Zendaya relentlessly auditioned for Disney Channel’s biggest franchise but never landed a role in it.

SUMMARY

Zendaya has established herself as one of the most promising stars in Hollywood thanks to her Spider-Man and Euphoria roles.
However, Disney Channel’s casting head revealed that Zendaya wanted to be in Descendants and auditioned several times to bag a role in the franchise.

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Zendaya is arguably one of the biggest young stars in Hollywood, with her stint in the MCU as MJ bolstering her fame. However, long before the actress bagged the role, the Euphoria star relentlessly auditioned to be a part of another Disney franchise but missed out on every single occasion.

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In an interview, a Disney executive revealed how Zendaya had auditioned several times for one of Disney’s most popular franchises. However, the actress eventually went on to join Tom Holland in the Spider-Man franchise’s MCU reboot, which catapulted her to further fame. Here is everything you need to know about Zendaya’s failed Disney auditions.

Zendaya Auditioned For Disney’s Descendants Franchise Before Bagging Spider-Man Role

Zendaya is best known for playing the role of Rue in the HBO teen-drama series Euphoria. However, her performance as MJ in the MCU, particularly the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man films has also received widespread praise.

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Zendaya auditioned relentlessly for Disney’s Descendants (Credit: Challengers | Amazon MGM Studios).

Before she became a mainstay of the Spider-Man franchise, Zendaya had auditioned to be a part of Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise on several occasions. Cornelia Frame, the former VP of Casting at the network spoke about Zendaya’s auditions on the Magical Rewind podcast.

It was a really big deal. She auditioned over and over and really wanted it. It just ended up not going her way.

Frame made the above statement explaining why Zendaya’s appearance in Descendants wasn’t meant to be despite the efforts from the actress to bag a part in the franchise.

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Zendaya first made a name for herself with the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up before leading K.C. Undercover. As a result of her long association with the network, it is easy to see why the actress would have wanted to appear in its biggest franchise.

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Spider-Man Producers Were Unaware of Zendaya While Casting Her

Zendaya eventually transitioned into mature roles with Euphoria and also gained recognition for her portrayal of MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The film served as a reboot of the franchise and was a co-production between Marvel Studios and Sony.

Producers were unaware of Zendaya’s fame when casting her in Spider-Man: Homecoming (Credit: Marvel Studios).

During an interview with Vouge, producer Amy Pascal who worked on the Spider-Man franchise, revealed that she thought the actress was just a regular girl when she was cast as MJ. She said:

To be honest with you, neither [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige nor I knew who she was.

Pascal explained that they were looking for a personality like Zendaya and instantly felt that she should be cast in the first installment of the new Spider-Man movies starring Holland in the lead role.

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However, Pascal admitted that she and Feige later found out about Zendaya’s pre-existing fanbase and popularity. As a result, the producers felt really stupid about the process of casting Zendaya. Nonetheless, given the overwhelmingly positive reactions to her performance, it is safe to say that it was the right call to cast Zendaya.