Zendaya has been building her net worth since she was a child. However, being a child star comes with its fair share of challenges, like taking care of your family financially.
In 2010, Zendaya starred in Disney Channel’s TV series “Shake It Up” as Rocky Blue. After three seasons, the breakout role led Zendaya to stay within the Disney Channel franchise in TV shows and films such as “K.C. Undercover,” “Frenemies,” and “Zapped.”
Building her work resume early on resulted in Zendaya co-starring in the film “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” based on Marvel Comics, and landing the leading role in HBO nextwork’s teen drama series “Euphoria,” for which she won two Emmys and one Golden Globe for her portrayal of Rue Bennett.
While Zendaya has risen in stardom since her Disney Channel days, she is now beginning to further reflect on how her time as a child star impacted her.
During her May 2024 cover story interview with Vogue, the 27-year-old shared how having the most income in her household at a young age took a toll on her. The actress felt she had to be “this perfect being, and be everything that everyone needs me to be, and live up to all these expectations.”
“I’m almost going through my angsty teenager phase now because I didn’t really have the time to do it before,” Zendaya explained to tennis champion Serena Williams, according to Vogue. “I felt like I was thrust into a very adult position: I was becoming the breadwinner of my family very early, and there was a lot of role-reversal happening, and just kind of becoming grown, really.”
Zendaya also expressed that there’s some aspects of her life that she wish she’d done differently.
“Now, when I have these moments in my career—like, my first time leading a film that’s actually going to be in a theater—I feel like I shrink, and I can’t enjoy all the things that are happening to me, because I’m like this,” Zendaya balled up her first to describe the feeling as she spoke with Williams for Vogue. “I’m very tense, and I think that I carry that from being a kid and never really having an opportunity to just try shit. And I wish I went to school.”
This isn’t the first instance of Zendaya being candid about the pressures of up-keeping finances and inner struggles.
As the star of British Vogue’s October 2021 cover, the “Challengers” actress opened up about her anxiety surrounding money.
“The hope is to have a career where you can be in a position, financially, to just do things you want to do because you enjoy the work and not have to worry about the other things,” Zendaya told British Vogue.
She continued, “But I’m always like, ‘I will always need to work.’ Because if I don’t work, then everything can be gone tomorrow.”
Despite her financial fears, Zendaya has successfully landed blockbuster roles, including the recent science fiction/adventure motion picture “Dune: Part Two.”
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Zendaya has an estimated net worth of $22 million.
