Zendaya Auditioned “Many Times” for ‘Descendants,’ Former Disney Channel Exec Says
Before starring in blockbusters, Zendaya could have almost been part of Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise at one point.
In a recent interview on the Magical Rewind podcast, Cornelia Frame, the former vp casting and talent relations at the network, revealed the Emmy winner actually auditioned multiple times for the musical fantasy television film.
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“Zendaya did audition many times for Descendants, and that was a big deal,” she recalled to hosts Will Friedle (Boy Meets World) and Sabrina Bryan (The Cheetah Girls). “It was a really big deal. She auditioned over and over and really wanted it. It just ended up not going her way.”
The Descendants franchise centers on the teenage children of classic Disney villains, including Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella de Vil. The first film premiered in 2015, with two sequels debuting in 2017 and 2019. And the spinoff Descendants: The Rise of Red dropped on Disney+ earlier this month.
Frame added that Zendaya “put so much effort and so much work into it,” however, “it’s just one of those things.”
“Now that I think about it, I’m like, ‘Would Spider-Man have happened right at that same time?’” she continued. “Things happen for a reason, and you do often book this other thing that’s amazing when you don’t get something else.”
While Zendaya got her start on Disney Channel, with Shake It Up, from 2010 to 2013, and later K.C. Undercover, which aired from 2015 to 2018, she went on to find massive success outside of Disney. The actress scored roles in several blockbusters, including 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, opposite Tom Holland, and the two sequels that followed, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
She also landed a lead role in Sam Levinson’s hit TV series Euphoria, which earned her two Emmy Awards. Most recently, she starred in the Dune franchise and Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.
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