Zendaya Will Star in Upcoming EUPHORIA Pilot on HBO

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zendaya is set to star in HBO's gritty drama pilot, Euphoria. The network announced the entire cast of the hot project, an update on an Israeli format, on Tuesday.

It's just the latest in a growing number of projects for the 21-year-old, who starred in Disney Channel series K.C. UNDERCOVER and SHAKE IT UP and has a blossoming film career with roles in Spider-Man: Homecoming and The Greatest Showman. The Euphoria role, however, will be a departure - with Zendaya playing the project's unreliable narrator, a lying, drug addicted 17 year old girl named Rue.

Zendaya is one of 12 joining the project, described by one exec as "Kids meets Trainspotting." She's joined by Maude Apatow, Brian "Astro" Bradley, Angus Cloud, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, BARBIE Ferreira, Nika King, Storm Reid, Hunter Schafer and Sydney Sweeney.

Based on a series of the same name, Euphoria is being written by Sam Levinson (Wizard of Lies) and is described as a story of "drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love and friendship." The original series premiered in Israel back in 2012, but HBO programming president only announced the pilot in March.

Euphoria was created by created by Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin and Tmira Yardeni, who also serve as executive producers on the update. A24 is producing, with Ravi Nandan, Kevin Turen, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokadi and Gary Lennon also serving as executive producers. Augustine Frizzell is directing the pilot.

Zendaya rose to prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2010-2013). In 2013, Zendaya was a contestant on the sixteenth season of the competition series Dancing with the Stars. From 2015 to 2018, she produced and starred as K.C. Cooper on the Disney Channel sitcom K.C. Undercover. She made her film breakthrough in 2017, starring as Michelle "MJ" Jones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming and as Anne Wheeler in the musical drama film The Greatest Showman. Zendaya began her career in music by recording songs independently and releasing the singles "Swag It Out" and "Watch Me" in 2011, the latter a collaboration with Bella Thorne. She signed with Hollywood Records in 2012 and later released her debut single, "Replay", which reached number 40 on the BillboardHot 100 chart in the United States. Zendaya's self-titled debut studio album (2013) debuted at number 51 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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