Zendaya Addresses Age Gap in Malcolm & Marie

Malcolm & Marie star Zendaya addressed the reaction to the age gap in the film. Since the movie was announced, some viewers were concerned with the relative age difference between John David Washington and her. In an interview with E!’s Daily Pop, she discussed how her past as a Disney star likely influences how they all see her. It ends up being difficult for any child star to shake that part of their career, even if they have tremendous success outside of the roles that make them famous. In Zendaya’s eyes, the issue is only compounded by the fact that she’s been highly visible playing teenagers since then. (She’s Tom Holland’s love interest in the Spider-Man franchise and anchors Euphoria as well.) So, it’s a tricky situation to be sure, but the actress feels that eventually, people will get there.

“Because I’ve played a 16 year old since I was 16,” she began. “You have to remember that people grew up with me as a child. So, I guess it’s like watching your younger sibling, and now they’re grown. And, you’re not ready for it. So, it’s hard for people to wrap around [the idea] that I’m grown in real life. Even though I do play a teenager on television still.

In some previous content, the star talked about how the experience of working on Malcolm & Marie was beneficial, but still terrifying.

“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 alluded to her strong working relationship with Levinson. Their ongoing creative partnership directly led to Malcolm & Marie.

“Sam is like family to me. I talk to him almost every day and night, every other day,” Zendaya explained. “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.”

What do you think of that age gap? Let us know down in the comments!