arts & entertainment
Zendaya, The “shake It up!”
By kam Williams
Special to The Skanner News
B
orn in Oakland, Ca., on
Sept. 1, 1996, Zendaya
grew up around the
California Shakespeare Theater in
nearby Orinda, where her mother
worked as the house manager. In
addition to training at the theater
company’s student conservatory
program, and later performing in
numerous stage productions, she
helped her mom seat patrons and
sell raffle tickets to benefit the
organ i zation.
While attending the Oakland
School for the Arts, Zendaya
starred as a young Ti Moune in
“Once on This Island” at the
Berkeley Playhouse before enjoy-
ing her breakout role as the male
character Joe in “Caroline, or
Change”
at
Palo
Alto’s
TheatreWorks. She subsequently
honed her craft at both the
California
Shakespeare
Conservatory program and the
American Conservatory Theater,
adding such classics by the Bard
of Avon as “Richard III,”
“Twelfth Night” and “As You
Like It” to her stage credits.
Zendaya, by the way, means “to
give thanks” in Shona, a Bantu
language native to Zimbabwe.
Besides acting, the versatile
young talent has served as a fash-
ion model for Macy’s, Mervyns
and Old Navy, and as one of the
back-up dancers in a Sears com-
mercial featuring Selena Gomez.
Zendaya currently resides in
Los Angeles with her family and
Midnight , her pet Giant
Schnauzer, and her interests
include singing, dancing and
clothes designing. Here, she talks
about “Shake It Up!” her hit
Disney Channel sitcom where she
co-stars opposite Bella Thorne as
Raquel “Rocky” Blue, half of a
comedic duo trying to dance their
way to superstardom.
kam Williams: Hi Zendaya,
thanks for the interview.
Zendaya: No, thank you, Kam.
It is my pleasure.
kW: What interested you in
Shake It Up?
Z: Well, I would say that Shake
It Up was a chance for me to do
two things I really love: acting
and dancing.
kW: Tell me a little about the
show?
Z: It’s a buddy comedy based
around dance. It’s about two best
friends Rocky and CeCe who live
out their dream as background
dancers on a show called Shake It
Up Chicago. They have to navi-
gate life as young teens going to
school and dancing on the show.
kW: How would you describe
your character, Rocky?
Z: Rocky is such a sweet
girl. She really cares for people
and always wants to help her
do outside of the arts. My answer
would be sports. I was actually
supposed to be a basketball play-
er, not an actress. My parents had
me playing basketball on compet-
itive teams when I was in kinder-
garten. Even though my heart
belongs to the arts, I’m a tomboy
at heart, too.
kW: The Tasha Smith question:
Are you ever afraid?
Z: Yes! I am scared of spiders!
And I still get a little afraid every
time I have to do something new
or have to get out in front of a
big crowd. The first time I
sang “Swag It Out” live, I
was really scared.
kW: The Columbus Short
question: Are you happy?
Z: Yes, I am. This is my
dream, truly. I grew up watch-
ing
“That’s
So
Raven”
and “Lizzie McGuire,” and I said
to myself that I could do that one
day, and here I am. This is a
dream come true and I am just
ecstatic to be here living out my
childhood dreams.
kW: The Teri Emerson ques-
tion: When was the last time you
at heart, but I love pop music as had a good laugh?
Z: Just yesterday I was dying
well, and I even have an affinity for
country music. So I would say my laughing with my niece who is
music might have something for staying with me this summer. We
have so much fun together!
everyone.
kW: What is your guiltiest
kW: Is there any question no one
ever asks you, that you wish some- pleasure?
Z: Oh, it’s Haagen Dasz ice
one would?
cream,
coffee flavor. It makes me
Z: I’m never asked what I love to
feel so much better when I
am upset and even happier
when I am perfectly happy
Caldwell’s, Hennessey, Goetsch
already.
& McGee Funeral Home
kW: The bookworm Troy
Johnson question: What was
Von D. Bailey
the last book you read?
Funeral Director
Z: I am reading the book
that I just did a book trailer
20 NE 14th Avenue
for...it’s called “From Bad
Portland, OR 97232
to Cursed.” It’s really creepy
503-232-4111
and good.
friends. She is a very good
student who really works
hard, and she is a dedicated
friend to CeCe who often
talks her into doing things
they shouldn’t. Rocky is a
bit more shy and unsure of
herself, and sometimes
does more following than
she should.
kW: What message
would you say the show
is trying to deliver?
Z: Shake It Up defi-
nitely teaches kids
about the impor-
tance of reaching
for your dreams
and setting high
goals. It also teaches
great lessons about
friendship and family.
kW: What do you enjoy the
most: acting, singing, dancing or
modeling?
Z: Wow! I couldn’t choose
between all of those things! I
looooove acting and dancing on
Shake It Up, and I am currently in
the recording studio working on
my music. And one of my dreams
is to walk down the runway dur-
ing fashion week!
kW: When is your debut album
being released, and what type of
music is on it?
Z: Well, I am not sure of when
my album will be released but my
music has a lot of different
sounds. I’m a hip-hop/R&B girl
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Page 6 The Portland Skanner august 31, 2011
Interview
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