The more time goes by, the more it feels like Zendaya doesn’t want to be treated as just an up-and-coming actress or just a buzzy name. What she keeps proving is her constant effort to break away from a fixed image, jumping between big projects and characters that demand control rather than pure intensity. Even when the material isn’t perfect, she’s often the element that keeps the whole production working, whether she’s carrying difficult scenes through nothing but dialogue or giving impact through silence and precise reactions. The result is a range of performances with very different levels of complexity and risk.
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Just this year, she’s starring in the new season of Euphoria and bigger projects like The Drama, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, and Dune: Part Three — which proves that point perfectly. But with so many roles under her belt, which ones leave the biggest impression? We ranked Zendaya’s best performances so far below.
5) Dune: Part Two
The movie itself wouldn’t rank last, but Zendaya’s performance inevitably does. Out of all her work, her role as Chani in Dune: Part Two still deserves a spot on this list, but if we’re being honest, it’s here more for the potential than because it feels like a complete showcase. The story continues Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) journey as he joins the Fremen and moves closer to his messianic destiny. Because of that, we do get to see a lot more of Zendaya than we did in the first movie. Still, it’s all framed within a structure where she works more as a narrative counterpoint than as a fully developed character.
That being said, Zendaya does as much as she possibly can within that limited space. She sells Chani’s resistance perfectly and manages to add weight to moments that rely more on what’s unspoken than on dialogue. But compared to the rest of her career, this is still a performance held back more by the film’s design than by any acting choice. That’s why it lands at the bottom: it’s strong and effective, but it doesn’t have enough dramatic complexity to compete with her other standout roles.
4) Malcolm & Marie
Not many people have seen Malcolm & Marie, but it’s the kind of project that puts Zendaya in full “endurance test” mode as an actress. The movie relies almost entirely on her and John David Washington, but the material isn’t as consistent as it initially seems. The story takes place over the course of one night after a film premiere, as the title couple spirals into an intense argument that exposes built-up resentment over love, ego, and artistic recognition. And Marie mostly exists as a reaction to Malcolm’s ego, which limits her dramatic autonomy in several moments.
On the other hand, if there’s one thing Zendaya has always been good at, it’s knowing exactly how far she can push a performance and when to hold back. Here, she clearly understands the film’s rhythm, and because of that, she’s able to carry long stretches of conflict-heavy dialogue without ever losing technical control. The issue is that the script sometimes forces her character into repetitive behavior, which weakens the emotional impact over time. Her performance works better in isolated scenes than as a full arc, which is why it lands in this middle spot.
3) Challengers
It can sometimes be hard to see different sides of Zendaya, mostly because many of her projects don’t give her much room to truly switch things up. But in Challengers, she breaks out of that pattern and gets to play a character with real agency in the story: Tashi isn’t reacting to everyone else; she’s shaping the emotional game between all of them. The film revolves around a love triangle between her and two professional tennis players, stretching across several years and fueled by athletic competition and tension in every possible sense. And right away, her performance here feels like it’s operating on a higher level compared to the previous two.
Here, the biggest strength of her work is the total control she has over the character. Tashi isn’t loud or overly emotional, which fits perfectly within the movie’s tone, but it also creates a colder, more calculated kind of performance. That approach works extremely well with the story’s dynamics, and it definitely shows a different side of Zendaya as an actress. Still, as effective as it is, the role doesn’t demand a huge emotional range. She builds her character brilliantly, but because the performance stays so restrained in dramatic scope, it loses some points.
2) The Drama
The Drama has gotten a pretty divisive response when it comes to its story, and that obviously affects how people view Zendaya’s role as well. Still, considering what the film actually gives her to work with, she’s one of the most interesting parts of the entire project because of the ambiguity and acting risk. The plot follows an engaged couple whose wedding plans start falling apart after a shocking revelation sends everything spiraling. Everything leans on the performances of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, since it’s less driven by plot structure and more fueled by emotional instability and everything happening between the lines.
But what really pushes this role above the others? The unpredictability. Emma isn’t operating within a clear emotional logic; the character feels deliberately fractured, which gives the actress room to explore different shades of performance without needing to spell everything out through the script. It may not be the cleanest or most straightforward character work to watch, but it’s the kind of role that expands Zendaya’s range in a major way. And it’s no surprise that many critics are calling it one of the best performances of her career so far.
1) Euphoria
When you think of Zendaya, you think of Rue. Euphoria takes the top spot for a pretty simple reason: it’s the most complete, consistent, and demanding role of her career. Rue isn’t just a dramatic character, but the emotional core of the entire series, with a continuous arc shaped by relapse, growth, and self-destruction that unfolds across several episodes. In a show centered on teenagers dealing with trauma, identity, addiction, and toxic relationships, she’s the performance that sticks with you the most.
And even with the controversial premiere of Season 3, her talent and potential are still impossible to overlook. Overall, a big part of what makes this performance work is the continuity. Unlike movies, where Zendaya has to build a character within a limited timeframe, the show gives her room to develop Rue over time, exploring different mental states with far more depth. That creates space for emotional range, not just isolated moments of intensity. So what comes out isn’t just a great performance, but the most complex and technically impressive work she’s done. There’s a reason she won an Emmy for it.
What’s your favorite Zendaya performance? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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