--- description: Find out why Zendaya is one of the 100 most influential people of 2022. title: Zendaya: The 100 Most Influential People of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f3f1d2425a70c70/698a320f096a9470a26ac921/zendaya-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 23, 2022 # Zendaya by Denis Villeneuve  Camila Falquez for TIME To me, [Zendaya](https://time.com/4093271/zendaya-interview-influential-teen/ "undefined") is a thousand years old. She has already lived many lives before this one. And yet, she is as young as springtime. By some inextricable paradox, she also gives the impression of having been born sometime far into the future. She is timeless, and she can do it all. In just the past year or so, Zendaya has radiated like a shooting star captured on celluloid in Sam Levinson’s _Malcolm & Marie._ She emotionally exploded as her teenage years disintegrated in Levinson’s [cultural phenomenon ](https://time.com/5606243/euphoria-zendaya-tv-show-review/ "undefined")[_Euphoria_](https://time.com/5606243/euphoria-zendaya-tv-show-review/ "undefined")_._ She shone in [_Spider-Man: No Way Home_](https://time.com/6128276/spider-man-no-way-home-future/ "undefined")_,_ a movie that dominated the box office in a year when she became the muse of extremes. But Zendaya is much more than that. She is an autonomous creative force herself. A cultural icon in the making. A person driven by pure inspiration, empathy, and respect for her craft, who uses authenticity as a new superpower. She seems fearless, her roots run deep, and I love that she still laughs like a kid. Zendaya is the future. And there is nothing more comforting to me. This is only the beginning. _Villeneuve is a director, most recently of_ Dune  Photograph by Camila Falquez for TIME _Styled by Law Roach; hair by Antoinette Hill; make-up by Sheika Daley_ [**_Get a print of the 2022 TIME100 cover featuring Zendaya_**](https://timecoverstore.com/featured/2022-time100-zendaya-photograph-by-camila-falquez-for-time.html "undefined") Zendaya Is on the 2022 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177806/zendaya/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177806/zendaya/"},"headline":"Zendaya","datePublished":"2022-05-23T10:11:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:11.003Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177806/zendaya/","keywords":["Cover Story","TIME 100","franchise","TIME100 2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f3f1d2425a70c70/698a320f096a9470a26ac921/zendaya-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f3f1d2425a70c70/698a320f096a9470a26ac921/zendaya-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"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":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177806/zendaya/","name":"Zendaya"}}]}] ```