While a lot of actors lost opportunities in 2020 due to the pandemic, Emmy award-winning actress Zendaya spent most of the year turning them down! In the February issue of GQ, the “Euphoria” star shares why she rejected “one-dimensional” roles that only served the male protagonist.

“I just felt like a lot of the roles that I was reading, specifically female roles, were just like, I could have played them all as the same person and it wouldn’t have mattered, if that makes sense,” Zendaya shared—describing it as “they’d usually serve the purpose of helping the male character get to where they need to go, do what they need to do.”

In addition to the roles serving as a prop for the lead male actor, Zendaya explained that the rejected roles felt too surface-level—lacking the complexity of a developed character arc. Although she thought the roles were great, she didn’t feel like they were challenging enough for her.

Zendaya is set to star alongside David John Washington in the Netflix film “Malcolm & Marie“—an Oscar-buzzworthy drama directed by “Euphoria” creator, Sam Levinson.

What do you think of Zendaya turning down movie roles that only served lead male actors? Tune in to see what our Dish Nation hosts think!