How does it feel to be the youngest person ever to be named to the roster of “Dancing With the Stars”? Zendaya, the 16-year-old 디즈니 darling from Oakland, will tell 당신 that she’s full of pride — and in a lot of pain.
“Everything hurts,” she informs me during a phone call from Los Angeles. “I’m almost positive that I’ve discovered muscles that I never knew I had before. My neck, my arms, my legs, my abs — they’re all very achy.”
The pain, of course, is the result of rigorous training sessions with her pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy as they prepare for Season 16 of the ABC reality series. And yes, it does, indeed, hurt to laugh, which makes it a little awkward for someone who happens to work on that project.
Actress and singer Zendaya partners with Val Chmerkovskiy on “Dancing with the Stars.” (ABC/Craig Sjodin) (Craig Sjodin)
sitcom. ”Our job is to make people laugh,” Zendaya says of her role on the 디즈니 Channel’s weekly series “Shake It Up.” “Sometimes I’ll tell (castmates) that 당신 need to be quiet just so I can get some relief. But trying not to laugh because of the pain is funny, which makes 당신 laugh even more.”
There’s nothing funny about what Zendaya has been able to accomplish in her brief showbiz career. Just a few years ago, she was attending Oakland School for the Arts and hanging out a lot at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, where her mother worked as the house manager.
Then, in 2010, she landed a co-lead role as Rocky Blue in “Shake It Up,” a show about two girls living their dreams as TV show dancers. Since then,
she’s made 영화 (“Frenemies”), signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records and appeared in 음악 videos.
The invitation to strut her stuff on “DWTS,” one of TV’s most 인기 shows, marks a major step up in terms of exposure. Zendaya says she seized the opportunity because it’s something “different and out of my comfort zone.” Also, she wanted to please her Danville-based grandma, who is a “super fan” of “DWTS.”
“I 사랑 performing, and it’s exciting to be able to show 더 많이 people what I can do,” she says. “But it’s also live and brings a lot of pressure with it. What 당신 do out there on the stage, 당신 can’t take back.”
Zendaya, of course, has done a lot of dancing for “Shake It Up,” but she and co-star Bella Thorne have mainly engaged in hip-hop moves, which haven’t exactly prepared her for the ballroom.
“Some people have assumed that I’ll just naturally do well, but the styles of dancing are so different. There are 더 많이 rules, 더 많이 concerns about posture and elegance,” she says. “In some ways, it’s even harder for me. I have to unlearn things, start from scratch and kind of erase what’s in my head.”
Amid a cast that includes Olympic legends (Dorothy Hamill), comedians (D.L. Hughley and Andy Dick), singers (Wynonna Judd and Kellie Pickler) and boxing champs (Victor Ortiz), Zendaya figures to be one of the least-known celebrities. Not a whole lot of adults, after all, watch the 디즈니 Channel. Still, a 디즈니 Channel 별, 스타 — Kyle Massey — was the show’s runner-up in Season 11, and Zendaya’s “Shake It Up” castmate, Roshon Fegan, 게시됨 a sixth-place finish in Season 14.
Has Fegan passed on any valuable 조언 to the newbie?
“Um, yeah. He told me to blow my nose before I go on stage,” she says, laughing. “I guess he had a cold during his season and, well, there are some things that are hard to control.”
Another potential area could be the costumes, which, on “DWTS,” tend to be skimpy and risque and, in some minds, highly inappropriate for a 16-year-old. But Zendaya says she has things under control in that department.
“(The show’s designers) draw up all the outfits for us ahead of time, and I’m consulted and so are my parents,” she says. “Believe me, nothing crazy will be happening.”
CABLE SURGES: It has been an abysmal midseason for the broadcast networks, which continue to struggle to launch new hits. Already, “Do No Harm” (NBC) and “Zero Hour” (ABC) have been axed, and “Red Widow” (ABC) looks to be a goner. Also, “Cult” (The CW) has been bumped to Fridays after failing to attract much of a following.
On the other hand, look at what’s going on with cable. The History Channel recently launched “The Bible,” a miniseries from Mark Burnett, and it lured an eye-popping 13.1 million viewers. That made it the most-watched cable program of the year. It was also the most-watched program of the night — broadcast 또는 cable.
So do the networks need to get religion? It probably wouldn’t hurt.
But cable is having other successes, too. A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” for example, attracted 8.6 million viewers to its Season 3 premiere. “Duck Dynasty” is certainly not a show for everybody, but there are a lot of network series that would 사랑 to have that audience.
RECAP MADNESS: Be advised that 당신 can follow the “DWTS” adventures of Zendaya and her fellow contestants via our online recaps of the show at www.mercurynews.com/TV. The recaps will be 게시됨 shortly after each episode.
