Euphoria on Binge: Zendaya reveals how it changed her

Shaking off her Disney roots has been easy for actor and singer, Zendaya. But the star fears it could all end tomorrow.

At just 24, it’s not surprising to find former Disney star Zendaya’s conversation is still sprinkled heavily with the word ‘cool.’

Her symbiotic relationship with Sam Levinson, the creator of groundbreaking and award-winning drama series, Euphoria? “He’s cool.”

The chance to co-star with The King’s Timothee Chalamet in an upcoming remake of fantasy film, Dune? “It felt cool and so exciting to be part of that magic.”

Going double platinum on the ARIA charts with Rewrite The Stars, with co-star Zac Efron, from The Greatest Showman? “That was cool.”

What about joining former First Lady Michelle Obama’s rallying cry to get Gen Z voters out for the recent US elections?

No contest: “just super, super cool.”

The linguistic flourish may seem an obvious sign of her youth, but there’s really no questioning the star’s own effortless cool factor.

While her young career began on the Disney path walked by Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, none have made the transition to adulthood as easily, or to more acclaim, than the California-born girl.

And as she tells The BINGE Guide, that leap into serious stardom was the product of mature contemplation and a strategy for herself and her future that continues to belie her years.

Reading the script for Euphoria, she reveals, was the green light the young actor had been waiting for after wrapping her all-singing and dancing role as Rocky Blue in Disney sitcom, Shake It Up.

“I was in a bit of a weird place because I’d kind of finished the ‘old phase’ of my career and I kind of had this big chunk of time with nothing to do and I was quite stressed about it,” she confesses, adding: “I feel like if I’m not working then everything is going to disappear. So that empty time and also not wanting to do something for the sake of doing it … I was reading a lot of scripts and just nothing felt right.”

That’s when four pages by Levinson, sketching out the part of high school drug addict Rue, presented themselves and her brain, she says, went into overdrive.

“Euphoria was one of the first things that I read and was in it and feeling it the whole way through,” she says, “and I was conscious and aware and I fell in love.”

Her invested performance has been hailed as one of the best TV portrayals ever, rewarded with this year’s leading actress in a drama Emmy – and beating out her more experienced peers in The Crown’s Olivia Colman, Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, Osark star Laura Linney and Morning Wars’ Jennifer Aniston.

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It was an extraordinary moment for the young star, surrounded as she was by her family and management team at her home during the COVID-safe virtual ceremony.

Giddy to the point of tears, the Armani Prive-clad beauty delivered a surprisingly composed acceptance speech, as she clutched her winged trophy and dedicated her award to the young people taking to the streets for the Black Lives Matter protests.

“I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example of that but there is hope in the 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.”

As her speech noted, it’s the same generation depicted as struggling with the world around them in Euphoria, and another reason why Zendaya connected with the script.

After a stint in rehab in season one, her character Rue battles depression, anxiety and the effects of an ADHD diagnosis.

For Zendaya, the opportunity to reflect on screen the kind of struggles many young people face in real life was both a privilege and a challenge.

“I think that the show allows for people to just feel seen … ‘that’s me there, that’s what I was trying to say, that’s how I feel.’ There’s something to it when you can work through it,” she says. “ And I’m sure and I hope that there have been conversations opened, whether it be among parents or families or whatever, just to start that dialogue has been the most valuable and beautiful thing that I think has happened.”

Some of the drug-fuelled scenes have tested her talents, she admits, but with season 2 pending, it will continue to be worth it, she says.

“The thing about this show is because you love it so much and we care about each other so much, you’re pretty much willing to go through anything and love every minute of it. Like I’m like, ‘oh you wanna do what? Okay, cool, yeah, f*ck it!” she says, with a laugh.

“It truly feels worth it … nothing ever, even when it feels painful or you’re tired and you don’t know what time it is and you’re confused and you’re sad or there’s a lot going on or you’re cold … whatever it is, every moment of it is 1000 per cent worth it because you know you’re making something special.”

The audience has responded in kind, as she told this month’s US Elle magazine.

“It’s been incredibly moving to see how people connected to what Sam has written. I’ve heard so many beautiful stories about addiction and recovery, and that brings me hope.”

A lot of the writing is drawn from Levinson’s own experience as a teenage addict, who admits at one point he thought he would lose his life to the disease.

“I spent the majority of my teenage years in hospitals, rehabs and halfway houses,” Levinson recalled at the HBO show’s premiere in June last year.

“Sometime around the age of 16, I resigned myself to the idea that eventually drugs would kill me and there was no reason to fight it. I would let it take me over, and I had made peace with that.”

At 19, he checked back into rehab to “get off opiates and on to a more productive drug like crystal meth,” joking that he couldn’t pursue his love of writing when using the former.

While in treatment, he came across a quote that changed his life: “In the end we are nothing more than an amalgamation of our actions and that’s ultimately what defines us.”

Not wanting to leave behind a legacy of petty crime, addiction and “being sh*tty to everyone in my life,” he got clean and at 35, is 14 years sober.

Zendaya is effusive in her praise for the writer son of Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson: “the fact that Sam is brave enough to put words to something that I think a lot of people feel but don’t know how to put words to, is very special.”

Their connection has continued even during lockdown when season 2 of Euphoria was delayed by the pandemic restrictions.

Staying in close contact, the pair worked together on movie, Malcolm & Marie, filmed in secret and entirely during quarantine.

Euphoria fans can also look forward to two episodes to bridge the gap between the end of the first season and the filming of season 2 (which will follow Zendaya’s filming of the next Spider-Man movie).

Zendaya adds: “I”m so grateful for the show and I can’t wait to go back. I want to go back home. It’s like a home base for us.”

– additional reporting, Jenny Davis

* Euphoria, s1 is streaming on BINGE. Special episodes air December 6.