Zendaya Style & substance

THE STAR SPILLS ON HER LIFE-CHANGING ROLES, RED-CARPET REIGN AND LOW-KEY LOVE WITH TOM HOLLAND

- Jennie Noonan

Zendaya has snagged two Emmys for her role as troubled teen Rue on the boundary-pushing series, Euphoria. Not only that, every awards season fans and fashionistas tune in to see how the actress, 26, will turn things up on the red carpet. This year, she skipped the Critics’ Choice Awards, where she nabbed a trophy, as well as the Golden Globes, where she won again. “We are going to accept this award on her behalf,” said presenter Jay Ellis, adding, “She’s busy, she’s working, y’all. It’s a good thing.”

According to Zendaya, it’s a great thing. “I think why I love my job is because in real life I’m Virgo and I’m like super selfcritical, super hard on myself, super controlling,” she tells WHO. “This is the one thing in my life where I can be like, ‘I’m letting go like, this is what I’m doing.’ Feel that real freedom. In many ways, I think it’s therapeutic.” Not to mention rewarding. Multiple sources have reported the Oakland, California-born star has finalised a new deal where she will be paid nearly $1.48 million per episode for the highly anticipated upcoming third season of Euphoria.

The life-changing role has been lucrative and a learning curve. “I honestly feel like I’m not a completely different person from when I started Euphoria, but I definitely feel like I’ve changed immensely as a human being,” she says. “My heart is, like, way more open. And way more sensitive, and way more fragile in a lot of ways. I think that before Euphoria, I didn’t wear my heart on my sleeve as much.”