THE MULTITALENTED TEENAGER BEGAN HER CAREER AS A DISNEY STAR. BUT DON’T EXPECT ZENDAYA TO HAVE A MILEY MOMENT ANYTIME SOON.
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Zendaya Coleman is nuzzled in the corner of her living-room couch, next to her dad, Kazembe Ajamu Coleman. They’re mirroring each other’s body language, both pausing to look up from their phones when I walk into the room.
Her mother Claire—whose towering posture resembles Zendaya’s 5′10″ stature—is the one who opened the door for me at their modest home in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. After leading me downstairs to the sitting room, she retreats to the master bedroom.
Zendaya stands up to greet me, then settles down on a different couch. It feels like I’ve come over to a childhood buddy’s house, not the home of a mega-famous Disney Channel actress and pop star on the rise—well, if not for the framed posters of her TV shows (Shake It Up and K.C. Undercover) covering the walls of their foyer.
“I hate having those posters up there, it’s so awkward,” Zendaya says, like any kid annoyed with her parents for draping their home in souvenir photos and trophies.
And furniture: On the other side of the room sits a director’s chair that has “@zendaya’s_dad” written on it.
This is a rare day of relaxation for Zendaya. Today, there’s none of the head-turning red-carpet fashion she’s become famous for, only a worn-out gray Voltron T-shirt and pink checkered fleece pajama pants patterned with black terriers. A big, real-life version of that dog, Midnight, walks by while her parents lounge nearby.
When we meet, Zendaya is fresh off a trip to Dubai for her 19th birthday. For someone who’s been on TV since she was 14, the almost-no-longer-a-teen star shows no diva blueprint. Instead, she’s pristinely good—almost immaculately so.
It shows in the bookshelf full of fan mail that she refuses to throw out, and the fact that the only thing resembling dirty laundry in her bedroom is an empty box of takeout lying on the floor. Want to get dirt on Zendaya? Not going to happen.
It’s why, in the wake of Miley Cyrus, the new Disney breakout star has become such a huge role model for her massive tween fan base. When not calling out Giuliana Rancic about culturally insensitive comments, she’s schooling kids on cyberbullying and donating to various charities—something her vast audience of followers on social media (6 million on Twitter, 12 million on Instagram) sees on a regular basis.
It’s easy to be skeptical about how much of Zendaya is actually real, but just a few minutes into our conversation it’s clear that she has spent a lot of time thinking about these issues. (At this point in her life, Zendaya promises to not have her own “Miley moment.”)
Her strong tie to her family is a huge factor behind how Zendaya stays grounded, despite having grown up in the industry. She still lives (and records music) under the same roof as her parents (both ex-teachers), who have kept her (and her five older siblings) humble and raised her to always remember where she came from.
****
Zendaya Coleman is nuzzled in the corner of her living-room couch, next to her dad, Kazembe Ajamu Coleman. They’re mirroring each other’s body language, both pausing to look up from their phones when I walk into the room.
Her mother Claire—whose towering posture resembles Zendaya’s 5′10″ stature—is the one who opened the door for me at their modest home in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. After leading me downstairs to the sitting room, she retreats to the master bedroom.
Zendaya stands up to greet me, then settles down on a different couch. It feels like I’ve come over to a childhood buddy’s house, not the home of a mega-famous Disney Channel actress and pop star on the rise—well, if not for the framed posters of her TV shows (Shake It Up and K.C. Undercover) covering the walls of their foyer.
“I hate having those posters up there, it’s so awkward,” Zendaya says, like any kid annoyed with her parents for draping their home in souvenir photos and trophies.
And furniture: On the other side of the room sits a director’s chair that has “@zendaya’s_dad” written on it.
This is a rare day of relaxation for Zendaya. Today, there’s none of the head-turning red-carpet fashion she’s become famous for, only a worn-out gray Voltron T-shirt and pink checkered fleece pajama pants patterned with black terriers. A big, real-life version of that dog, Midnight, walks by while her parents lounge nearby.
When we meet, Zendaya is fresh off a trip to Dubai for her 19th birthday. For someone who’s been on TV since she was 14, the almost-no-longer-a-teen star shows no diva blueprint. Instead, she’s pristinely good—almost immaculately so.
It shows in the bookshelf full of fan mail that she refuses to throw out, and the fact that the only thing resembling dirty laundry in her bedroom is an empty box of takeout lying on the floor. Want to get dirt on Zendaya? Not going to happen.
It’s why, in the wake of Miley Cyrus, the new Disney breakout star has become such a huge role model for her massive tween fan base. When not calling out Giuliana Rancic about culturally insensitive comments, she’s schooling kids on cyberbullying and donating to various charities—something her vast audience of followers on social media (6 million on Twitter, 12 million on Instagram) sees on a regular basis.
It’s easy to be skeptical about how much of Zendaya is actually real, but just a few minutes into our conversation it’s clear that she has spent a lot of time thinking about these issues. (At this point in her life, Zendaya promises to not have her own “Miley moment.”)
Her strong tie to her family is a huge factor behind how Zendaya stays grounded, despite having grown up in the industry. She still lives (and records music) under the same roof as her parents (both ex-teachers), who have kept her (and her five older siblings) humble and raised her to always remember where she came from.
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