The dream role Zendaya dropped out of playing: “It can’t be done halfway”
There must be no better feeling for an actor than dropping out of a project that you suspect is heading towards disaster and then being proven right, which was the case for Zendaya, whose career might’ve turned out differently if she’d taken on a movie that actually turned out to be a major disaster.
The actor began her career on the Disney Channel, singing and dancing alongside Bella Thorne in Shake It Up. Starting out in kids’ TV is never going to be that easy to break away from as you get older, and Zendaya certainly did box herself into teen roles for a while with appearances in TV movies like Frenemies and Zapped. Then, a chance to play the iconic ‘90s R&B star Aaliyah seemed to be her ticket to freeing herself from the tired image to gain acclaim in more serious projects.
The singer rose to fame as a teenager, marrying a 27-year-old R Kelly at just 15, who produced her debut album, titled Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, and died in a plane crash when she was 22, meanwhile cementing herself a key figure of the decade. She might have had a short career, but she left a pretty influential legacy with her defining mixture of genres, drawing from soul and pop as much as hip-hop.
A long-time Aaliyah fan, when Zendaya was offered the chance to play her in 2014, she was quick to sign on to the project, but upon realising that the movie wasn’t going to do the protagonist justice, she made the big decision to drop out of playing her dream role, and instead, the part went to Alexandra Shipp.
“I just felt the project wasn’t 100 per cent there. I feel [that] production-wise everything just felt a little rushed,” Zendaya told MTV, “And I think because she’s someone I admire and I love so much, it can’t be done halfway, or not to the standards I think it should be done at, so I just decided not to do it.”
It must’ve hurt having to give up a role that meant so much to her, but ultimately, if it’s not right, then there’s no point being part of a disastrous biopic, as Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B was a huge flop that was practically doomed from the start, primarily due to her family disapproving of the film from the early stages of its production.
Zendaya added, “By all means, when the right project comes along, and it’s done the right way, I’ll be the first person ready to play Aaliyah, but this wasn’t the right one for me. I’ve been into Aaliyah since I was little, so there wasn’t too much getting into character. I always pretend I’m her anyway.”
Ultimately, while Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B wasn’t going to be the role that would allow Zendaya to be taken more seriously, a few years later, parts in the likes of the Spider-Man series, Euphoria, Dune, and Challengers did their job in helping her eke out the space she sought.
Maybe there’s still a chance for her to do the singer’s story justice, even though she is seven years older than when she passed; with her star power and youthful visage, I’m sure she could make anything possible if she tried.
