Zendaya has said that criticism over Malcolm & Marie being written directed by a white filmmaker has “stripped away” her agency.
The actress addressed mounting backlash against Sam Levinson’s new Netflix film, which casts the Euphoria star alongside Tenet actor John David Washington.
- Read more: âMalcolm & Marieâ review: John David Washington vs Zendaya in a delicious lockdown domestic
Critics raised issues regarding Levinson’s writing and depiction of two Black characters from his own perspective as a white man, although Zendaya maintains that the film depicts her own world-view as well.
âWhatâs interesting is I think a little bit of our agency was stripped away,â Zendaya told the New York Times in reference to the backlash.
âLike this was just kind of Sam spewing things through us without realizing that we are not only actors in this, but weâre co-financiers and producers with P.G.A. marks. You canât get those unless you actually do the job.â

She continued: âI think it also oddly mirrors a little bit of Marieâs plight, right? Itâs like Marie saying the whole movie [Malcolmâs film] is also mine. But actually in real life, we do have the credit, this is ours, and John David, I, and Sam equally own this film.
“Itâs not like it belongs to someone else and I just got cast in it. He wrote it for us too, and I think if youâre going to write something, you have to acknowledge experiences of the [Black] character youâre writing. I thought a lot of conversations I had with Sam came through.â
In a four-star review of Malcolm & Marie, NME said: “From Zoom-based horror Host to Anne Hathawayâs straight-to-streaming pandemic thriller, a slew of recent movies has made âlockdown cinemaâ the fastest growing film genre. Malcolm & Marie, Netflixâs first go at the format, might be the best entry yet.”
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