Zendaya Praises Boyfriend Tom Holland for Handling Fame at a Young Age “Beautifully”

Zendaya and Tom Holland.

Just on the heels of her press run for Dune: Part Two, Zendaya is on another press run for her forthcoming film Challengers—including already a slew of jaw-dropping looks (tennis inspired, of course, as the film centers around the sport) and a cover story for Vogue. 

Zendaya on the cover of "Vogue" (Image credit: Vogue)

Inside that piece, typically private Zendaya opened up about her boyfriend, Tom Holland—also an actor—and praised him for how he handled the monstrosity that is fame, especially at a tender age: “We were both very, very young, but my career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight,” she said. “One day you’re a kid and you’re at the pub with your friends, and then the next day you’re Spider-Man.” (Zendaya and Holland starred together in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2019’s Spider-Man: Far from Home, and 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Holland played the superhero.)

She added of Holland, “I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully.”

Though it's not totally clear when their relationship began, the two met in 2016 as they filmed "Spider-Man: Homecoming," released the following year. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Zendaya also said she plans to support Holland when he returns to London’s West End in a new production of Romeo & Juliet next month. “[I] could not be more proud,” she said. “I’m going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can.”

After meeting on the set of their first of three Spider-Man movies, it’s unclear when their relationship turned from merely co-stars to romantic—but publicly, they were confirmed to be a couple in July 2021. 

Zendaya promoting her new film, "Challengers," in Paris (Image credit: Getty Images)

Navigating their romance as the world watches has proven challenging for the couple, both of whom are protective of their personal lives. In her Vogue interview, Zendaya reflected on a trip they took to the Louvre in Paris, where they were advised that their fame might make crowds even worse at the famous museum. (Photos of the two holding hands went viral afterwards.) Zendaya and Holland decided to go anyway, not letting their celebrity interfere with their desire to live life together.

"Challengers" hits theaters on April 26. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Forever brilliant at dressing for the theme, Zendaya wore tennis ball shoes while promoting the tennis-themed "Challengers" in Rome. (Image credit: Getty Images)

“It was actually fine,” she said. “You just kind of get used to the fact that, ‘Oh, I’m also one of those art pieces you’re going to take a picture of.’ I just gotta be totally cool with it and just live my life.”

Staffers let the couple stay after closing time, and “It was one of the coolest experiences ever,” Zendaya said. “It was like Night at the Museum.”