Halle Berry praises Zendaya: ‘She will go further than I did in less time’

Screen legend Halle Berry is calling it now: the next big talent to blaze a trail in Hollywood is none other than Zendaya.

Berry — who is still the only Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for 2001’s Monster’s Ball — made the declaration in a recent interview with Variety. It was part of a series where the publication asked four Oscar winners to pick one person who represents the future of Hollywood.

With an already impressive filmography under her belt, the 25-year-old Zendaya has made a name for herself in a relatively short amount of time for films such as Spider-Man: Homecoming, Malcolm & Marie, Dune, and HBO series Euphoria. So it’s no wonder Berry would choose Zendaya as her pick for the next person to shake up Hollywood, given she has such a high concentration of quality work so far.

“She’s going to write, direct and go further than I did in less time,” said Berry, who herself only recently made her directorial debut with the MMA fighter Netflix drama Bruised.

Speaking further on the subject, Berry said she thinks Zendaya is “wildly talented, young and already has an Emmy. The youngest ever in a dramatic series,” referring to her win in 2020 for the teenage drama about drug addiction. Euphoria.

Berry went on to say that she also loved Zendaya in Malcolm & Marie, the pared-down, dialogue-driven drama co-starring John David Washington.

“It was so innovative. The honesty and simplicity of that work said to me the sky’s the limit for her — and she’s brave, not afraid to take chances, authentic and wildly beautiful.”