“Everything hurts,” she informs me during a phone call from Los Angeles. “I’m almost positive that I’ve discovered muscles that I never knew I had before. My neck, my arms, my legs, my abs — they’re all very achy.”
The pain, of course, is the result of rigorous training sessions with her pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy as they prepare for Season 16 of the ABC reality series. And yes, it does, indeed, hurt to laugh, which makes it a little awkward for someone who happens to work on that project.
Actress and singer Zendaya partners with Val Chmerkovskiy on “Dancing with the Stars.” (ABC/Craig Sjodin) (Craig Sjodin)
sitcom. ”Our job is to make people laugh,” Zendaya says of her role on the 디즈니 Channel’s weekly series “Shake It Up.” “Sometimes I’ll tell (castmates) that 당신 need to be quiet just so I can get some relief. But trying not to laugh because of the pain is funny, which makes 당신 laugh even more.”
There’s nothing funny about what Zendaya has been able to accomplish in her brief showbiz career. Just a few years ago, she was attending Oakland School for the Arts and hanging out a lot at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, where her mother worked as the house manager.
Then, in 2010, she landed a co-lead role as Rocky Blue in “Shake It Up,” a show about two girls living their dreams as TV show dancers. Since then,
she’s made 영화 (“Frenemies”), signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records and appeared in 음악 videos.
The invitation to strut her stuff on “DWTS,” one of TV’s most 인기 shows, marks a major step up in terms of exposure. Zendaya says she seized the opportunity because it’s something “different and out of my comfort zone.” Also, she wanted to please her Danville-based grandma, who is a “super fan” of “DWTS.”
“I 사랑 performing, and it’s exciting to be able to show 더 많이 people what I can do,” she says. “But it’s also live and brings a lot of pressure with it. What 당신 do out there on the stage, 당신 can’t take back.”
Zendaya, of course, has done a lot of dancing for “Shake It Up,” but she and co-star Bella Thorne have mainly engaged in hip-hop moves, which haven’t exactly prepared her for the ballroom.
“Some people have assumed that I’ll just naturally do well, but the styles of dancing are so different. There are 더 많이 rules, 더 많이 concerns about posture and elegance,” she says. “In some ways, it’s even harder for me. I have to unlearn things, start from scratch and kind of erase what’s in my head.”
Amid a cast that includes Olympic legends (Dorothy Hamill), comedians (D.L. Hughley and Andy Dick), singers (Wynonna Judd and Kellie Pickler) and boxing champs (Victor Ortiz), Zendaya figures to be one of the least-known celebrities. Not a whole lot of adults, after all, watch the 디즈니 Channel. Still, a 디즈니 Channel 별, 스타 — Kyle Massey — was the show’s runner-up in Season 11, and Zendaya’s “Shake It Up” castmate, Roshon Fegan, 게시됨 a sixth-place finish in Season 14.
Has Fegan passed on any valuable 조언 to the newbie?
“Um, yeah. He told me to blow my nose before I go on stage,” she says, laughing. “I guess he had a cold during his season and, well, there are some things that are hard to control.”
Another potential area could be the costumes, which, on “DWTS,” tend to be skimpy and risque and, in some minds, highly inappropriate for a 16-year-old. But Zendaya says she has things under control in that department.
“(The show’s designers) draw up all the outfits for us ahead of time, and I’m consulted and so are my parents,” she says. “Believe me, nothing crazy will be happening.”
CABLE SURGES: It has been an abysmal midseason for the broadcast networks, which continue to struggle to launch new hits. Already, “Do No Harm” (NBC) and “Zero Hour” (ABC) have been axed, and “Red Widow” (ABC) looks to be a goner. Also, “Cult” (The CW) has been bumped to Fridays after failing to attract much of a following.
On the other hand, look at what’s going on with cable. The History Channel recently launched “The Bible,” a miniseries from Mark Burnett, and it lured an eye-popping 13.1 million viewers. That made it the most-watched cable program of the year. It was also the most-watched program of the night — broadcast 또는 cable.
So do the networks need to get religion? It probably wouldn’t hurt.
But cable is having other successes, too. A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” for example, attracted 8.6 million viewers to its Season 3 premiere. “Duck Dynasty” is certainly not a show for everybody, but there are a lot of network series that would 사랑 to have that audience.
RECAP MADNESS: Be advised that 당신 can follow the “DWTS” adventures of Zendaya and her fellow contestants via our online recaps of the show at www.mercurynews.com/TV. The recaps will be 게시됨 shortly after each episode.