Zendaya Says Her Fierce Red Carpet Persona Doesn't Reflect Who She Really Is at Her Core

She treats celebrity like a part she’d play in a film or television project.

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No doubt about it: Zendaya is a bona fide Star with a capital S. All it takes is one look at her Vogue cover—released in early April—or one of her many looks from her press tours for Dune: Part Two and, now, Challengers, and it’s easy to see that whatever it is, Zendaya’s got it in spades.

Zendaya

Zendaya, ever relatable, would rather be home watching "Harry Potter" than on the red carpet.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

But, she said, the person you see on a magazine cover or on a red carpet isn’t really her. “She’s a different being that comes into me—my own Sasha Fierce,” she told Vogue of her fashion alter ego, emphasizing that she’s a very different person once the cameras and spotlight are off of her. “She takes over and she does the carpet.”

Zendaya added that she approaches a red carpet the same way she’d approach a character she portrays onscreen: “I have to buy her,” she said. “I have to buy that this woman exists, or that this fantasy exists.”

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Zendaya

Red carpets are a part of the job, and few do it better than she does.

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Zendaya

Zendaya, seen here in Rome promoting "Challengers," said she treats red carpets like any other role she plays onscreen.

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She has a famously tight relationship with stylist and “image architect” Law Roach, who People reports “has been an integral part of her journey from Disney star to fashion icon.” Roach confirmed to Vogue that there is a performance aspect to Zendaya’s red carpet appearances, which he said pose a stark contrast to the woman herself. Getting ready for a red carpet “gave her this real confidence, like, ‘Okay, let me put it all on and go out there and give this to the world, and then let me come home and take it all off and become myself again,’” Roach said.

Zendaya on the cover of Vogue

Zendaya covers the May 2024 issue of "Vogue."

(Image credit: Vogue)

Roach continued, “It’s so funny. People were like, ‘Oh, she’s so fierce.’ And, yeah, she is, on the inside. But she’d rather be at home, with her hair down and no makeup, with Noon, her dog, watching a movie, probably Harry Potter.”

Elsewhere in the Vogue interview, Zendaya opened up about a wide range of topics, like life as a child star and what she admires about boyfriend Tom Holland.

Zendaya

Just because we love them.

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Zendaya next to quot;Zendaya Week: Read Morequot;

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Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.