It is a sentimental line, yes, but it also explains why the franchise still carries weight for them. Their public careers and private lives have been tied to these films for years, whether they discuss that connection often or not.
Zendaya Still Is Not Addressing Marriage Rumors
Elle writer Alexis Okeowo also asked about the continuing speculation that Zendaya and Holland are married. Zendaya did not confirm anything, and she did not dress the answer up for entertainment purposes.
“No, I’m not going to do that,” she said.
That is about as clear as a non-answer can get. For someone whose relationship has been analyzed far beyond what any normal person would consider reasonable, the boundary was not subtle. The curiosity remains, naturally, because the internet has bills to pay. But Zendaya is still choosing not to turn her private life into a press release.
The interview also made clear how little time she has had to stay still. Zendaya said her family keeps track of her location on their phones because her schedule moves so quickly across countries and time zones.
“It’s just easier,” she explained. “‘Oh, she’s not responding because she’s in Budapest.’ So they know where I am, and what time zone.”
Her Schedule Has Been a Global Puzzle
Zendaya illustrated the scale of that workload by recalling a night shoot for the third season of Euphoria. She was filming at a ranch, exhausted, while also studying Chakobsa lines for Dune and preparing lines for a quick trip to Iceland for The Odyssey.
“I remember being on set for Euphoria; it was a night shoot at a ranch. I was so tired, but I was also learning my Chakobsa lines for Dune. And then I started writing out my lines to memorize for that quick turnaround trip I was going to make to Iceland [for The Odyssey],” she said.
She added that her role in The Odyssey did not require a large amount of dialogue, but the stakes still felt high because she was working with Nolan.
“It’s not like I have a lot of lines in The Odyssey, but I was working with Christopher Nolan! The most embarrassing thing in life would be messing up my lines, which did happen once.”
Apparently, the world did not end. Nolan, at least, did not sound concerned.
Christopher Nolan Says Zendaya Had the Right Presence
Nolan told Elle that Zendaya managed to arrive from other demanding jobs and still carry herself with control on a difficult shoot.
“We would be in the maddest, craziest situations, just all of us fighting the elements, tearing our hair out, all these things going on, and she would sort of parachute in from her other job with this sense of true grace and poise,” he said.
He said that quality was central to why he cast her as Athena.
“I mean, she’s literally playing a goddess [Athena]; it’s a tall order,” Nolan said. “She’s a true movie star, but also an incredible actor.”
That praise did not go unnoticed by her co-stars. Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus, said Nolan is usually extremely restrained after takes. According to Damon, a simple “Yep, good. Okay” from Nolan is basically thunderous applause in director dialect.
Zendaya, however, received something more dramatic: “Perfect.”
Damon said he and Holland, who plays Telemachus, became fixated on it.
“Zendaya, on the other hand, there were takes where she did one thing, she did this amazing scene, and he said, ‘Cut.’ And then he went, ‘Perfect.’ And literally, Tom [Holland] and I were obsessed with this,” Damon said. “She got a ‘perfect’? I’ve never even gotten a ‘great.’ She got a ‘perfect’? He and I bitched about it for the entire rest of the film. ‘Did you get anything today?’ ‘No, I got a “good,” moving on.’ ‘Yeah, me too.’”
For all the scale of the projects involved, Marvel, Nolan, Dune, Euphoria, the most revealing detail may be the simplest one: Zendaya is moving through a very public career while still protecting the parts of her life she wants to keep small. Even when the dogs come to set.
