Zendaya Auditioned for Disney’s Descendants Franchise ‘Many Times,’ Casting Exec Reveals

Zendaya’s acting career almost included a detour to the Isle of the Lost.

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The July 29 episode of Will Friedle and Sabrina Bryan’s Magical Rewind podcast features an interview with Cornelia Frame, Disney Channel’s former Vice President of Casting and Talent Relations, and she leaves no tea left unspilled — including that Zendaya auditioned “many times” for an undisclosed role in the popular Descendants franchise, which centers around the children of classic Disney villains.

“Zendaya did audition many times for Descendants , and that was a big deal,” Frame says. “It was a really big deal. She auditioned over and over and really wanted it. It just ended up not going her way. 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 do often book this other thing that’s amazing when you don’t get something else. Zendaya definitely put so much effort and so much work into it, too. It’s just one of those things.”

When the first Descendants movie premiered in July 2015, Zendaya was starring in the first season of Disney Channel’s K.C. Undercover as the titular teenage spy, which turned out to be her final role with the network. She had previously starred opposite Bella Thorne on the dance-themed comedy Shake It Up for three seasons (2010–2013) in addition to having two Disney Channel Original Movies under her belt (2012’s Frenemies and 2014’s Zapped ).

Zendaya went on to achieve incredible success in her post-Disney years, taking on major roles in the Spider-Man and Dune franchises, in addition to starring in films like The Greatest Showman and Challengers . She has also taken home two Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on HBO’s Euphoria .

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Since the first movie premiered, the Descendants franchise has expanded with three more feature-length films — the latest, Descendants: The Rise of Red , dropped on Disney+ earlier this month — along with an animated wedding special and a series of CG-animated shorts.

TVLine has reached out to Zendaya’s reps for comment.

Descendants fans, are you surprised to hear that Zendaya could have played one of the VKs? And while we’re at it, which role could you have seen her in? Drop a comment with your thoughts on this casting revelation below.

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