Picture this: the year is 2010, you just got home from school and you turn on the TV to watch the dance-filled adventures of 14-year-old Zendaya as Rocky Blue in the newest Disney Channel sitcom, Shake it Up.
Flash forward 10 years and at just 24, our favorite former Disney star has become the youngest person ever to win an Emmy award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Rue in the HBO hit Euphoria.
Over the past decade, Zendaya has repeatedly proven her triple-threat talents. After Shake it Up, she went on to produce and star in another Disney original, KC Undercover, as well as break out into other projects. You might remember her AMAZING performances on Dancing With The Stars where she was a finalist in Season 16! Later that year, she also released her self-titled debut album featuring the hit Replay, which immediately made it on to all of our iTunes playlists. And more recently, she made her Marvel debut as the dryly sarcastic Michelle Jones in the Spiderman series. Whether on the dance floor, the radio, or the silver screen, Zendaya continues to shine in everything she does.
Perhaps even more importantly though, Zendaya has become an icon for young women and people everywhere. This generation looks up to her as an epitome of class, success, and girl power. At 19, Zendaya was listed in Time Magazine’s 30 Most Influential Teens of 2015. That year, she made headlines for speaking up against racially insensitive comments made about her Oscar Awards hairstyle, as well as showing the world that what you see in magazines isn’t always the truth by posting side-by-side photos of herself that had been retouched. This year, you can find her sharing resources on her social media to support the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as being a champion for voting rights, even appearing in a National Voter Registration Day livestream with Michelle Obama.
And this Sunday came another huge achievement: an Emmy award for her incredible performance in Euphoria! Not only did she break the record for youngest winner of Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, she became the second Black woman to win the award (following Viola Davis) and beat out quite the talented and experienced competition. In her heartwarming acceptance speech, Zendaya thanks her cast and crew mates and director, while acknowledging that “this feels like a really weird time to be celebrating. There is hope in the young people out there…to all my peers out there doing the work, I see you I admire you.”
Even with such an extensive career so far, we are sure that Zendaya’s recent Emmy win is only the beginning. We can’t wait to watch her keep changing the game and rocking doing it, whatever she’s up to.