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Zendaya
Birthdate: September 1, 1996 (29 Years Old)
Birthplace: Oakland, California, USA
Zendaya (birthname: Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman) has emerged as one of the most dynamic and exciting actor-singers of her generation. Her blistering, Emmy-winning portrayal of Rue Bennett on Sam Levinson’s acclaimed HBO series, Euphoria (2019-present), is one of the most thrilling acting displays in either American cinema or television in recent years, announcing a major talent.
This undeniable brilliance certainly stems from her longtime training in Shakespearean theater, a fact often overlooked about this remarkable performer. Her childhood exposure to The Bar and care of her mother, Claire Stoermer, is at the heart of this: Helping her mom (the company’s house manager) at the East Bay-based California Shakespeare Theatre ignited Zendaya’s desire to perform and allowed her to be several jumps ahead of her peers in her mastery of theater.
By the time she was cast in Disney’s series, Shake It Up (2010), Zendaya had already played Shakespeare in many guises on stage—a rare experience for young, aspiring American actors. This experience included acting with the renowned A.C.T. in San Francisco. Zendaya’s talent for musical theater received a fine platform in her movie debut in the runaway hit, The Greatest Showman (2017), with Hugh Jackman, earning $435 million globally to rank #5 on the list of top-grossing live-action musicals.
She parlayed this early movie success into the live version of the show, where she re-created her role as Anne. At the same time, Zendaya landed the plum role as MJ in Marvel’s reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, proving to be a key anchor—as co-star with the new Spidey, Tom Holland—of one of the most successful movie runs in the brief history of superhero movies, totaling approximately $4 billion worldwide for Homecoming (2017), Far from Home (2019), and No Way Home (2021). In between these behemoths, Zendaya performed voices for the Chinese-U.S. co-produced animated feature, Duck, Duck, Goose (2018), and Warner Animation Group’s Smallfoot (2018), with the voices of Channing Tatum, James Corden, Common, LeBron James, Danny DeVito, and Gina Rodriguez.
Zendaya’s visibility in Spidey’s universe was extended in September 2022, with Marvel’s re-release (with additional material not in the original release), Spider-Man: No Way Home—The More Fun Stuff Version. Zendaya returned as MJ in the finale of the trilogy, Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), with returning co-star Holland, along with Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, Liza Colon-Zayas, Jon Bernthal, and Mark Ruffalo under Destin Daniel Cretton’s direction, released wide by Sony Pictures Releasing.
Zendaya’s knack for major projects continued in 2021, with her prominent role as Chani (lover to the story’s hero, Paul) in Denis Villeneuve’s elegant version of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, Dune, with Timothée Chalamet (as Paul), Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, and Charlotte Rampling.
This massive project—part one earning over $400 million globally--includes the sequel (filmed in 2022), Dune: Part Two (2024). Zendaya returned alongside Chalamet as Chani in the finale of director/co-writer/producer Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy, Dune: Part Three (2026), with Rebecca Ferguson, Brolin, Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Robert Pattinson, and released wide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Back on Planet Earth, Zendaya landed her first starring role—along with a position as producer, alongside the powerhouse Hollywood figure and fellow producer, Amy Pascal—of the tennis drama directed by Luca Guadagnino, Challengers (2024), which was produced via MGM and released theatrically by Amazon MGM Studios with Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.
Zendaya co-starred with Robert Pattinson in director/writer Kristoffer Borgli’s black comedy/drama, The Drama (2026), produced by Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, and Tyler Campellone, co-starring Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates, Zoe Winters, and Anna Baryshnikov, and released widely by A24. Zendaya took on the godly role of Athena in director/writer/producer Christopher Nolan’s epic film version of Homer’s The Odyssey (2026), co-starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, Will Yun Lee, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, Samantha Morton and Jesse Garcia, produced (with Nolan’s company Syncopy) and distributed wide by Universal Pictures.
Zendaya was the voice of Felicia in director Walt Dohrn’s/Conrad Vernon’s/Brad Ableson’s sequel for DreamWorks Animation, Shrek 5 (2027), written by Michael McCullers and produced by Gina Shay and Chris Meledandri, and co-starring the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Skyler Gisondo, and Marcello Hernandez, and released by Universal Pictures.
