How To Work Out Like Zendaya? The Marvel Actor Dealt with 1 Quarantine ‘Craving’ in a Unique Way
Many people turn to celebrities to learn about their diet and exercise plans. Popular actor Zendaya isn’t one to share health tips and tricks, but she made an exception when discussing her early coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic routine. Learn her unorthodox approach to working out here.
Zendaya is famous for Marvel films like ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’
Zendaya got her start on the Disney Channel. She starred in two series: Shake It Up, which ran from 2010 to 2013, and then K.C. Undercover, which ended its three-season run in 2018. During this time, she landed roles in two major films: The Greatest Showman and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The musical and the Marvel-Sony production helped launch Zendaya’s film career. However, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the small screen. In 2019, her next TV project, Euphoria, premiered on HBO. A far cry from her Disney series, the much more adult show earned Zendaya her first Emmy in 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic delayed production on multiple projects
Like many other actors, Zendaya, who had plenty on her plate for 2020, saw many of her projects delayed. In addition to Euphoria Season 2, initially set to begin production in the spring, the third as-yet-untitled Spider-Man film was delayed for several months due to the pandemic.
“It was the first time since I was 13 that I didn’t go back to something,” Zendaya told GQ. “There was no structure.” She said it was “a very scary thing to confront and work through, because I don’t really know Zendaya outside of the Zendaya who works. I didn’t realize how much my job and my art were a part of my identity as a human.”
Zendaya doesn’t like to work out, but she tried it
The actor came up with a way to keep herself busy: exercise. But as many can relate to, she didn’t do so out of love for physical activity. “I don’t enjoy working out,” Zendaya said as she answered fan questions for the GQ interview’s “Actually Me” segment. “I tried in quarantine,” she continued, noting the unique way she motivated herself.
“The way that I got myself to keep going every day to work out was I would put on different wigs and pretend to be different characters because I was just craving acting,” she explained. Zendaya would put on “funny skits” for her assistant, Darnell. “Every day I’d surprise him with a new character as I walked downstairs ready to go work out,” she added.
She was able to return to acting quicker than most
Zendaya’s feelings about working out continue to be relatable. “I really wish I did [enjoy it] because I feel like it would be good for me,” she said, noting that her experiment “only lasted about five days.” However, she got back to work quicker than she expected due to a new project.
During her frequent calls with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson where they’d “shoot the sh*t,” the pair decided to make a movie together. While filming Malcolm & Marie, which debuts on Netflix on February 5, 2021, they helped create some of the pandemic protocols that other productions now use.
