Is Zendaya returning to unconventional storytelling?
Many people were surprised at the casting of Disney sweetheart Zendaya in Sam Levinson’s gritty teen drama Euphoria, which follows a high school student called Rue who is dealing with addiction alongside the drama of her turbulent classmates. Loosely inspired by Levinson’s own struggles as a teenager, the director revealed that even though he had only ever seen her in the pristine light of her squeaky-clean Disney image, he immediately thought of her for the role, to him, Zendaya held something that others couldn’t quite understand.
However, after Euphoria was released, people immediately saw a new side to Zendaya that launched her career as a formidable dramatic actor, with emotionally exhausting scenes as her character grapples with the death of her father, hurls abuse at her mother and violently beats a door down in her desperate search for drugs.
Zendaya was rightfully lauded as a once-in-a-generation star, with critical acclaim for her performance in the series that only continued to showcase her range and versatility in the second season, with knockout scenes—spanning from Rue’s manic-depressive state to painfully long shots of her trying to unwrap a jolly rancher while sobbing and snotting all over the table, suffering from the most extreme of withdrawal symptoms.
Zendaya followed the staggering high of her Emmy award-winning performance with some relatively safe roles, playing MJ in the recent Spiderman adaptation, Chani in Dune and Tashi Donaldson in Challengers. While the opportunity to work with Luca Guadganino and Denis Villeneuve is not one that many actors would turn down, some film lovers were slightly disappointed by the depth of these roles, with Tashi’s character, in particular, coming across as slightly flat and under-developed, with a strong but not nearly as emotionally affecting performance from Zendaya in the tennis-based erotic drama.
While Chani’s character is important in the overall Dune universe, something is lacking in the part that doesn’t quite showcase Zendaya’s vulnerability and strength as a performer. Both Chani and Tashi come across as rather stoic women who are actively repressing something, which didn’t always translate well in her performance. She comes across as stiff and slightly forced in places due to the lack of substance in the script.
Zendaya’s recent projects almost feel too safe for her to showcase the raw power of her talent, because working with huge directors is a surefire way to please mass audiences and do something that is guaranteed to be enjoyed. The same goes for her recently announced part in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey, which is ringing alarm bells in my head, given how poorly-written the director’s female characters are. While the choice to work with commercial directors may seem like a definitively positive career move, the popularity of a director does not infer substance or success, with actors like Paul Mescal finding more success by working with an unknown director than he did through his poor performance in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II.
However, things might be changing for the better, as Zendaya has recently been involved in the production of Kristoffer Borgli’s new film The Drama, starring alongside Robert Pattinson. The filmmaker is known for his surrealist and satirical comedies, creating distinctly uncomfortable and disturbing films such as Sick of Myself and Dream Scenario, which may point towards a new direction for Zendaya as she embraces unconventionality, absurdity and truly challenging stories.
Euphoria was successful for this very reason – it was bold, unapologetic and entirely new; challenging the public perception of Zendaya’s capabilities and pushing our comfort zone by encouraging us to sit with a range of deeply unsettled and complex characters. I believe that by pursuing more projects along a similar vein she will truly find her niche in the industry and continue to dazzle audiences with the depths of her voice and astounding talent.
