Former Disney Channel star Zendaya made history on Sunday, becoming the youngest woman to win the best lead actress in a drama series at the Emmys. The 24-year-old picked up the coveted prize for her portrayal of teenage drug addict Rue in HBO’s Euphoria.
That was a pretty big deal given her heavyweight competition. Zendaya won the best lead actress award over Killing Eve‘s Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh, Ozark‘s Laura Linney, The Crown‘s Olivia Colman and The Morning Show‘s Jennifer Aniston!
“I know this feels like a really weird time to be celebrating,” she said at the virtual ceremony, surrounded by her family.
“But I just want to say there is hope in the young people out there. I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that. But there is hope in our young people. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets; ‘I see you, I admire you, I thank you.'”
Zendaya’s win was well-received.
Variety‘s Caroline Framke wrote: “Though written with vicious precision by Sam Levinson; Rue’s only as effective as she is because Zendaya is so incredibly good at portraying her.
“The character could have been – and sometimes is – a mess of cliched teenaged angst. Instead, Zendaya digs into every corner of her gnarled psyche to find the terrified kid hiding in the shadows.”
She added: “Zendaya’s Rue becomes one of the most finely-tuned portrayals on television. It’s only right that the Academy recognized it as such.”
Zendaya started out on Disney Channel shows like Shake It Up and KC Undercover. Then, she went on to star in two Spider-Man films and The Greatest Showman.
She is set to star in yet another Spider-Man movie next year, reprising her role as MJ. Zendaya will also feature as fierce Freman fighter Chani in the highly anticipated new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune.
Actress Vivica A Fox recently said in an interview that she wants Zendaya to play her screen daughter in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill 3. Zendaya said she was “honoured” but that it was just an “idea” at this stage.