Zendaya got her start in acting on the Disney Channel, starring in the sitcom Shake It Up. Shortly after, she landed her first movie role in Frenemies (2012). Since then, Zendaya has been popping up on screens everywhere.
Zendaya now stars in Euphoria and is known for her role in Spider-Man, but there are probably a few things you don’t know about the actress.
Read on for five interesting facts about Zendaya.
Zendaya loves Harry Potter
In 2019, Zendaya was asked to describe what self-care means to her. She told InStyle that she finds it hard to meditate, so instead, she re-watches the Harry Potter movies.
“People say I’m crazy, but I watch ‘Harry Potter,’ like, once a day,” she revealed. “It’s just calming to me, so that’s my thing. People are like, ‘Oh my god, ‘Harry Potter’ again?’ I say, ‘Don’t come over to my house if you don’t want to watch it, because it’s going to be on.'”
Zendaya has a crush on Channing Tatum
In a 2015 interview with Essence, Zendaya listed a few of her celebrity crushes. They included Morris Chestnut, Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, NFL quarterback Cam Newton, and Channing Tatum.
It seems as though Zendaya really has a big crush on Channing, as she consistently brings up his name.
In response to a fan question on HuffPost Live a year prior, Zendaya said, “One of my [favorite stars] is Channing Tatum, but the list goes on for forever and ever. He can dance and I think that’s really cool. I love people who can have multiple talents.”
If she weren’t an actress, she’d be a teacher
Both of Zendaya’s parents are teachers, so it’s not hard to see why she admires the profession.
“It instilled within me a true appreciation of and devotion to the importance of education,” Zendaya told Teen Vogue in 2016. “If I wasn’t in entertainment, I’d be a teacher in a heartbeat — guaranteed!”
Zendaya had to repeat kindergarten
This may be hard to believe now, but Zendaya used to be really shy.
In fact, she was so shy that her parents had to attend seminars for the parents of timid children, and Zendaya even had to do kindergarten twice because of it.
“She would sit in the circle with the other kids and be totally silent,” Zendaya’s mother told Vogue.
Zendaya is a vegetarian
In 2016, Zendaya explained to People why she became a vegetarian.
She said, “My main reason for being a vegetarian is that I’m an animal lover — definitely NOT because I love vegetables.”
Zendaya reportedly started thinking about becoming a vegetarian when she passed by a slaughterhouse when she was 11 and her father explained to her what they did there.