The Greatest Showman (2017)
Prior mentions of Zendaya’s musical talents have been brief in this column. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to take into account the prevalence of music throughout her acting career. She has lent her singing voice to past Disney projects and compilation albums, and she was signed with the Disney-owned Hollywood Records for her debut record.
Therefore, the Hugh Jackman passion project The Greatest Showman is far from the first time that Zendaya has incorporated her vocal abilities into her filmography. But the film’s uncomplicated grandeur makes it well suited as her first movie musical.
The Greatest Showman tells the tale of real-life circus proprietor P.T. Barnum (Jackman), heavily fictionalizing his legacy into a glitzy ascent to popularity amid personal trials and tribulations. Zendaya features as a trapeze artist named Anne, who falls in love with Barnum’s business partner, Phillip (Zac Efron), while working at the circus.
Zendaya’s long-established ability to maintain fever-pitch chemistry with all of her costars is invaluable here, as she is tasked to build emotional connective tissue with Efron without very much screentime. Their high-flying duet “Rewrite the Stars” remains a definite highlight of the movie. Hence, although Anne isn’t always written to be totally proactive — nor is she the main focus of the film — Zendaya affirms her place as an asset to the ensemble.
Duck Duck Goose (2018)
Zendaya continued to supplement her résumé in 2018 with two animated films. Earlier forays into voice work, such as Pixie Hollow Games and Super Buddies, are more so blips in her repertoire. However, Zendaya has her work cut out for her in Duck Duck Goose, a coming-of-age story told through a lens of waterfowl migration. But to be clear, the birds are the ones talking.
Set in rural China, the movie follows a happy-go-lucky goose whose blithe streak regularly gets him into trouble with the leaders of his flock. During migration season, he accidentally knocks two ducklings — one of which is portrayed by Zendaya — off course from a separate journey to the mysterious Pleasant Valley. The unlikely trio must then reluctantly band together and protect each other from the dangers of the wild.
As far as talking animal movies go, Duck Duck Goose boasts a very talented cast for Zendaya to bounce her infectious energy off of. She expresses so much vibrancy in her prim-and-proper part — her character is often seen spiritedly trying to get her little brother to stay focused on their mission. If it weren’t for Zendaya and fellow duckling voice-actor Lance Lim, Duck Duck Goose would have been far more tiresome to watch. The movie’s perpetual low-stakes storytelling combined with an otherwise unlikable protagonist requires her charisma to pull through. So it’s a relief that she is essentially the second big hero in the film.
Smallfoot (2018)
In comparison, Smallfoot is a much more successful animated adventure all around. This Warner Bros. musical comedy about Yeti-human relations — and the discord between them — actually has the benefit of an engaging story alongside a plethora of charismatic voice actors.
Much of the film is dedicated to the potential wonderment of knowledge and discovery and the dangers of closed-minded ignorance. Despite a seemingly unmendable rift between the species, Smallfoot’s innocent Yeti protagonist Migo (Channing Tatum) has his entire belief system uprooted around him by his encounter with an opportunistic wildlife documentarian.
Zendaya plays Meechee, the daughter of the formidable Yeti tribe leader and a supposed love interest for Migo. Yet, don’t let such a description lead you to dismissive expectations of the film. Meechee reveals herself to not only be the smartest Yeti in the entire village, but also one of the most accepting and open-minded of the group.
While that makes the character very likable in the most basic sense, it is notably functional to Smallfoot’s overarching plot. The film would have even benefited had it allotted more time to Meechee’s earnestness and headstrong confidence, and the relationship she has with her more traditional father. Regardless, Meechee’s presence in Smallfoot not only joins the line-up of powerful characters that Zendaya loves championing — but she feels multifaceted.
The OA (2019)
Zendaya’s practice of veering towards especially noteworthy supporting roles continues in the mind-bending, space-bending drama The OA. Her young drifter character Fola only appears in three episodes but winds up instrumental to a big subplot explored throughout the show’s entire second season, aptly titled Part II.
Part II picks up The OA’s chase for self-determination with a disillusioned private investigator named Karim (the formidable Kingsley Ben-Adir), who is hired to find a girl missing under eerily unusual circumstances. Upon discovering an abandoned house where the youth once lived, he encounters players of the Q Symphony — a puzzle game that supposedly gives participants answers to the hidden mysteries of life.
Fola is one of these contestants. She acts as a vital interlocutor between Karim and the unseen world of Q Symphony, explaining not only the rules of the game but what it — and this unsettling house — represents for those who are spiritually unsettled.
