Zendaya discusses taking on the role of the family’s primary earner as a young star and expresses regret for missing out on traditional schooling

Zendaya talked about becoming the “breadwinner” as a child star and how she wished she went to school, after getting started working in Hollywood at age 13 and never getting to attend high school.

In a Vogue article, the 27-year-old actress — born Zendaya Coleman — admitted she has “complicated feelings about kids and fame and being in the public eye, or being a child actor,” noting there’s “cases of it being detrimental…”

“And I think only now, as an adult, am I starting to go, Oh, okay, wait a minute: I’ve only ever done what I’ve known, and this is all I’ve known,” Zendaya explained.

“I’m almost going through my angsty teenager phase now, because I didn’t really have the time to do it before,” she added. “I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early, and there was a lot of role-​reversal happening, and just kind of becoming grown, really.”

Zendaya says breaking away from high school roles is “refreshing,” but admits “I wish I went to school” in real life.

“I have complicated feelings about kids and fame…I was thrust into a very adult position [as a teen star]: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very… pic.twitter.com/8TG67mVezm

— Variety (@Variety) April 9, 2024

The “Spider-Man: No Way Home” star said she felt she needed to be “this perfect being, and be everything that everyone needs me to be, and live up to all these expectations.”

“Now, when I have these moments in my career—like, my first time leading a film that’s actually going to be in a theater—I feel like I shrink, and I can’t enjoy all the things that are happening to me, because I’m like this…I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try s***,” Zendaya said. “And I wish I went to school.”

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“I think growing up, I always felt like when someone asks for a picture, I have to do it, all the time,” she added. “You have to say yes, because you need to be grateful that you’re here. And while I still feel that way, I also have learned that I can say no, and I can say kindly that I’m having a day off, or I’m just trying to be to myself today, and I don’t actually have to perform all the time.”

“Because I don’t necessarily want my kids to have to deal with this,” Zendaya continued. “And what does my future look like? Am I going to be a public-facing person forever?”

When asked about what her “perfect future” would like like, she said, “make things and pop out when I need to pop out, and have a protected life with my family, not worried if I’m not delivering something all the time, or not giving all the time, that everything’s going to go away.”

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