She first came into the spotlight as a teenager starring in Disney’s Shake It Up.
And Zendaya has revealed that she had to learn small talk growing up in the film industry as people would think she was ‘cold’ because she was shy.
The Euphoria star, 24, admitted that her stylist told her that people thought she was ‘mean’ because she didn’t talk, when really she was just ‘too nervous’ to speak.
‘I came off cold’: Zendaya has revealed that she had to learn small talk growing up in the film industry as people would think she was ‘cold’ because she was shy
She went on to explain that although she has adapted to learning small talk, she is still working to overcome her childhood shyness, introversion and anxiety.
She told GQ magazine: ‘In this industry, I had to learn how to do small talk and stuff, because I guess I would kind of come off cold to people because I didn’t really know how to start conversation.
‘I remember my stylist was like, “You come off kind of cold. People think you’re mean because you don’t talk,” when really I just was too nervous.’
Zendaya also opened up about how she discovered who she was without work when the Covid-19 pandemic hit last March, temporarily halting the film and TV industry.
Nerves: The Euphoria star, 24, said her stylist told her that people thought she was ‘mean’, when she was just ‘too nervous’ to speak as a young actress (pictured in Disney’s Shake It Up)
She explained that she sought out new forms of expression amid lockdown and tried to make herself a priority, as she didn’t know who Zendaya was if she wasn’t working.
The actress continued: ‘It was my first time just being like, “Okay, who am I without this?”‘
‘Which is a very scary thing to confront and work through, because I don’t really know Zendaya outside of the Zendaya who works. I didn’t realise how much my job and my art were a part of my identity as a human.’
Zendaya recently became the youngest woman to win an Emmy award for lead actress in a drama for her role as Rue in Euphoria.
And she shows no signs of slowing down, as she has most recently starred in an upcoming Netflix drama Malcolm & Marie, a trailer for which dropped on Friday.
Discovery: Zendaya also told GQ (pictured on the magazine’s February issue) about how she discovered who she was without work when the Covid-19 pandemic hit last March
The black and white film was shot in lockdown and sees the star step into one of her most mature roles to date, and she rises to the occasion with aplomb.
John David Washington and Zendaya, who play Malcolm and Marie respectively, are electric in the nearly three minute long preview capturing the emotional roller coaster of love.
Shot during the coronavirus crisis, the film features just two characters who, based on the preview, expertly shoulder the enormous weight of carrying the entire movie.
The story follows a filmmaker and his girlfriend who get home after a movie premiere and find themselves going down the rabbit hole of their past relationships.
When viewers first see the ethereal yet slightly edgy Marie, she compliments her beau with a smile before quipping that he is sometimes ‘an emotional f**king terrorist’.
Must watch: Zendaya has starred in an upcoming Netflix drama Malcolm & Marie, which was filmed during the Covid lockdown, a trailer for which dropped on Friday
Zendaya teamed up with her Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, who wrote and directed the art house film that is billed as ‘not a love story’ but a ‘story of love’.
Speaking to Pharrell Williams on his podcast OTHERTone, Zendaya previously revealed that they quarantined and lived in a ‘small area in the middle of nowhere’.
She explained: ‘We made a bubble. We all quarantined and stayed in this very small area in the middle of nowhere.
‘We shot in this house… we weren’t allowed to leave or go anywhere.’
The Greatest Showman actress added: ‘I’m doing my own hair and makeup in the bathroom and brought a lot of my clothes to help with set [decoration].’
Love: Zendaya teamed up with her Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, who wrote and directed the art house film that is billed as ‘not a love story’ but a ‘story of love’
She said the idea for the movie was birthed through, ‘quarantine conversations that Sam and I had, wanting to create something and wanting to do it safely’.
‘I really wanted to be creative and I hadn’t worked in a long time, through that year anyway,’ she said, adding she didn’t really do much acting throughout the year.
Sam had suggested that they could simply shoot a film in her home, though she admitted, ‘it turned into something more special than that’.
Malcolm & Marie was picked up by Netflix in a huge $30million deal in back in September and is set to debut on the platform on January 22.