Even Though Zendaya Says She’s Her “Own Worst Critic,” She Enjoys Watching Herself Onscreen

Despite being her own harshest critic, Zendaya said in a recent interview that she actually enjoys watching herself onscreen—which, she’s in luck, because her latest film, the Luca Guadagnino-directed Challengers, hits theaters today.

While many actors can’t stand to watch themselves in movie and television projects, Zendaya told Entertainment Weekly “I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Virgo or because of the way I’ve been raised or being in the public eye for a long time,” she said. “Whatever it is, it’s innate to be my own worst critic. But for some reason, I enjoy watching the work back. I think it’s just because I lose myself in the character.” 

The actress—who has also starred in this year’s Dune: Part Two and at some point will hopefully be filming season three of HBO’s Euphoria—said of watching her own movies “I divorce myself from whatever’s on the screen. I’ve already given over the fact that it’s Luca’s, it’s [Dune director Denis Villeneuve]’s, it’s whoever’s, and I’m in service to this other thing, and now I just get to be a spectator. Now I just get to watch.”

In Challengers, Zendaya leads the movie alongside two co-stars, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist, “as young tennis stars whose lives intersect as teens and years later,” People writes. “When it’s a character that’s not me, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is fun, I can enjoy this other person,’” Zendaya told Entertainment Weekly—after noting that, despite being okay with watching herself in character, she doesn’t like watching herself in interviews or on talk shows. 

She added, “It reminds me of the process of making it, and typically I’ve been very lucky to have a great time doing what I do, so it reminds me of being on a set or being in that space. It’s the one thing that I don’t feel that way [of being self-critical], which I typically do feel that way.”

With the release of Challengers happening today, Zendaya said “I always am nervous—I wish I was joking,” she said. “From a personal perspective, this is my first time leading a film in this way, so I’ve felt that pressure, that fear, burden, or whatever from the beginning of just wanting to make something that I’m proud of and enjoy it, and sometimes that can be very difficult.”