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LOS ANGELES — Singer-actress Zendaya has spoken about the pressures of fame and why fashion became an armor to her.
During a screening event held in New York City for “Dune: Part Two”, a question by the audience drew comparisons between the warnings of Messianic cult followings depicted in the epic sci-fi film and the state of celebrity fandoms in pop culture nowadays.
The panelists filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Austin Butler reeling with thoughts.
However, Chalamet quipped: “If I start answering, you guys need to answer too though.”
True to the spirit of her character Chani, Zendaya assured: “I’ll have your back, I gotcha.”
Zendaya spoke to her experience dealing with the all-encompassing nature of being a celebrity.
“I feel like, often, I am not cut out for that part of it. I do love my job, I’m so grateful. I love doing the work, I love being on set, I do love moments like this — don’t get me wrong — but I am terrified of that part of it, often.”
Talking about her being an introvert, Zendaya added: “I was a shy kid, always have been, and so this part isn’t natural — that is a huge reason why fashion became important to me because it became like armor to pretend to go out and do the job,” reports deadline.com.
“So I don’t know if I, either, can fully relate, but I definitely understand what you’re saying, and I think that’s what’s terrifying to me,” she concluded. “I would like to be a person and for people to see me as that first.”
“I don’t necessarily know if I want or can handle all of that or want (that) — some people that’s part of it, they enjoy the power that comes from it, and I don’t know if that’s for me.”
Butler said he had nothing to add to Zendaya’s words.
This isn’t the first time Zendaya has been candid about her discomfort with fame, having talked about the “complicated feelings” she has toward child acting and stardom earlier this year.