Zendaya is one of Hollywood’s popular faces on TV screens. She has relatively enjoyed success since she first appeared in her real film debut in 2017. Although she has had a career in television since playing Rocky Blue in the American sitcom, Shake It Up (2010–2013).
Zendaya currently plays Rue Bennett on HBO’s Euphoria. She’s reported to have an estimated $20 million net worth.
The 26-year-old actress was born Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman on September 1, 1996, in Oakland, California, U.S. Zendaya has no problem mixing work and love as she’s currently in a relationship with British actor and Spider-Man co-star Tom Holland.
If you’re a fan of Zendaya and her works, here are 5 movies to catch her in.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Credit: Spider-Man: Homecoming
Undoubtedly, Spider-Man: Homecoming is the movie that brought Zendaya into the limelight. Zendaya plays the MJ of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). She’s known as Michelle in this film. However, unlike the other MJs we were accustomed to (Mary Jane Watson, specifically), Michelle is not the love interest of Spider-Man from the get-go.
Michelle comes across more as an intelligent and snarky character. Zendaya’s character is a classmate of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) at Midtown School of Science and Technology. She’s what you’ll call a loner until she’s made the captain of the academic decathlon team when Liz Allan leaves.
Never one to disappoint, the MCU movie grossed $880.2 million on a budget of $175 million.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Credit: The Greatest Showman
When Zendaya is not playing the snarky character of MJ, she’s Anne Wheeler in The Greatest Showman. Although the movie centered around P.T. Barnum’s life, circuses, and freaks, it’s hard to miss Zendaya’s performance as Anne Wheeler.
She plays the love interest of P.T. Barnum’s business partner, Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron). Anne Wheeler is part of Barnum’s freaks as an acrobat and professional trapeze artist. In a time when racism was at its peak, Anne and Phillip must keep their romance away from watchful eyes.
The movie was a success at the box office and grossed $435 million on an $84 million budget.
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Credit: Spider-Man: Far from Home
Zendaya reprises her role as Michelle, a classmate of Peter Parker. She finally reveals her full name as Michelle Jones-Watson, confirming she’s the new MCU’s MJ.
MJ is now a love interest of Peter Parker, who’s looking for the right opportunity to tell her about his feelings and reveal his true identity. While Parker tries to evade the responsibility bestowed on him by the late Iron Man, he manages to tell MJ who he is.
The intelligent MJ reveals to him she has known for a while. When the class returns from Prague, MJ and Parker officially start dating.
As the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, the film didn’t disappoint at the box office. It became the first Spider-Man movie to cross the billion-dollar mark. With a budget of $160 million, the film made $1.132 billion.
Malcolm & Marie (2021)
Credit: Malcolm & Marie
Zendaya plays Marie in this two-cast movie. Although the movie’s screenplay received mixed reviews from critics, Zendaya and John David Washington’s performances were critically acclaimed.
The movie was also the first Hollywood film to have been produced during the pandemic. To ensure strict adherence to safety rules, the movie not only featured two casts and a few production crew but was also filmed secretly.
Although it’s hard to ascertain the movie’s success, it was produced with a meager budget of $2.5 million. The story follows a couple who spend the night arguing and fighting over several subject matters.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Credit: No Way Home
Undoubtedly the most successful movie in the Spider-Man series, Zendaya reprises her role as MJ. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $1.920 billion at the Box Office.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, MJ is already officially Spiderman’s girlfriend, and assists him in trying to restore balance to the universe. Zendaya’s character, much like herself, has grown and uses her intelligence to help capture villains from alternative universes. Besides the movie’s screenplay, part of its success resulted from the nostalgic feeling of seeing the older Spider-Man reprise their roles.
A notable moment for Zendaya’s character was being saved by Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man. Viewers got to see Garfield’s emotional reaction after he saved MJ. As fans of Spider-Man, Garfield’s Spider-Man was unable to save his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, from the same fall in 2014, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Goosebumps, y’all, goosebumps!
Follow Us
