise they got together in real life; the two make MJ and Peter make sense together, resulting in one of the few superhero film romantic subplots with real spark.
3. ‘Dune’ Series (2021-2024)
Who Zendaya plays:Chani, a young Freman who resides on the desert planet Arrakis. First appearing in Paul Atreides’ (Timotheé Chalamet) dreams, Chani eventually encounters the young noble after he flees the destruction of his house and offers him a place in her wandering clan, becoming his lover. Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ adaptation makes some major changes to Chani’s character; in the books, she’s unfailingly loyal to the young noble in his brutal quest to claim revenge on the warring House Harkonnen and his ultimate ascension as the Lisan Al Gaib that rules the Fremen. In the films, she’s his strongest critic, and her belief that the Fremen must liberate themselves creates a constant friction in the lovebirds’ relationship.
Is she good?After notoriously playing more of a fleeting presence than an actual character in the first ‘Dune,’ ‘Part Two’ allows Zendaya to step up to the plate as the film’s moral compass and female lead. And while her performance sometimes errs a bit too casual and calm to feel in step with the space operatics around her, she otherwise delivers some passion that’s sorely needed in the clinical story, conveying Chani’s soft emotional side and her firebrand belief in the Fremen’s need to rise on their own. Plus, she just looks and acts cool in her desert gear, and in a film like ‘Dune’ where atmosphere and visuals are at the forefront of the experience, being radiantly beautiful and commandingly charismatic is 90 percent of the job.
2. ‘Euphoria’ (2019-2022)
Who Zendaya plays:Rue Bennett, a teenager whose mental health struggles and grief over her father’s death push her into drug addiction. Sam Levinson’s loose remake of an Israeli teen show picks up with Rue back home from an extensive stint in rehab and soon sprawls to encompass a large ensemble of teens navigating sex and relationships. Through it all, Rue’s struggles to remain sober and her burgeoning romance with new girl Jules (Hunter Schafer) form the often exhausting series’ emotional core.
Is she good?Before ‘Euphoria,’ Zendaya hadn’t had the opportunity to prove herself as an actor outside of Disney shows and Marvel movies. ‘Euphoria’ changed that, earning her two Emmys and making her the youngest winner of the Best Drama Actress trophy. And although ‘Euphoria’ is a show that people will never stop arguing online about, virtually everyone can agree how great Zendaya is as the mercurial Rue. She shifts between sweetness, selfishness, and mania on a dime, and papers over the show’s writing cracks ably with her likability and earnest work. She goes wild with Rue’s many freak-out scenes, but her best moments are quieter scenes with Schafer’s Jules, where she demonstrates a sense of longing and bone-deep desire nostalgic to anyone who’s ever been a lovesick teen. Whether ‘Euphoria’ will return, and in what shape it will, is an open question; for all of the show’s faults, if it’s really over, Zendaya’s work is the one part that will be truly missed.
1. ‘Challengers’ (2024)
Who Zendaya plays:Luca Guadagnino’s sensual sports drama ‘Challengers’ follows Zendaya’s central femme fatale of sorts, Tashi, across two timelines. In the first, Tashi is a gifted teenage tennis prodigy who attracts the advances of fellow players Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Mike Faist) — although she deduces there’s some unexplored chemistry between the two men as well. In the second, Tashi is the coach of her now husband Art after a career-ending injury, whose loyalties to her family are tested when Art finds himself across the net of Patrick after falling out with him years earlier.
Is she good?Guadagnino has a lot of bright qualities as a filmmaker, but perhaps his strongest asset is that he’s a terrific director of actors, especially young actors. Consider how he guided Timothée Chalamet to the innocence-lost despair of ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ or brought a nervy, exquisite performance out of Taylor Russell in ‘Bones and All.’ So it’s perhaps no surprise that it’s under Guadagnino that Zendaya finally achieves the type of mature adult performance that has felt just beyond her grasp for so much of her career. She’s still playing a kid in part of the movie of course, but what’s great about her work is how she hints at the darkness and thirst underneath Tashi’s simple exterior both as an ingenue tennis darling and as an in-command coach. She brings a vibrant physicality to the role, her every move vibrating with lust and anger and resentment, with a flinty sensuality that recalls an old Hollywood star and proves captivatingly incongruous with her very Gen Z image. After a career that’s felt like a warmup, ‘Challengers’ sees Zendaya finally serve and deliver a performance worth cheering for.
