Zendaya is remembering her East Bay theater kid roots by donating $100,000 to the California Shakespeare Theater company, where she received early training to become an actor and to pursue her career as a film and TV star, singer and model. The donation from the Euphoria star comes as she and Timothée Chalamet have been promoting the March 1 release of the second part of the Dune film franchise.
Zendaya donates 100K USD to Bay Area Theater
On Tuesday, 20 February, Zendaya partnered with the Women Donors Network to donate $100,000 to the place where her acting career began, California Shakespeare Theater in Oakland, Calif. The theater announced the donation to their North Star Fund, which helps toward improvements and future shows, per their website.
“We are very pleased to be able to offer this general support grant in partnership with Zendaya,” wrote Leena Barakat, President & CEO of the Women Donors Network (WDN), in a statement. “We hope that our funding supports your work and helps further your strategic vision, wherever funds are most needed.”
Clive Worsley, the theater’s executive director, also thanked Zendaya for paying it forward. “We are deeply grateful to Zendaya and the WDN for their partnership, and their generous grant of $100,000 to the North Star Fund,” wrote Worsley in a statement. “This gift helps keep Cal Shakes going strong as we prepare for our 50th Anniversary season!”
The theater was founded in 1974 and is particularly popular during the summer season, when audience members gather at the outdoor Bruns Amphitheater. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Zendaya joined the theater because her mother worked there for 12 summers when she was a child.
“Her support moves us forward in a big way toward upgrading sound and lighting systems, enhancing the café, and of course funding our 50th Anniversary production of As You Like It, directed by Elizabeth Carter,” the statement read. “Thank you Zendaya and the WDN!”
The Spider -Man star has a busy few months ahead. In addition to promoting Dune: Part 2, she also stars in Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s love triangle set in the world of professional tennis. The film hits theaters on April 24. Several weeks later, she’ll be walking the red carpet in some spectacular designer gown at the 2024 Met Gala, for which she is a co-chair alongside Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth.
What is Zendaya’s new movie Challengers about?
The new trailer for the tennis-centric movie Challengers starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist was recently released. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the movie has received an R rating due to its explicit language, mature content, and graphic scenes. The film is set to hit theaters on April 26, 2024. Originally slated to premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival with a theatrical release in September 2023, the film’s debut was postponed to 2024 due to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike last year.
Since the movie was supposed to have a fall 2023 release, MGM actually released the first official trailer for Challengers on June 20, 2023. The suspenseful trailer gives us a peek at the unique and steamy dynamic between Tashi, Art, and Patrick — then and now. It also gives a taste of Tashi’s fall from grace and how she ends up in the position she is now, all set to an intense remix of Rihanna’s S&M.
MGM put out the second trailer for Challengers on February 21, 2024. Though with less intense music, the second trailer gives us even more clues about the trio’s relationship. We see Art and Patrick both asking Tashi to be their coach and all the hijinks that ensue before and after that moment, personally and professionally.
Challengers follows the story of tennis star Tashi Donaldson, played by Zendaya, who, after a knee injury prevents her from competing, takes on the role of coach for her husband, Art Donaldson, portrayed by Mike Faist.
The plot gets complicated as Tashi finds herself coaching both Art and her childhood best friend and ex-lover, Patrick Zweig, played by Josh O’Connor. The trio becomes entangled in a love triangle, leading to a complex situation as Art and Patrick face off in a Challenger tournament.
ALSO READ: Challengers trailer: Zendaya’s steamy scene invites meme, netizens react
