Spider-Man Star Zendaya Appears On Cover Of Essence

Spider-Man star Zendaya is appearing on the November/December cover of Essence Magazine. When images from the shoot started popping up on social media this week, fans were thrilled with the looks she modeled. The Emmy-award-winner is the part of the magazine's focus on women breaking barriers this year. She talked about her upcoming turn in Malcolm & Marie along with Euphoria's big moment in the sun this year. The 24-year-old is the youngest woman to win an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama. That's a huge deal for her and for the legion of fans that are excited to see what else will bear her name down the line. But, in the immediate future, that means Malcolm and Marie, which got filmed during the coronavirus pandemic with John David Washington. She told Essence all about it.

"It was a dream, because I've always wanted to be able to just strip everything away. I love what I do—and like most people, I was finding ways to stay inspired and stay creative, and luckily I know people who are the same way," she explained. "It was great sitting in a room with John David Washington, Marcell Rév and Sam [Levinson], literally writing scenes as we went, coming up with ideas as we moved through the characters, and finding new things every day. That was the coolest part. That is why I do this."

Zendaya also told Essence that she couldn't contain all that stress right before the Emmy win got announced. Judging by the outpouring of support for the actress after the big moment, a lot of other performers were pulling for her too.

"There's a video of me that a family friend took while I was waiting, and you can see my leg shaking. In my head I was like, 'Dude, just chill out," the Spider-Man star admitted. "What will be, will be.' I remember taking a deep breath, and then hearing my name, and then my family screamed. I was worried that if they kept screaming for too long, I wouldn't have any time to actually say anything—but I didn't want to stop them, because they were having a great time. It was a very special night. I'll definitely remember that one forever..."

"I'm honored to have that support, especially from my fellow young Black creatives. Through this Emmy's period, especially, I felt a strong sense of support within our community, which I'm really grateful for. I think what's slowly starting to happen is, artists like Issa Rae and Lena Waithe have created opportunities that have resulted in more of us being in these rooms. That's such a special feeling, and I think it's definitely changing the idea that there can only be "one at a time," which is false. I love to see that genuine love and respect for each other's work. I hope that we continue to expand that in all kinds of beautiful ways, because I think we're on a really good path…"

What do you think of the cover? Let us know down in the comments!