Zendaya idolizes Beyoncé — and Queen Bey’s mother, Tina Knowles, is one of the actress’ biggest fans.
“I love Zendaya,” Knowles, 70, told Variety at the Los Angeles premiere of the star’s new film, Challengers, on Tuesday, April 17. “The first time I saw her, I used to watch her in the Disney series [Shake It Up] with my grandson [Solange Knowles’ son Julez Smith] and she just reeked of stardom. She is just the most gracious, beautiful girl, and she reminds me of my daughter — she’s a Virgo, like my daughter.”
Beyoncé, 42, celebrates her birthday on September 4, three days before Zendaya’s birthday on September 1. The 32-time Grammy winner performed her Renaissance tour concert on Zendaya’s birthday last year at SoFi Stadium in Englewood, California. She made it extra special by shouting Zendaya out during the concert.
The Dune: Two actress, 27, was picked by Beyoncé to appear in her 2016 HBO Lemonade film, and Zendaya told Seventeen it was an unbelievable experience.
“I thought it wasn’t real. I talk about Beyoncé too much,” she said in April 2016. “I am a diehard. I was like there is no way. And then it was real.”
Zendaya recalled the magical moment when she met her favorite singer.
“I was getting my hair braided and she came into my dressing room and was like, ‘Hello. Thank you for being here,’” she recalled. “The fact that she came into my dressing room to say, ‘Thank you’. Beyoncé did that?! What?!”
Zendaya was also in awe when Beyoncé explained why she wanted her in the film about female empowerment.
“She said that she picked strong, powerful, inspirational women that she would want her daughter to look at,” Zendaya continued. “Those are the women that she picked and she wanted me to be a part of that, and I was just like, that’s crazy. It was out of body.”
Five years after appearing in Lemonade, Zendaya displayed her admiration for Beyoncé at the 2021 BET Awards. She appeared in a Versace purple cut-out gown with lime green straps, very similar to what Beyonce wore when she performed ‘Crazy in Love’ with Jay-Z at the 2003 awards show.
Donatella Versace was very impressed, commenting on Instagram, “@zendaya!! You looked just SENSATIONAL last night at the @bet awards I’ll never forget @beyonce wearing this in 2003. A tough act to follow but you aced it effortlessly!”
