Spider-Man Producers Didn’t Know Zendaya Was Famous Before Casting Her
As a two-time Best Actress Emmy winner for Euphoria and as a co-star in the blockbuster Dune movies, Zendaya has reached a new level of stardom in her career. However, Zendaya’s previous level of fame flew over the heads of Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures when she was originally cast as MJ (Michelle Jones) in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Zendaya went on to have much larger roles in both Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“To be honest with you, neither Kevin Feige nor I knew who she was,” said producer Amy Pascal in a new Vogue feature about Zendaya. “She was wearing no makeup and she was just dressed like a regular girl, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, she’s amazing. She has to be in the movie.’ And then we found out she was a totally famous person, and felt really stupid.”
The reason why neither Pascal nor Feige knew who Zendaya was is probably because they fell far outside of the target audience for her credits prior to joining the MCU. Zendaya established herself as the star of K.C. Undercover and Shake It Up on Disney Channel, in addition to appearing on Dancing With the Stars, where she finished as the runner-up. Zendaya had also appeared in Beyonce’s Lemonade short.