Spider-Man 3 Star Zendaya Reveals Challenges of Acting During the Pandemic

The past year has brought some fascinating changes to the entertainment industry, as the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how movies, TV shows, and other projects are both filmed and released. Many productions are still trying to navigate this sense of “new normal” — and a few have risen up in creative ways. Among those is Malcolm & Marie, an original film from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson that filmed in secret in the early months of the pandemic. The film will star Spider-Man 3‘s Zendaya and Tenet‘s John David Washington, and was purchased by Netflix back in September. In a recent interview with Elle, Zendaya spoke about the process of filming Malcolm & Marie — and how it was both exhilarating and challenging.

“It was an actor’s dream. But it was also a little nerve-racking,” Zendaya explained. “When you have an idea, and you’re putting your own money into it—I mean, I was literally using my own clothes on set and doing my own hair and makeup—it’s hard not to get a little bit insecure. Like, “Oh my gosh, am I really doing this?” It was one of the first times I just went for something, and I’m so grateful and proud of it. Working with Sam, obviously, and Marcell [Rév, Euphoria‘s cinematographer] was really special, but then John David Washington is just so brilliant and such a wonderful person.”

Zendaya also spoke about her working relationship with Levinson, and how their ongoing creative collaboration led to Malcolm & Marie.

“Sam is like family to me. I talk to him almost every day and night, every other day,” Zendaya revealed. “Sometimes we talk about Euphoria, and sometimes we just talk about life or current events or whatever. So we got this idea that we could do a movie in quarantine safely with a very small number of people. We used some crew members from Euphoria who obviously didn’t have a job because filming had stopped. I was fascinated with this idea of shooting a film with just two characters. It was like a play. It was challenging for all of us, because it was shot in just one space. Being quarantined together was great in some ways, because it allowed us to workshop and really dig into the material while we were there.”

Zendaya is next expected to film Spider-Man 3, which officially started production in recent weeks.

Malcolm & Marie does not currently have a release date.