Zendaya spent a significant portion of 2025 bouncing between three major productions simultaneously, and she has the exhausted memories to prove it. In a candid interview with Elle, the Golden Globe winner described a period during which she filmed Euphoria’s third season, studied lines for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and drilled the fictional Chakobsa language for Dune: Part Three — sometimes on the same night.
“I remember being on set for Euphoria; it was a night shoot at a ranch,” she said. “I was so tired, but I was also learning my Chakobsa lines for Dune. And then I started writing out my lines to memorize for that quick turnaround trip I was going to make to Iceland for The Odyssey.”
Working with Nolan apparently raised the stakes of every memorisation session. “It’s not like I have a lot of lines in The Odyssey, but I was working with Christopher Nolan! The most embarrassing thing in life would be messing up my lines,” she said, adding with a laugh, “which did happen once.”
The confessions come as Zendaya manages one of the most densely packed release schedules of any actor in recent memory. She portrays Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, in The Odyssey, which premieres July 17, and later reprises her role as MJ opposite real-life fiancé Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31 — their fourth film together in the franchise. She rounds out the year returning as Chani in Dune: Part Three, opening December 18.
A24’s The Drama already hit theatres last month, and Euphoria Season 3 — the long-anticipated return of Sam Levinson’s HBO series — currently airs Sundays at 9pm ET. Zendaya called her return to Euphoria as Rue “an emotional” one, saying “a lot of life has happened” since the show last aired.
With the calendar showing five major projects releasing inside a single year, Zendaya has been open about the toll. Speaking to Fandango earlier this year, she said, “I just hope you guys don’t get sick of me this year because I’ll tell you what — I’m disappearing for a little bit. I’m going to have to go into hiding for just a little bit.”
Fans won’t have to wait long for her return, however: she is already set to join Shrek 5 in 2027, voicing the daughter of Shrek and Fiona.
