Imagine if Disney Channel’s Descendants featured Hollywood’s rising star, Zendaya. Well, even though it might sound like a far-fetched dream, it was almost a reality. According to reports, a Disney Channel executive revealed that the Dune actress actually auditioned for a role in the musical movie but did not get too far.
After the success of Challengers and Dune Part 2, Zendaya has become one of the most sought-after Hollywood actresses from the younger generation, cementing her star status at the box office. But it’s not just Zenadaya’s box office success; she has become a cultural icon that fans can relate to.
The Euphoria actress might be a big Hollywood actor, but she wasn’t an overnight success. She has worked tirelessly since she was a child and starred on her own Disney channel show, Shake It Up. She has also made guest appearances in many other shows on the Disney Channel. But she has never been seen in a major Disney musical franchise, The Descendants.
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The Descendants has been one of Disney’s critically acclaimed and beloved series. It also achieved box office success, which led to a fourth installment. The movie flips the narrative on fairytales and their villains. In the movies, the children of the iconic villains turn good through effort and will.
Recently, fans were surprised to learn that Zendaya actually auditioned multiple times but did not get the role. Cornelia Frame, former Vice President of Casting and Talent Relations at Disney Channel, was a guest on Sabrina Bryan’s Magical Rewind podcast, and that’s when she reflected on Zendaya’s audition and her career path now.
Frame revealed that the 27-year-old actress was eager to join the franchise and went through several rounds of auditions. According to Cornelia, it was a big deal, but ‘it just did not go her way.’
Cornelia said, “Zendaya auditioned many times for Descendants, and that was a really big deal. She auditioned over and over and really wanted it. It just ended up not going her way.”
She even thought that Zendaya losing out on the Descendants role was meant to be because she eventually got Spider-Man. Frame said, “Now that I think about it, I’m like, ‘Would Spider-Man have happened right at that same time?’ “Things happen for a reason, and you often book this other thing that’s amazing when you don’t get something else.”
Cornelia Frame commended Zendaya for her hard work and booming career. Frame even said that ‘it was just one of the things’ that the Dune actress did not get the Descendants movie, even though she put in a lot of hard work.
The 2015 film Descendants, starring Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, China Anne McClain, and the late Cameron Boyce, followed the teenage children of Disney villains such as Cruella de Vil, Maleficent, Jafar, and the Evil Queen. A sequel was launched in 2017, with a third installment coming in 2019.
A fourth movie in the Descendants franchise was a reboot titled The Rise of Red, which premiered on Disney Plus earlier in July 2024.
Meanwhile, Zendaya was last seen in the sports drama movie Challengers and the sequel to Dennis Villenuve’s Dune Part 1.
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