At just 26 years old, Zendaya has made history in the 74th Emmy awards. Winning an Emmy in 2020 wasn’t enough for Zendaya, so she exceeded fans expectations while receiving her second Emmy in 2022. According to CBS News, Zendaya is also the first Black woman to win two Emmys for Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Zendaya was first introduced to acting as a little kid because her mother, Claire Stoermer, was a worker at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, California. Nextbiography says because Zendaya spent many hours around the theater, her initial exposure to acting was on stage.
However, Zendaya’s life did not only revolve around acting. She also loved dancing as a little girl. Zendaya was a hip-hop dancer in the group “Future Shock Oakland” for three years. On top of that, she also attended the Academy of Hawaiian Arts as a hula dancer.

Zendaya’s debut on television was in 2010 when she played Rocky Blue in the Disney show “Shake it up.” Rocky Blue is a character who loves dancing and hopes she can become a star one day. Because Rocky Blue was so involved in dancing and singing, Zendaya was able to showcase her skills in both dancing and singing, all while acting. After “Shake it up” put Zendaya under the spotlight, she was able to act in popular Disney movies such as “Frenemies” and “Zapped.”

The year 2017 was big for Zendaya. She appeared in many important and beloved movies like “The Greatest Showman” where she touched many hearts through her sentimental role and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” that secured her role or position in the movie sequels as Spider-man’s love interest, M.J. Joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as M.J. was a significant point in Zendaya’s acting career as the MCU is known to be “the highest grossing film of all time” according to Statista. This would mean that Zendaya’s popularity and recognition would increase immensely as she is introduced to millions of Marvel fans.

In 2019, Zendaya surprised her fans by playing an unexpected character named Rue Bennet in “Euphoria.” Rue is a recovering drug addict in a scary world of lost teenagers. “Euphoria” shared a lot of nudity and sexual scenes that revolves around the life of a teenager. The show gained a lot of attention on the internet as teenagers and older adults love how the show stirred up fiery gossip and kept the audience hooked with its twisted story lines. Before Zendaya’s take on Rue, most of her roles consist of comical Disney characters, so the world was shocked by this change in the HBO Max series.

In 2020, Zendaya won the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy for her role in Euphoria. Due to the immense amount of love the show received, the cast members could not help themselves, but compared themselves to the first season while shooting the second, says ELLE Australia. With high expectations from fans, portraying the role of Rue in the second season was not easy for Zendaya, but her hard work paid off; she later received the same Emmy for the same role in 2022.

20,000 Television Academy members cast ballots each year for the Emmy Awards to recognize actors who show excellence on television and execute their roles close to perfection. This year, Zendaya became a record breaker when she won her second Emmy, becoming the youngest actress to win two Prime-time Emmy awards.

When receiving her first Emmy award, Zendaya reassured fans during her winning speech that “there is hope in the young people out there,” even if “Euphoria” doesn’t exemplify that. The star knows “Euphoria” shows the wrecked and messy story side of teenagers in today’s world, but she doesn’t want audiences to dwell on that point of view and remember to have hope. Even in times of celebration, the star doesn’t forget to deliver a meaningful message for viewers. Due to her transparency and heartfelt connection with her fans, there is no question as to why many people love this actress.