Zendaya's 31st Birthday Countdown

Zendaya Timeline

About Zendaya

After starting on the Disney Channel, Zendaya became the youngest two-time Emmy winner for lead actress in a drama for Euphoria, anchoring blockbuster franchises like Spider-Man and Dune at the same time.

From Oakland stages to Disney at fourteen

Zendaya grew up around the California Shakespeare Theater near Oakland, where her mother worked and she trained as a kid, before starting out as a child model and backup dancer. At 14 she landed Rocky Blue on Disney Channel's Shake It Up, and by K.C. Undercover she had leveraged her star power into a producer credit while still a teenager - shaping the show rather than just starring in it. That instinct to steer her own career is the through-line of everything since.

Twenty-four, and the Emmy record fell

In 2020, Zendaya won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for playing Rue in Euphoria - at 24, the youngest winner in the category's history. Her second win in 2022 made her the youngest two-time acting Emmy winner ever and the first Black woman to take the category twice. She did it while anchoring giant franchises at the same time: Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed roughly $1.9 billion worldwide, and the Dune films made her half of sci-fi's biggest new saga.

Birthdays that feed other kids

For her 18th birthday, Zendaya asked fans to skip the presents and fund meals instead, launching a feedONE campaign with Convoy of Hope to feed children in Haiti, Tanzania, and the Philippines - a partnership dating back to her Hurricane Sandy relief work in 2012; she later covered 'All of Me' with proceeds benefiting the organization. Closer to home, her $100,000 gift helped the California Shakespeare Theater - the stage she grew up on - make its post-pandemic summer return.

Quick facts

• Born September 1, 1996, in Oakland, California
• Her name comes from the Shona word for 'to give thanks'
• Youngest two-time acting Emmy winner in history, both for Euphoria
• Youngest-ever recipient of the CFDA Fashion Icon Award (2021)
• Became a producer on K.C. Undercover while still a teenager
• Donated $100,000 to Oakland's California Shakespeare Theater, where she trained as a kid

Zendaya's biggest roles