Spider-Man And Dune Star Regrets Fame
Thanks to franchises like Spider-Man and Dune, Zendaya is one of the most famous movie stars in the world. Most people can only dream of the wealth and celebrity she has obtained, but it sounds like the star herself is starting to have second thoughts about all this success.
At a recent New York City screening of Dune: Part Two, Zendaya was asked about the pressures that come with fame, and she declared that “I don’t necessarily know if I want or can handle all of that” and “I would like to be a person and for people to see me as that first.”
Asking Zendaya About Fame
While Zendaya has a bit too much fame to make the usual geek convention circuit, she ended up taking some Comic Con-style questions from fans during a panel along with her Dune co-stars Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler (director Denis Villeneuve was also on the panel).
A fan ended up asking a provocative question about the relationship between a film franchise warning us about blindly following would-be messiahs and fans blindly following their favorite celebs.
This ultimately led to Zendaya admitting that while she is very grateful for her success, she is “terrified” of how much her life is defined by being a world-famous celebrity.
Timothée Chalamet Weighed In As Well
What made this answer interesting is that Chalamet answered the question first in a rather literal way, pontificating about the various cult leaders of the past.
Zendaya gave a more introspective answer about her own fame and how her past as “a shy kid” makes her sometimes feel that her current celebrity status “isn’t natural.”
Interestingly, she said that this led directly to her fascination with fashion, which “became important to me because it became like armor to pretend to go out and do the job.”
Celebrity Worship Is Terrifying?
All of this added important context to Zendaya’s comments about her own fame: she admitted that she may not be able to “fully relate” to what the fan was saying about the dangers of celebrity worship, but it is something she can “definitely understand” and that understanding is “what’s terrifying.”
She worries that fans may no longer see her as “a person…first” and that she doesn’t “necessarily know if I want or can handle” everything that comes with the weight of audience expectations. She contrasted this with unnamed other actors who “enjoy the power that comes from it,” admitting that “I don’t know if that’s for me.”
Mirroring The Dune Universe?
If Zendaya’s comments about the danger of fame and its similarity to the dangers of worshiping false messiahs don’t make much sense, then it’s most definitely time for you to watch the two Dune movies from Denis Villeneuve (or just go back and read the classic Frank Herbert novel).
Dune tells the story of the young Paul Atreides, someone who parlays his charisma and powers of foresight into becoming Emperor.
While the latest film franchise has only hinted at later events, Atreides becomes a bad and dangerous leader, someone the original author said is meant to be a cautionary tale about humanity giving too much power to charismatic individuals.
Spider-Man’s Girlfriend Is Down To Earth?
This is what the fan’s question was hinting at: the irony of these sci-fi movies warning us of such dangers even as fans flock to hear what their favorite celebrities have to say. You don’t have to have the prescience of either Frank Herbert or Paul Atreides to know that putting too much stock in everything celebrities say or do.
Fortunately, Zendaya herself is very wary of the dangers of fame, meaning that we can always count on Spider-Man’s girlfriend to (ironically enough) stay down-to-earth.
Source: Deadline
