Zendaya Opens Up About How Fame ‘Changed Overnight’ for Boyfriend Tom Holland

Zendaya and Tom Holland have had to balance their overwhelming stardom with their relationship. Since the two confirmed their romance in 2021, they’ve occasionally opened up about their life together. In a new interview with Vogue, the Challengers actress, 27, described how the Spider-Man star, 27, navigated his “overnight” fame after getting cast as the superhero.

“I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully,” Zendaya told the publication in her interview that was published on Tuesday, April 9. She then explained how her and Tom’s fame differed at the beginning of their Marvel Cinematic Universe journey.

“We were both very, very young, but my career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight,” she continued. “One day, you’re a kid, and you’re at the pub with your friends, and then the next day you’re Spider-Man.”

Now that Tom is set to play Romeo Montague in the upcoming West End production of Romeo & Juliet, the Greatest Showman actress pointed out that she plans on attending “as many shows” as she can when it runs from May through August.

“[I] could not be more proud,” she added about Tom’s upcoming production. “I’m going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can.”

Tom and Zendaya are regularly followed by paparazzi and fans whenever they’re spotted in public. Though they are individually loved by fans, the pair are typically swarmed with cameras and crowds when they’re seen together. One of the most memorable moments was when the two actors were seen on a date in Paris in 2022, holding hands while exploring the Louvre. The Dune: Part Two star recalled the outing in her recent Vogue interview, noting that it “was actually fine” despite the fact that they were warned they would be photographed.

“You just kind of get used to the fact that, ‘Oh, I’m also one of these art pieces you’re going to take a picture of. I just gotta be totally cool with it and just live my life,’” Zendaya said before adding that the Louvre staff let her and Tom stay after they closed. “It was one of the coolest experiences ever. It was like Night at the Museum.”

Nevertheless, the Disney Channel alum noted that she’s learned she can still be “grateful” as a public figure while feeling empowered to decline taking pictures with fans whenever they ask her.

“I think growing up, I always felt like when someone asks for a picture, I have to do it, all the time,” she added. “You have to say ‘yes,’ because you need to be grateful that you’re here. And while I still feel that way, I also have learned that I can say ‘no,’ and I can say kindly that I’m having a day off, or I’m just trying to be to myself today, and I don’t actually have to perform all the time.”