Zendaya Is Trying To Figure Out Her Hobbies

Whether it’s Challengers or Euphoria, Zendaya has proven herself to be an actor with a strong identity on screen, but she’s still trying to figure out who she is outside of her work.

In a “Leading Ladies” roundtable discussion with Angelina Jolie, Demi Moore, Zoe Saldaña, Mikey Madison and Tilda Swinton for The Hollywood Reporter, the Spider-Man star opened up about finding herself outside of the public eye.

“It’s a thing that I’m figuring out,” she said. “What other than work brings me joy? For me, it’s been about trying new things, as stupid as it sounds, like pottery or anything with your hands. I can make a good scone now, you know? It’s just trying to discover what my life is outside of the presentation of who I am.”

She said it was a journey that was reflected deeply in her 2024 film Challengers, which follows a love triangle between three tennis players over the course of their professional careers. Zendaya portrayed a take-no-prisoners tennis coach, Tashi Duncan, after she tears her ACL as a junior player, which causes her to pivot to coaching.

“It spoke to me because I love my job so much,” said Zendaya. “I’m so grateful that I get to do this for a living. And I think, ‘What if it was all taken away?’”

The actor has been working in entertainment for decades, but Challengers marks her first time as a lead actress in a feature film. “I’ve been working since I was a kid, and I was like, ‘Wait, who am I when I’m not working?’” she said. “Do I have a life? What do I even like to do? What are my hobbies? Like, who is Zendaya outside of this?”

The Dune star landed her first leading role in Disney Channel’s Shake It Up when she was just 14 years old. “I’m a very self-conscious person. Everything I do, I’m very self-critical,” she said. “And I find that being on a set is one of the few places that I don’t judge myself.”

And while she’s grateful for how things turned out, she said there were moments she wished she could’ve lived in private. “I have a complicated relationship with the idea of child acting because I’ve seen it be detrimental to people,” she said. “You’re figuring out who you are in front of the world. And you’re like, I’m trying to do this right. I want to make everyone happy, but I don’t really know who I am yet. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I’m excited for you finding your fabulous life,” Tilda Swinton said in response.

As for whether or not she has a better grasp of her own identity now, it’s still a work in progress.

“Next question,” she joked, before later telling the other women earnestly, “But I appreciate being able to have moments like this, because I feel like at least now the connections are made. I can reach out and ask questions, because all of you have such experience and that’s so valuable. Often I feel too nervous to reach out and be like, ‘Hey, can I get some advice?’”