Zendaya’s acting career has gone nuclear these last few years, but according to her new British Vogue cover story, the Dune star wants to direct, too.
In the revealing profile, which was written by Marisa Meltzer, Zendaya admits that she would love to “figure out” directing and make movies with Black women in the lead roles.
When asked if she’s ever thought about what she could tell her future children about the current Black experience in America, she replied that she didn’t know what she would say, but hopes her output could help them to understand. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell them. Hopefully, they’ll be able to look at what I’ve done and my body of work and see it,” she said, adding that art is “a huge catalyst for change.” She then tied the question to her interest in stepping behind the camera.
“If I ever do become a filmmaker, I know that the leads of my films will always be black women,” she said. “I gotta hurry up and figure out how to f*cking become a director, man. I’m trying, I’m learning every day, I really am. There’s so much I want to do.”
Sam Levinson, who directed Zendaya in both Malcolm & Marie and Euphoria, said that he believes she’ll turn out to be “an astonishing filmmaker.”
Elsewhere the interview, she also touched upon what it was like to work with Timothée Chalamet, who she shares the screen with in Dennis Villeneuve’s highly-anticipated Dune. “I was the only other person closer to his age on the cast,” she said. “So he was like, ‘Awesome, someone who understands my jokes!’” They even had “dance parties” in her trailer, she revealed. “He just rolled up with his little boom box. … [Playing] 2000s dance songs like Soulja Boy.”
It was their first time acting in the same movie together, and she described him as “a very talented actor” and “a good friend to have.”
As the second season of the aforementioned Euphoria, Zendaya teased that “this season breaks my heart for Rue.” Of the role, which won her the 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, she added, “I can only understand it to an extent, and then I have to lean on Sam [Levinson]. He was an addict for many years as a teenager. And he’s been clean since he was 19 years old. That’s the thing that makes me hopeful.”
Levinson, who is the creator of the HBO series, referred to the upcoming season as “brutal” and praised Zendaya’s ability “to go to those dark places.”
Read the full Vogue cover story here.
