--- description: Age ain't nothing but a number — the Disney Channel star was clearly 'that somebody' for this one-in-a-million role title: Zendaya Cast in Aaliyah Biopic for Lifetime image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69d3ae79f8ad4da/698697e9e8524b03af6037c4/zendaya1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 17-Year-Old Zendaya Cast in Lifetime's Aaliyah Biopic  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 17, 2014 12:43 AM CUT  Zendaya arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere "Blended" at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 21, 2014 in Hollywood. Zendaya arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere "Blended" at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 21, 2014 in Hollywood.Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 17, 2014 12:43 AM CUT _Updated 11:04 p.m. EST_ The Lifetime channel’s department of R&B biopics is on a roll with casting news lately. Last week it announced that _America’s Next Top Model_ alumna [Yaya DaCosta will play Whitney Houston](http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/06/09/yaya-dacosta-whitney-houston-lifetime/ "undefined") in the television movie about her life, and on Monday the network announced that 17-year-old singer and actress Zendaya will play the late Aaliyah in a movie (working title: _Aaliyah: Princess of R&B_) airing this fall. After beginning her career on _Star Search_ as a 10-year-old, Aaliyah became a pop superstar in the 1990s. Her life and career were cut short in 2001, when she died in a plane crash at the age of 22\. The biopic is based off the book _Aaliyah: More Than a Woman_ by former TIME critic Christopher Farley. Zendaya, who will record four of Aaliyah’s most well-known songs for the movie, released her self-titled debut last year and has acted in the Disney Channel show _Shake It Up!_ Her first single, “Replay,” is certified platinum in the U.S., and Zendaya also finished in second place on the spring 2013 season of ABC’s _Dancing With the Stars_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2887925/zendaya-aaliyah-lifetime-biopic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2887925/zendaya-aaliyah-lifetime-biopic/"},"headline":"17-Year-Old Zendaya Cast in Lifetime's Aaliyah Biopic","datePublished":"2014-06-17T00:43:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:27:06.726Z","description":"Age ain't nothing but a number—the Disney Channel star was clearly that somebody for this one-in-a-million role","url":"https://time.com/2887925/zendaya-aaliyah-lifetime-biopic/","keywords":["Television","movies","Music","Whitney Houston"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69d3ae79f8ad4da/698697e9e8524b03af6037c4/zendaya1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte69d3ae79f8ad4da/698697e9e8524b03af6037c4/zendaya1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Zendaya arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere \"Blended\" at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 21, 2014 in Hollywood.","caption":"Zendaya arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere \"Blended\" at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 21, 2014 in Hollywood.","creditText":"Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2887925/zendaya-aaliyah-lifetime-biopic/","name":"17-Year-Old Zendaya Cast in Lifetime's Aaliyah Biopic"}}]}] ```