The Emmy-winning 'Euphoria' actress' music career has taken a back seat to her acting in recent years.
While Zendaya has been giving fans nuggets of musical gold over the years, the Emmy-winning actress says she won't be leaving her acting career for the musical stage anytime soon.
Chatting with Spider-Man: No Way Home co-star Andrew Garfield for Variety's Actors on Actors discussion, the 25-year-old opened up about her music career, which has taken a notable back seat to her acting pursuits.
To date, Zendaya released a self-titled debut studio album in 2013, been featured on seven albums -- six of which are soundtracks for TV and film productions -- and appeared on numerous singles with other artists. Her latest projects have been singles for her hit HBO series, Euphoria, which have sent fans into a frenzy for more music from her.
"I was talking to Sam [Levinson] about this earlier. I was like, 'I don’t know if I could ever be a pop star,'" the actress recalled while discussing how much actors project onto the public eye. "It's because as an actor, there's a level of anonymity that I get to have, which I really like, and I get to sort my stuff, whatever that is, through a character, and nobody needs to know about it."
She then added that "in other forms and other mediums, it’s all you all the time. I like the idea that somebody else, meaning Rue, gets to take on that stuff."
"Boundaries. Learning what’s for me," Zendaya concluded.
Garfield echoed the sentiment, noting that both he and Zendaya are in a "very privileged position where we get to decide" and that he finds it important to select projects that he feels a calling to.
"Obviously everyone is famous in their lives right now through social media, but where you live is very specific: You have to deal with a lot of people’s projections," the 38-year-old mused. "You have to deal with a lot of people having an idea of who you are without actually knowing who you are. When I did my first Spider-Man film, I was your age -- 25, 26. And I wasn’t ready, man. I was like, I need to back off, because I don’t know who I am yet. And my prefrontal cortex is still forming."
"My life can be meaningful outside of this, but this feels like a form of purpose," he later added.
The duo bonded over being able to "heal" and bring "joy" to people through their projects, especially while working together on No Way Home.
"The amount of joy that brought people is so cool. Like, to see you guys have that moment together was special, but then also the effect that had on so many people," Zendaya recalled.
"Totally. Also, it’s about brotherhood. And I love the idea that maybe Tom [Holland]'s Peter would've suffered the same fate as Andrew's Peter hadn’t have somehow come into that universe and learned from the mistakes of the past -- and made sure that my younger brother and his love didn’t have the same fate," Garfield responded, which Zendaya noted "made me very happy" when she read he said that before.
The actress revealed that her co-star and beau had been "so nervous" about working with Garfield and Tobey Maguire, who both played Peter Parker in previous renditions within the Spider-Man franchise. "He was like, 'I don’t want to step on anyone's toes.'"
"He never let anything on to us. Me and Tobey were like, 'This is Tom’s movie. It's your guys’ movie,'" Andrew said.
Watch Zendaya and Garfield's full Actors on Actors conversation below.
Zendaya previously addressed her music career after the release of her collaboration with Labrinth for the song "I'm Tired," which was featured in the season finale of Euphoria.
“I stepped away from music quite a while ago, for a number of reasons, but I still really love it, so the kindness and support I’ve received the past few days just for a little tiny toe dip back into some music means the absolute world to me..thanks<3," she tweeted at the time.
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