30 Unknown Facts That Will Make You Love Zendaya Even More

Zendaya, who first gained recognition for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom "Shake It Up," has been turning heads in the entertainment industry for the past few years, either with her roles in superhero films or with her singles. Here are a few surprising things to know about the American actress and singer:

1.  Her music career started with her releasing the singles "Swag It Out" and "Watch Me" independently in the year 2011. However, "Watch Me" was made in collaboration with Bella Thorne.
2.  Her professional career began when she started working as a fashion model for Macy's, Mervyns and Old Navy.
3.  While auditioning for her role as MJ in the "Spider-Man: Homecoming," she presumed it to be some random high school comedy, as she was not informed about the movie's name until she got accepted.
4.  Her debut single "Replay," after signing with the Hollywood Records, reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.
5.  She was initially in consideration for the role of Storm in "X-Men: Apocalypse," but turned it down, thinking the role to be not big enough.
6.  Zendaya was a featured performer in the Kidz Bop music video for its cover of the song "Hot n Cold", which was released on Kidz Bop 15, in the year 2009.
7.  She released her self-titled debut studio album "Zendaya," consisting of 12 songs, all of which she co-wrote. The album was met with general positive reviews from music critics.
8.  The said album peaked at number 51 on the US Billboard 200, selling over 10,000 copies in its first week. The lead single "Replay," charted within the top forty of the US and New Zealand, becoming her highest charting song at the time.
9.  In an effort to promote her debut album, she performed on a variety of television shows. She even went out on a North American tour entitled the “Swag It Out Tour.”
10.  Zendaya famously wore faux dreads with her Vivienne Westwood white gown to the Oscars in the year 2015, which was coined as “The Year of Zendaya” by the TeenVogue.
11.  Her iconic look that she wore to the Oscars, inspired her own one-of-a-kind Barbie doll, which was not made for public sale as it was originally reported to be.
12.  She was selected as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on NBC's Today, where she performed live her single "Replay."
13.  It was reported that she first auditioned for the role of CeCe Jones to join the cast of "Dance Dance Chicago," but later changed to "Shake It Up!," and ended in the role of Rocky Blue.
14.  In the year 2011, D-Signed, a line of clothing inspired by the clothes worn by Zendaya and her co-stars from the "Shake It Up" series, was sold by Target stores.
15.  She, along with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy, finished as runners-up on the season 16 of "Dancing with the Stars," behind Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough, in February 2013.
16.  Her debut book "Between U and Me: How to Rock Your Tween Years with Style and Confidence," was released on August 6, 2013.
17.  Initially, she was supposed to star in the Lifetime TV movie "Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B," in the lead role of Aaliyah, but dropped out of the project due to various reasons related to production.
18.  However, casting her in the lead role of Aaliyah was also not well received with the fan responses on social media being mostly negative.
19.  She was a guest judge on an episode of "Project Runway: Under the Gunn," in the year 2014, in which the contestant designers were given the challenge of creating an outfit for Zendaya to wear in an upcoming concert performance.
20.  She debuted her own shoe collection, Daya, in August 2015, while the very next year, her own clothing line, Daya by Zendaya, went on sale on November 4, 2016. Daya is her childhood nickname.
21.  She was cast as a trapeze artist named Anne Wheeler, in the musical film "The Greatest Showman," alongside Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Her performance, as well as her chemistry with Zac Efron was praised by many critics.
22.  Her feature film debut performance as MJ in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," was praised by many with John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter praising her as a "scene stealer," and David Ehrlich of IndieWire calling her the film's "MVP."
23.  Zendaya was signed by Tommy Hilfiger to be the brand's new global women's ambassador, which would see her appearing in the mainline campaigns, and designing a Tommy x Zendaya capsule collection.
24.  She was featured in the music video for "Versace on the Floor" by Bruno Mars. In the initial days of her career, she was one of the back-up dancers in the Sears Arrive music video, featuring Selena Gomez.
25.  She became the ambassador for Convoy of Hope in the year 2012. The next year, she recorded John Legend's song "All of Me" with a portion of the proceeds going to the organization.
26.  She organized a campaign on her 18th birthday through feedONE, in an effort to help feed at least 150 hungry children in Haiti, Tanzania and the Philippines.
27.  On her 20th birthday, she again organized a campaign to raise $50,000 to support Convoy's Women's Empowerment Initiative.
28.  She, along with rapper Lil Wayne and NBA player LeBron James, was featured in a television commercial for Beats by Dr. Dre Color.
29.  Zendaya is the face of "X-Out", Madonna's clothing line "Material Girl", CoverGirl, and Chi Hair Care.
30.  She joined the cast of "Euphoria," the HBO drama series, adapted from the Israeli series of the same name in the early 2019. She plays the role of Rue, a lying, drug-addicted 17-year-old girl and the series' narrator.
31.  Zendaya Net Worth: $5 Million