Zendaya

In Challengers (2024), Zendaya's Tashi Donaldson watches tennis with folded arms and a set jaw. There is no need to tell us she takes it more seriously than the two men do. Luca Guadagnino gives that concentration room to become funny and awkward, while editor Marco Costa cuts between their teenage past and the match. We laughed at the early hotel-room scene, then fell quiet as Tashi considered the two boys beside her. It is a fine use of an actor who can hold our attention without asking for sympathy.

Her early film work included MJ in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), before Rue Bennett in Euphoria (2019) marked the move into adult television drama. The franchise roles have remained useful tests of how much she can do with limited space. In Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Jon Watts allows her relationship with Tom Holland's Peter to matter amid the crowded cast. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) gives her less screen time, but the acting is more exact. She plays MJ's encounters with an unfamiliar Peter without suggesting their old closeness, and the restraint makes the scenes work.

Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two (2024) makes particularly good use of her scepticism as Chani. We rated the film highly and found her its strongest performer, but her scenes with Timothée Chalamet do not supply the warmth the romance needs. The script and music insist on a love that the actors seldom make us feel. Here the reserve becomes a limitation: we can see Chani assessing Paul more readily than we can believe she wants him.

The Drama (2026) gives that same reserve a better use within a couple. As Emma, opposite Robert Pattinson's Charlie, Zendaya seems to have finished thinking through a problem that he is only beginning to face. Their disagreement feels familiar enough to belong to a couple who have spent years together. Kristoffer Borgli's film grows safer after its provocation, but the acting keeps the relationship credible. Start with Challengers, and keep the volume control within reach.