Zendaya and John David Washington are doing press for their new Netflix film, Malcolm & Marie. The film was written and produced entirely during the pandemic. It was written by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, who is close to Zendaya, and the script stemmed from Sam and Zendaya’s daily conversations in lockdown. They wanted to find some small project to do together with a very small cast and crew in a production “bubble.” Malcolm & Marie is basically a two-person play, filmed entirely in a massive LA home. Zendaya and John David play lovers who have returned home after a Hollywood awards show, and fights and conversation ensue. Here’s the trailer:

Because I’ve never seen Zendaya in her Disney Channel work, I look at her and see her as a young woman, not a kid. She looks and seems young here, of course, because she IS young: she’s 24 years old. But she’s best known for playing 16-year-olds, so some people have been disconcerted seeing her play an adult woman in a relationship with a 30-something man. John David was asked about the age difference – he’s 36, 12 years older than Zendaya – a few weeks ago:

In a recent interview with Variety, the 36-year-old actor and son of Denzel Washington said of Zendaya, 24, “People are going to see in this film how much of a woman she is. She has far more experience than I do in the industry. I’ve only been in it for seven years. She’s been in it longer, so I’m learning from her. I’m the rookie.”

Washington continued on to say that he had been “leaning on” Zendaya — who had her breakout role in 2010 as Rocky Blue on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up — “for a lot.”

“Some of the stories she’s shared about what she’s had to go through with Twitter and everything,” he said. “I appreciated her wisdom and discernment when it comes to this business. I admire that.”

[From People]

Which is sort of talking around it, but I’m fine with that because truly, there’s nothing really shocking about a 24-year-old woman in a real or fictional relationship with a 36-year-old man. John David’s point is that Zendaya is an industry veteran and this part was written for her. I’ve also read a breakdown of the story, and I’m pretty sure the age difference is important in the film. Anyway, as Zendaya was promoting the film this week, she was asked about the age difference too, and she pointed out why so many people are concerned:

Malcolm & Marie premieres on Feb. 5, and it’s safe to say the Oscar buzz has already begun. However, some have been critical of the age gap between 24-year-old Zendaya and 36-year-old John. The way the former Disney Channel star sees it, the fixation comes from the fact that “I’ve played a 16-year-old since I was 16.”

“You have to remember, also, people grew up with me as a child,” Zendaya added. “It’s like watching, I guess, your younger sibling now, you know, they’re grown…So it’s hard for people to wrap around the idea that I am grown in real life. You know, even though I do play a teenager on television still.”

[From E! News]

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. She’s been famous for playing a teenager for eight years and she still plays a teen on Euphoria, and now people can’t comprehend that she is, in fact, a grown-ass woman and capable of playing grown-ass women. Anyway, I’m looking forward to Malcolm & Marie, if only to watch two beautiful people fight in a beautiful home.

Photos courtesy of Dominic Miller/Netflix © 2021.