Celebrity

Zendaya: Story of youngest Emmy lead actress winner

The youngest Emmy Award winner, Zendaya
Source: WIkimedia

The 24 years old actress Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman became the youngest ever actress to win the Emmy awards for the lead actress this year. Particularly, Zendaya was awarded for the category, best lead actress in a drama. The award was for her portrayal of a drug addict, Rue, in the series Euphoria. Previously, the star of Killing Eve, Jodie Comer, held this record by winning the award at the age of 26.

Zendaya, who grew up in Oakland, still cannot accept herself as an Emmy winner. In particular, after winning the award, in a virtual backstage interview, she said:

I got through it without letting it take over me. It was a very emotional moment. I still can’t believe it myself. It’s pretty crazy.

Things cannot get better for Zendaya as this prestigious award helps related to her childhood fantasy of becoming a superstar one day. Let’s take a look at Zendaya’s story from start to till date with her Emmy award.

Early life, parents, and siblings

The Euphoria actress, Zendaya was born on September 1, 1996, in Oakland, California. Furthermore, she was born as the only child of Claire Marie (Mother) and Kazembe Ajamu (Father). Her father, Kazembe, is African-American, with roots in Arkansas, while her mother, Claire, is of German and Scottish ancestry

Although she is the single child of Claire and Kazembe, she has five older half-siblings, born from her father’s past relationship. In particular, the list of her siblings includes three sisters: Katianna Stoermer Coleman, AnnaBella, Kaylee, and two brothers: Austin and Julien.

Talking about her childhood, she grew up as a performer at the Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, California. As a matter of fact, it is the same theatre where her mother works as the house manager. Besides, she attended Oakland School for the Arts where her dream of being an artist began. At the age of 8, she was already part of a dancing group called Future Shock Oakland.

Personal life: Boyfriend and Relationships

In spite of her remarkable capacity to hold personal information private, the love life of Zendaya remains a fascinating topic amongst her followers. Although nothing is concrete, the news about her relationship and affair has been airing in the media for a long.

As per the reports, the last rumored relationship of Zendaya was with her Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi. The rumors of their relationship heated-up after the press spotted them vacationing together in Greece in August 2019. These rumors eventually faded away as soon as the news of Elordi and Gerber holding hands in New York broke out in the media.

Apart from this, the media also linked Zendaya to her Spider-Man co-star Tom Holland. The reports have been swirling since July 2017. However, in an interview with Variety in August 2017, Zendaya closed the speculation, saying that he was only a friend.

As of September 2020, the news of Zendaya’s relationship or affair is not in the media yet.

How much is the Youngest Emmy winner’s Net worth?

As per the reports of celebrity net worth, Zendaya’s estimated net worth is around $15 million.

Kicked off her Career with Shake It Up sitcom

Zendaya started her professional career since 2009. However, she was passionate about acting, modeling, and singing since her early childhood. Particularly, she began her career as a child model and backup dancer in the late 1990s.  Zendaya first got people’s attention, working as a model for Macy’s, Mervyns, and Old Navy.

After investing some years in modeling, her career-defining project was her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up, running from 2010 until 2013. The sitcom made the record of the second highest viewers, over 6.2 million in a 27-years history of the Disney Channel. 

As a singer

While still working for the sitcom, in 2011, Zendaya released her first independent song, “Swag It Out,” which eventually established herself as a professional singer. Additionally, in the same year, another song, “Watch Me,” featuring Bella Thorn, reached the 86th position on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2012, another single from Zendaya, Something to Dance For, was released as Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance promotional song. Following that, her singing career blossomed, and recorded three other songs: “Made In Japan,” “Same Heart,” and “Fashion In Kryptonite.” The songs were released as a promotional single for the sitcom, Shake It Up.

With the immense success in singing, Zendaya signed to Hollywood Records on September 2, 2012. Later on September 17, 2013, Zendaya released her first-ever self titled album. Soon after that, she also came up with another single Replay, releasing it on July 16, 2013.

Contestant of Dancing with the Stars at the age of 16

In 2013, at the young age of 16, Zendaya got the chance to be part of the 16th season of the dancing reality show, Dancing with the Stars. Partnering up with the professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Zendaya finished the show as a runner up behind Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough. In the meantime, she was famous as a youngest-ever dancer to take part in the history of the show. Later, Willow Shields succeeded her at age 14 on season 20.

Movie breakthrough

In 2013, Zendaya debuted in the superhero movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, portraying the role of Michelle “MJ.” She became renowned as a scene-stealer and MVP of the film for her excellent performance, though her time on screen was limited.

Story of Youngest Emmy winner Zendaya
Zendaya at the premiere of Spider-Man: Far from Home in 2019, Source: Wikimedia

Since then, she has worked in many movies, including The Greatest Showman, Duck Duck Goose, Smallfoot, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Dune. In addition to that, her upcoming project is Malcolm & Marie. However, the release date of the movie is still under wraps.

Euphoria gave her ultimate success

In June 2019, Zendaya started acting in the HBO drama series Euphoria, an adaptation of the Israeli series. She portrays Rue, a 17-year-old drug abuser and the storyteller of the series. For her work in the series, people open-heartedly praised her effort to justify the role.

Eventually, her performance was recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Science, awarding her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Euphoria in 2020. With the award, Zendaya became the youngest actress to win the Emmy award.

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About the author

Asbin Ghimire

Asbin Ghimire an IT professional who is an avid writer. He currently works as an author of Wikye.com. He has experience over three years working as a content writer and content marketer. His contents have a wide range of audiences, accumulating thousands of viewers. He believes writing is a powerful technique to express yourself and probably only the reason why he is into writing.

Apart from writing, he enjoys sports and traveling. Going hiking and trekking has been his best hobby for a long. In his spare time, he loves cooking, jamming, and reading.

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