For the part, Zendaya douses herself in enigmatic acumen, deepening this particular facet to her actorly identity. As illustrated in Spider-Man: Homecoming, her aloofness is contradictorily attractive, making Fola all the more intriguing. Hence, wishful though this is, I can’t help but think that if The OA hadn’t been woefully canceled, its third part could have feasibly brought Fola back as a core character. The enlightenment that she possesses would prove advantageous to the many sprawling realities of the show.
Euphoria (2019-present)
HBO’s teen drama Euphoria is a complete one-eighty-degree swivel from Zendaya’s days as a family-friendly star. Naturally, her continued presence in Marvel movies and other mainstream fare exemplifies just how well she has cornered the market of multiple demographics. Still, it is a little stark to see her total metamorphosis into the challenging, emotionally-explosive series lead, Rue Bennett. That said, it is a discernible, wise career decision (Zendaya also serves as executive producer on the show).
Euphoria explores the dark and treacherous inner lives of several American high schoolers. The show’s large ensemble cast has the grave responsibility of generously representing glamorized illicit behavior that’s rooted in trauma and grief. Rue, in particular, struggles with multiple psychiatric disorders and substance addiction. She originally begins the series unwilling to fully participate in her recovery, but the promise of love and acceptance tempts her towards an effort at redemption.
Rue is undoubtedly Zendaya’s most nuanced character to date, due to her having much more time and space across Euphoria’s eight episodes to fully traverse all of the troubled teen’s deepest wounds. Moreover, although Euphoria’s first season spreads out its focus to accommodate its large ensemble cast, Rue is centered in the series’s special episode “Trouble Don’t Last Always, Part 1: Rue” — arguably the best thing that Zendaya’s ever done.
The special is set in a diner on Christmas Eve. Rue meets up with her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, Ali (Colman Domingo), to reminisce on months past and discuss the disastrous events of the season one finale. Fraught interpersonal relationships have reignited Rue’s self-destructive habits and with Ali’s help, she must examine the truth behind her motivations, thoughts, and feelings.
Both characters barely move from the booth that they’re perched at but this bare-bones scene is utterly captivating. Amid diatribes and excuses — philosophical observations and hard truths — Zendaya peels back the almost imperceptible layers of Rue’s hardened exterior, leaving the character so raw she is almost unbearably vulnerable. She concurrently portrays the defeated cognizance as well as the painful, recognizable selfishness of Rue’s self-immolating actions. Zendaya taps into human nature with utmost truth and compassion, and her turn in Euphoria is frighteningly relatable.
Malcolm & Marie (2021)
Zendaya’s most divisive project, Malcolm & Marie, draws from the successes of (and outright references to) “Trouble Don’t Last Always.” It transposes a combative two-hander into a feature-length character study about a cocky up-and-coming filmmaker (an excellent John David Washington) and his quietly despondent actress girlfriend, whom Zendaya plays.
Malcolm & Marie tugs at loose threads of the fraying relationship between its eponymous couple until their confrontations — covering everything from mild irritations to deep-seated emotional issues — become feral and disturbing. As viciously incessant verbal battles ensue, Malcolm and Marie’s movement between the rooms of their lavish shared home essentially functioning as acting breaks for Zendaya and Washington. Nonetheless, the tiresome cyclical essence of these conversations then forces audiences to contend with the toxicity of the characters’ union with nowhere else to go.
Admittedly, there is a pretty wide disconnect between the average film watcher and two rich celebrity types hashing it out in a Hollywood mansion. Thankfully, Zendaya and Washington are as enthralling as they are insufferable playing the dramatic, disenchanted couple in question. Their chemistry boils over throughout Malcolm & Marie, serving as a concrete reminder of the inexplicable draw of their relationship, however fractured it fundamentally is.
Regarding Zendaya specifically, she creates a tortured character whose untamable effervescence implores us not to pity her. The film constantly challenges us to find empathy for two people who — on the surface — couldn’t even begin to feel understandable. These actors make that task a whole lot easier.
From the start, Zendaya’s résumé has always been full of curious intention and for the most part, she hasn’t missed the mark. Her onscreen choices consistently showcase her multitude of skills, creating a symbiotic relationship between her real-life self and the fictional roles she plays. The true testament of Zendaya’s trailblazing talent is how smoothly she subverts our expectations of the future of her career through the integration of such characteristics.
Given that successes are only piling on — in the coming months (at the time of writing), huge blockbusters such as Dune and Spider-Man: No Way Home lie on the horizon alongside another season of Euphoria — Zendaya’s growth as a young woman and performer is more than evident, and we’re loving every second of it.
Related Topics: Filmographies, Zendaya
