Zendaya reveals she takes on an alter-ego to help manage limelight

Zendaya has revealed how taking on an alter-ego, similar to Beyoncé’s famous Sasha Fierce, helps her manage her career in the limelight.

The 27-year-old actor and model, known for her impeccably private personal life, shared that adopting a stage persona for red carpet events helped her overcome the pressure of those moments.

“She’s a different being that comes into me – my own Sasha Fierce,” she told Vogue. “She takes over and she does the carpet.”

In 2008, ahead of her album I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyonce said she would be adopting the moniker because it “kind of protects me and who I really am”.

The Dune 2 star, who is known as “Z” to close friends, echoed these thoughts, saying she becomes a different person when taking photos – adding that fashion was key to her assuming the persona.

“I have to buy her,” she said, as she referred to clothes worn for shoots and red carpets. “I have to buy that this woman exists, or that this fantasy exists.”

Known for playing the troubled Rue Bennett in Gen Z favourite Euphoria, the star said she was afraid that fans would eventually find her “boring”, pushing her to reinvent herself.

“That’s always been a massive anxiety of mine: this idea that people will just be like, ‘Actually, I know I’ve been with you since you were 14, but I’m over you now because you’re boring.’”

She said her dream would be to “not be worried that if I’m not delivering something all the time, or not giving all the time, that everything’s going to go away.”

The actor and producer is set to star in new romantic sports comedy-drama Challengers, in which she plays Tashi Duncan, a former tennis player turned coach who is married to a champion on a losing streak.

Zendaya said she was looking forward to playing the role, adding, “Typically, I play the person that ultimately is easier to empathize with,” but said of her new character, “Even I was kind of scared of her.”

Challengers will be released in cinemas on 26 April 2024.