Zendaya on Why She Is So Private About Her Relationship with Tom Holland: “It’s About Protecting the Peace”

Fame is all-consuming, and Zendaya reveals in a new Elle cover story that it affects her day-to-day life, right down to her relationship with Tom Holland (one of our favorite celebrity couples here at Marie Claire). As Elle succinctly puts it, some of Zendaya’s growing pains from fame are navigating the ever-present paparazzi and greatly reduced privacy, which is something she very much values—particularly in her relationship with Holland. She tells the outlet that she and her Spider-Man costar Holland attempt to be as private as possible but admit they can’t hide everything—and that she noticed her daily life shifting in spring 2022, while filming the movie Challengers in Boston. (The film, originally slated for a September 2023 release, will now premiere in April 2024 because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.)

“Parts of my life, I accept, are going to be public,” Zendaya said. “I can’t not be a person and live my life and love the person I love. But also, I do have control over what I choose to share. It’s about protecting the peace and letting things be your own but also not being afraid to exist. You can’t hide. That’s not fun, either. I am navigating it more than ever now.”

Before she noticed the shift, she said she could get away with going places relatively undetected. But after last spring in Boston, “I would end up going right back home, because it was really overstimulating,” Zendaya said. “Everybody would go hang out at a bar or something, and I’d be like, ‘I’d love to, but I think I could ruin everybody’s night. Because it’s just not going to be fun once I’m there.’”

On the cusp of turning 27—her birthday is September 1—she is taking on tougher roles and challenging herself in her career: “From a character perspective, I want to find things that will push me,” she said. “As I get older, you know, I can’t play a teenager for the rest of my life,” likely alluding to her hit series Euphoria, in which she plays a high schooler. With Challengers, “I felt like it was a good step into a more, I guess you could say, ‘grownup’ role and into that next phase,” Zendaya said. “It was a little bit scary to take on, which I think is a good feeling. To be like, ‘Ooh, can I do this?’ You could run from that feeling and stay safe and comfortable, or you can go, ‘You know what, f— it.’” 

Of her role in the forthcoming film, “Sometimes characters who are messy and conflicted and wield power over other people are reserved for [actors] who don’t look like me, so when I get an opportunity to play a character like that, I’ma take it!” she told Elle.

Her interview with the publication happened to take place right as the news of the death of Tina Turner broke. “What I love so much is the fact that she was a rock star at a later part of her life, when they try to tell you that you can’t be desirable or still sell records,” Zendaya said. “She had the biggest moments of her career in her mid-40s. It’s beautiful and proves you can evolve and keep doing it at any point in your life.”