Zendaya explains how she wants her future kids to see her work

'I gotta hurry up and figure out how to f**king become a director, man. I’m trying.'
September 7, 2021 12:33 p.m. EST
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Zendaya's latest starring role is on British Vogue's cover: she graces the new October issue, dazzling in Yves St Laurent couture and Bulgari jewelry. Photographed by Craig McDean and styled by Law Roach, the Euphoria and Dune star opens up pretty candidly about all sorts of topics in a wide-ranging interview.

While one thing she doesn’t go into detail about is her rumoured romance with Spiderman co-star Tom Holland (gah, we need verbal confirmation!), she does talk about her deep bond with Dune co-star Timothee Chalamet, about going to therapy, the Bulgari diamond she splurged on, and why intersectional feminism is central to her work and how she wants the next generation (particularly any future kids of hers) to view it.

First off, family is a big part of her life and Z (AKA Auntie Daya) shared that she's really tight with her nieces and nephews who are close to her age. 

"I like to think I’m the cool aunt, I had this whole situation the other day where my little niece had friends over. I’m like, ‘Do you want to hang out? Do you need a ride?,'" she told British Vogue, adding that she's in the reverse situation with her older niece.

"My niece, who is two years older than me, was wearing a side-part and skinny jeans, and I was like, ‘Uh oh, you didn’t hear? Skinny jeans are cancelled. You’re out honey, you’re out.’"

Speaking about what the future may hold in terms of her own kids, she said, “I’ve never been like, ‘I want to do this at this time, then from this age, I want to do this.’ One day I’ll have a family, but I’m not trying to put a number on it, it’ll happen if it’s meant to happen.”

She added that the feminist values she embodies in her work are something she would hope to be a learning opportunity for any potential kids. When asked specifically, what she would tell her future offspring about being Black in America, her work was her only answer. 

"I mean, that’s a big question. I don’t know – I don’t know what I’m going to tell them. Hopefully, they’ll be able to look at what I’ve done and my body of work and see it," she said. "[Art is] a huge catalyst for change. If I ever do become a filmmaker, I know that the leads of my films will always be Black women."

She clarified too that if feminism isn’t intersectional -- encompassing, “women that look like you, women who don’t look like you, women whose experiences are different than you. That means Black women, that means trans women, that means all women” -- then it’s not truly feminism.

Considering Z is the youngest person to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Euphoria, we can trust her to know how to pick excellent, meaningful roles, but she adds: "I gotta hurry up and figure out how to f**king become a director, man. I’m trying, I’m learning every day, I really am. There’s so much I want to do."

Before we're treated to that, we're going to see her in her upcoming turn as Chani in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, opposite the internet’s boyfriend Timothee Chalamet. 

“I was the only other person closer to his age on the cast. So he was like, ‘Awesome, someone who understands my jokes!’” she says of the Call Me By Your Name hunk, adding that they threw dance parties for two in his trailer. “He just rolled up with his little boom box.”

What was the music they grooved to? “2000s dance songs like Soulja Boy,” she says. 

Timothee himself even is quoted in the piece, gushing about his co-star. “We got in a nice, beautiful rhythm, where we were able to snap into focus on scenes but we had so much fun, too,” he says, adding that Zendaya is a “total icon” and a “great friend”.

Zendaya continues, “He’s obviously a very talented actor, but just a wonderful person and a good friend to have Especially in this industry, it’s nice to have other people who are going through it too and that you can talk to.”

We stan this friendship. Long may it reign.

The Euphoria star had a lot to say about life in general, like her blanket recommendation that anyone with the financial means go to therapy.

“Yeah, of course I go to therapy,” she says in the profile. “I mean, if anybody is able to possess the financial means to go to therapy, I would recommend they do that. I think it’s a beautiful thing.”

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with working on yourself and dealing with those things with someone who can help you,” she adds, “someone who can talk to you, who’s not your mom or whatever. Who has no bias.”

She also admits that the pandemic really took a hit on her emotional well-being, describing how it was her, “first kind of taste of sadness where you wake up and you just feel bad all day, like what the f**k is going on? What is this dark cloud that’s hovering over me and I don’t know how to get rid of it, you know?”

But every cloud has its rainbow, and for Zendaya, it was purchasing a yellow-diamond Bulgari ring all for herself (she is a Bulgari brand ambassador after all).

“This is my splurge, my treat-myself,” she says in the profile, adding with a shy laugh, “I do get a little employee discount. It feels like it’s gonna be an heirloom, like one day I can give it to my grandchildren.”

*Googles how to be adopted by Zendaya*

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