Photo credit: www.thewrap.com

Zendaya Reflects on Past Competition and Personal Growth

In a recent conversation with W magazine, actress Zendaya opened up about her lingering feelings regarding her participation in “Dancing With the Stars” in 2013. She expressed that she still holds “a little animosity” about losing the Mirrorball Trophy to singer Kellie Pickler.

Zendaya, who was only 16 at the time, highlighted the intensity of the competition and the stress it brought her. “I felt that loss,” she affirmed, reflecting on the emotional toll the experience took on her. Being thrust into the spotlight of live television every week added to her anxiety, making the experience more challenging than enjoyable.

“I took it very seriously, which, in retrospect, I wish I didn’t,” she noted. “I wish I’d enjoyed it a little bit more and just was like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ You know what I mean? But I was stressing myself out. I really went through it on that.”

In that season of “Dancing With the Stars,” Zendaya and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy finished in second place, while Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough clinched the top spot. Despite her past competitive experience, Zendaya mentioned that she no longer follows the show.

Switching gears, she did reveal her guilty pleasure: the Netflix reality show “Love Is Blind.” “I love, unfortunately, ‘Love Is Blind,’ and then I feel bad for watching it. So it’s a guilty pleasure, I suppose,” she admitted, acknowledging the sometimes cringeworthy nature of the show. “It’s brutal. I’m like, ‘Dang, you guys know you’re on camera?’”

Reflecting on her journey, Zendaya spoke about her transformation from a shy child to a confident performer. Starting in the Disney Channel series “Shake It Up,” she discovered her self-assurance through acting. “I gained confidence and a sense of self when I started to audition. I’d create my own little outfits, do my own hair and makeup. Falling into different characters helped me get out of my shell,” she explained.

Her current roles in HBO’s “Euphoria” and the upcoming film “Challengers” have also allowed her to explore different facets of herself. “A reason why I love my job is it allows me the space to be less self-critical and try things, because I don’t have to deal with the consequences of the character’s actions in real life,” Zendaya elaborated. “When I’m Rue or when I’m Tashi, for example, I can just be messy, let the instincts come, and not judge myself because I’m not judging them.”

Source
www.thewrap.com