Zendaya's 8 best performances: From Challengers to Dune and every euphoric scene in between
Screen queen Zendaya has a blockbuster-filled year ahead — and a great CV behind her
Season three of Euphoria is kicking up a controversial storm, marking the end of an agonising four year wait to check in on our gang of troubled Californian Gen-Zers.
Sam Levinson’s explosive series might have helped make stars out of Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi, but there’s no question who the main draw is here.
Zendaya’s Rue Bennett has been at the heart of the show from the very start, and her magnetic turn as a queer teenage drug addict continues to rake in plaudits and viewing figures for HBO.
She’s no one hit wonder either, with a host of major Hollywood directors queuing up to add her name to the top of the call sheet. This year alone she’ll be starring in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, not to mention the inevitable box office behemoth that will be Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Recent years have seen the former Disney child star adding an increasing number of prestige roles to her varied filmography – and no, we’re not talking about Space Jam: A New Legacy.
In Challengers and, more recently, The Drama, Zendaya has entered into an elite league of bankable film stars with genuine acting chops – as likely to turn up in prestige movies as billion-dollar blockbusters. Suffice to say, typecasting does not seem to be a significant risk in Zendayaworld.
Here, then, is a list of top performances from Zendaya’s brief but prolific career so far.
8. Malcom and Marie
Malcom and Marie might not be a great movie, but thankfully, that’s not what we’re here to discuss. We’re here to talk about Zendaya’s considerable acting abilities, and they’re on full display here.
Made during lockdown with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, it’s a lean and classy two hander between John David Washington and Zendaya, who play a movie director and his girlfriend thrashing out their issues following a premiere. There’s great chemistry between the two charismatic stars (we’ll be saying that a lot), and while it’s all a little talky and histrionic, it’s a great showcase of Zendaya’s talents.
7. Spider-Man: No Way Home
The latest (to date) Spidey flick required a slightly different approach from Zendaya in the MJ role. No longer the spiky tease of the first film (more on which later), she’s now a full on love interest for our web-slinging hero, and even adds something of a side-kick side hustle to her game as she is forced to corral the extra Spider-men and Spider-villains popping up in her dimension.
Zendaya manages the transition (via an admittedly uneven second film) impeccably, all while keeping sight of her character’s foundational snark and rock solid resolve.
6. Dune: Part Two
The first Dune movie didn’t give Zendaya much to do beyond a few floaty dream sequences and a late cautious meet up with Timothy Chalamet’s hero. She had much more to do in this tricky second part, playing the potentially challenging role of Chani with impressive skill and subtly.
She has to portray the dutiful wife to Chalamet’s increasingly unmoored Space Jesus while retaining a firm sense of her character’s innate competence and independence – a character that knows her own mind yet is simultaneously subservient. It’s not an easy balance to strike, but Zendaya manages it.
5. The Greatest Showman
Coming out the same year as her break-out debut as MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Greatest Showman gave Zendaya the chance to flex some of the song and dance muscles that she acquired during her early Disney Channel years.
Her chemistry (there’s that word again) with Zac Efron is on point, and she throws herself into the considerable physical demands of the role with vigour, performing many of her own trapeze stunts. As if that wasn’t enough, the girl proves that she really can sing.
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
In this zesty cinematic reboot (wait, it’s almost a decade old?!) of Marvel’s most enduringly popular superhero, Zendaya’s turn as Michelle is arguably the most bracingly fresh component.
Her ‘MJ’ is smart, spiky and wilfully contrary, but with telling flashes of vulnerability. She’s the perfect foil for real-world partner Tom Holland’s gawkily guileless Peter Parker – and no, her success isn’t dependent on the obvious real-life chemistry (we should really start a Zendaya ‘chemistry’ drinking game) between the two actors, as her subsequent career has gone on to show. It’s a true star-making turn.
3. Euphoria
It would be inaccurate to say that Euphoria was where it all began for Zendaya. She’d been in the industry for almost a decade by this point, while Spider-Man: Homecoming was two years in the rearview mirror. It was certainly where she established that she was a ‘serious actor’ (whatever that means), however.
Amidst all of the controversy and criticism over the show’s provocative tone and a perceived decline in quality, her portrayal of drug-addicted teen Rue Bennett never feels anything less than heart-breakingly real, and the show's never been better than this first debut season.
2. The Drama
Zendaya’s other 2026 performance of note, other than season three of Euphoria, makes up another of her finest performances, suggesting that the actor is only getting better as she nears her 30th birthday. In The Drama she stars opposite Robert Pattinson, another former teen star who has managed to prove their acting chops.
She more than holds her own as one half of an engaged couple rocked by revelations on the eve of their big day. All the key Zendaya ingredients are here, including effortless chemistry (drink!) with her co-lead and a beguiling level of complexity hidden beneath the surface.
1. Challengers
Luca Guadagnino’s deliciously overwrought sports dramedy could very well contain Zendaya’s finest role to date. She plays the part of Tashi Duncan, a former teen tennis prodigy-turned-coach who serves (pun intended) as the source of constant distraction and no small amount of friction between two professional tennis player friends.
What’s truly impressive here is the range of Zendaya’s performance. She’s just as convincing as the inscrutable 30-something point of a love triangle as she is a young would-be sports star.
Skip the search — follow Shortlist on Google News to get our best lists, news, features and reviews at the top of your feeds!
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.