Zendaya Coleman: Hollywood’s ‘controlling’

Zendaya Coleman finds Hollywood "controlling, weird and manipulative".

The 20-year-old star – who rose to fame starring in Disney’s ‘Shake It Up’ – can’t believe how many people lie in the film industry.

Asked what surprised her most about working in Hollywood, she said: "It’s very controlling and weird and manipulative. People want to take from you.

"People lie. To people in Hollywood, [lying] is like drinking coffee, it’s crazy."

And whilst Zendaya likes to use her social media channels to share selfies and updates on her work, she sees the importance of using it to raise awareness too.

She added: "I like to post selfies and fun things that I’m working on. But recently my Snapchat has become like a history class … I feel like if you have a platform, it’s your obligation to talk about how you feel. To me there’s no excuse to be ignorant anymore. Everything is at your fingertips.

"You can’t pretend like you’re not seeing innocent black men being killed. We have videos, and they’re circulating all over the internet. Or you can’t pretend you’re not understanding things about politics or hearing what people are saying who are our presidential candidates. It’s an interesting time. And I feel like it’s allowing us millennials to really take over."

Meanwhile, the ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ star admits it is difficult growing up in the spotlight and being constantly judged before you’ve even discovered who you are yourself.

She added to The Hollywood Reporter magazine: "Everybody’s normal. The only difference is they’re living out what would happen to a normal teenager in front of everybody, which is hard because you have people judging you before you even know who you are yet."