It’s a busy weekend coming up in Hollywood. In the previous post about Tom Cruise I mentioned that the Producers Guild will be handing out its awards on Saturday, and then the SAGs are happening on Sunday. But also on Saturday it’s the NAACP Image Awards, hosted by Queen Latifah. And that event has become over the last few years, if we’re measuring by celebrity attendance, just as high profile as the major award shows.
Where celebrity attendance is concerned, there are few stars who are more anticipated on a red carpet than Zendaya. But Zendaya has been pretty undercover the last few months. She certainly hasn’t been working the circuit, she wasn’t at any of the fashion weeks, and while there have been sightings of her that end up on social media, these are random fan encounters, and she’s sweet enough to stop and take pictures with them.
But the drought is coming to an end soon. Because while Zendaya skipped out on the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice, it has been confirmed that will be at the NAACP Image Awards as both a nominee and a presenter and again the next night at the SAGs, also as a nominee and presenter. Maybe it was scheduling, maybe there were other work factors to consider for her not attending those previous events. Or maybe it’s intentional – and if it is, it tells you which events she is choosing to prioritise. The Globes are obviously not a priority for Zendaya. For her, understandably, the NAACP Image Award is a more meaningful honour. It tells you about her values but also about how relevant, or irrelevant, the Globes might be, at least to Zendaya.
As for the SAGS, well, the significance here is that they’re all actors. These are the awards that her peers vote on. For her it totally tracks. Yesterday Zendaya was on a virtual call with Julia Garner and Elizabeth Debicki for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. Full video of their conversation is embedded below. All three have been nominated in the Female Actor in a Drama category. Jennifer Coolidge and Laura Linney are also nominated.
So we will see Zendaya twice this weekend. Can’t wait to see what she and Law Roach have planned.
