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Zendaya recalls refusing to have her 1st kiss be on screen as a teen star

The actor wasn't exactly excited at the prospect of having her first kiss on camera.
"Dune" Red Carpet - The 78th Venice International Film Festival
Zendaya is more comfortable with on-screen PDA now, but as a rising teen star she wasn't eager to have her first kiss documented.Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

Zendaya has grown up on screen, but there was one moment she was determined not to capture on camera: her first kiss.

In a new interview with British Vogue, the actor recalls how she put her foot down and insisted that such an intimate moment stay private when she was a teen star on Disney's hit show "Shake It Up."

“I remember being on 'Shake It Up' and being like, ‘I’m not gonna do this. I’m going to kiss him on the cheek because I haven’t been kissed yet so I don’t want the kiss to be on camera,’” she said.

As her career has progressed, the 25-year-old has gotten more comfortable with on-screen PDA, which was evident in her most recent role in the Netflix film "Malcolm & Marie." In the movie, the actor starred opposite John David Washington, who is 12 years older than she is, and some critics argued Zendaya was too young for the role.

"People often forget — which is understandable because I've been playing 16 since I was 16, you know — (but) I am grown," she told "PEOPLE (the TV Show!)" in January. "I knew that, as I grow and as I evolve, there would be that moment where I could play someone my own age."

The actor doesn't shy away from taking on more mature roles these days and also stars in HBO's series "Euphoria," which highlights topics such as sex and addiction. During her interview with British Vogue, the star said it's somewhat ironic that she's in the show since she's "the most sober person you could ask to play this part."

When it comes to her real life, Zendaya said she's a homebody who loves watching movies and recently took up painting during lockdown.

Her romantic life has also been the topic of conversation in recent years, and she said a potential suitor will have to meet the approval of several of her family members.

“My dad, my brothers, it’s a whole thing. Good luck to whoever wants to take that on,” she joked.

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Zendaya's "Spider-Man" co-star Tom Holland has been rumored to be her beau for quite some time, but the pair has never confirmed it publicly. Still, Holland recently posted a sweet birthday shoutout to his on-screen love interest, which fueled speculation that the two might also be linked together off-screen.

“My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx,” he wrote on Instagram, along with a photo of himself next to his co-star.