Zendaya reveals why it’s ‘terrifying’ to go to the Met Gala

‘Going up the steps is very daunting,’ Zendaya says about the fashion event

Zendaya has opened up about why it can be “terrifying” to attend the Met Gala, which takes place every year on the first Monday in May.

During a recent appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark, the 27-year-old spoke candidly about co-chairing the upcoming fashion extravaganza, alongside Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Lopez, and Bad Bunny. While reflecting on her first-ever Met Gala appearance, she explained that even though the event is really fun, it’s also quite nerve-racking.

“I first went when I was 18 years old, and Law [Roach] and I, my stylist, we’ve been working together since I was like 14 years old. But I remember being 18 and it was such an exciting and new experience,” she said about the Met Gala. “But still terrifying.”

As the Euphoria star described some of the specific things she’s nervous about leading up to the 2024 Met Gala, she also noted that this is her first time attending the star-studded event since 2019.

“Going up the steps is very daunting, and I haven’t been back for maybe four or five years,” she explained. “So this is, like, my first time back at the Met in quite a while.”

After Kelly Ripa suggested that designers “must fight to the death to dress” Zendaya for the event, the actor said that the TV host would “have to talk to” her stylist about that.

Zendaya then described how she looks at fashion “as creativity” during every occasion, whether she’s walking the red carpet at a movie premiere or the red steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Even in press tours, it’s a way to continue the creativity from the film,” she said. “I like to just create characters, because ultimately sometimes, doing this for a living feels a little weird and awkward and I’m more of a shy, introverted person, so I get to create these characters. And like, ‘I’m this woman today who wears a green suit.’ You get to embody this character for a day and clothes can do that for you.”

Throughout the last month, Zendaya has been unofficially deemed a fashion icon for her tennis-themed outfits during the press tour for her new film, Challengers, where she plays a tennis player turned coach. With the help of her stylist, Zendaya has stunned in various green and white looks, from a dazzling dress with a silhouette of a tennis player on it to a gown embroidered with mini tennis rackets.

The Dune star will be attending the Met Gala for a sixth time next month, as she first walked the red carpet at the event in 2015. While she made an appearance at the four following Met Galas after that, she specifically turned heads in 2019, when she dressed up as the iconic Disney princess Cinderella. While walking the pink carpet at the time, she was accompanied by Roach, who was dressed as her fairy godfather and waved a wand that emitted dramatic wisps of smoke around her.

Back in November, Vogue announced that the upcoming theme for the annual fashion fundraiser will be “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”. According to Vogue, the exhibit will be centred around 50 historically significant pieces, some of which are far too fragile ever to be worn again. These are the “Sleeping Beauties”.

Nearly 250 items will also be drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, featuring designs from Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Givenchy to span 400 years of fashion history.

The 2024 Met Gala will take place on 6 May.