Zendaya Reaches Another Enormous Career Milestone

Zendaya added to her acting awards, taking home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Drama Series, honoring her role as Rue in Euphoria.

By Mark McKee | Published

zendaya dune

Zendaya is one of the most popular and in-demand actors in the business today with her appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the remake of Dune. But it isn’t her acting in big-budget productions that is getting her the recognition for her stellar acting chops, as her role as Rue Bennett in the HBO smash hit, Euphoria. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor found a way to reach all new heights in her career when she picked up a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Drama Series at the 80th Annual Golden Globes

The Spider-Man: No Way Home actress beat out Emma D’Arcy for her role in the Game of Thrones prequel, House of Dragon, Laura Linney for Ozark, Imelda Staunton for The Crown, and Hilary Swank for Alaska Daily. Of course, while there is a lot of honor when an actor wins any award, this award added Zendaya to a crowd of one to accomplish something extraordinary, in addition to the Golden Globe. In 2020, she won the Best Actress in a Drama at the Emmys, at the age of 24 and then again in 2022, at the age of 26, making her both the youngest winner and the youngest two-time winner. 

Zendeya wasn’t able to be at the Golden Globes celebration, joining other fellow winners, Amanda Seyfried, Kevin Costner, and Cate Blanchett, who also weren’t able to attend. The Euphoria actress addressed her win on Instagram the next day when she took to the social media platform to call it an incredible honor and to tell her other nominees that she was honored to be named alongside them. She additionally thanked her fellow cast and crew on Euphoria and said she was honored that so many of the fans allowed Rue to enter their hearts. 

Zendaya as Rue in Euphoria

Euphoria is a teen drama that is anything but a tame teen series and nothing like Zendaya’s previous starring role as Rocky Blue opposite Bella Thorne in Disney‘s Shake it Up. The series focuses on a group of teenagers dealing with everything from repressed homosexuality and drug addiction to toxic relationships, mental illness, and drug and human trafficking. The series has a long list of accolades totaling 25 wins over only two seasons; Zendaya alone has landed 17 nominations, and bringing home the Golden Globe brings her total to eight wins. 

Zendaya isn’t the only star that has made her name on the HBO smash, with Sydney Sweeney (The White LotusThe Handmaid’s Tale, Sharp Objects, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Storm Reid (who starred in A Wrinkle in Time and the upcoming thriller, Missing). 

On top of her time in the spotlight and in between EuphoriaDune, and Spider-Man, Zendaya is known as a fashion icon, and wrote a book in 2013 that aimed to help young girls navigate the most challenging years of their childhood. She is also a known advocate of many charities and foundations and a musician. While she continues to show that she is a force in the industry, this Golden Globe win proves that what she is doing is working.