Zendaya auditioned "many times" for “Descendants” but things didn't "go her way."
The “Dune: Part Two” actress was a teen star for the Disney Channel thanks to shows such as “Shake It Up” and “K.C. Undercover” and "really wanted" to be part of the network's movie series - in which Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart and the late Cameron Boyce portrayed the children of classic Disney villains - but her numerous attempts to land a role didn't work out.
Cornelia Frame, the former vice president of casting and talent relations at Disney Channel, told the “Magical Rewind” podcast: “Zendaya did audition many times for ‘Descendants,’ and that was a big deal.
"I mean, a really big deal that she auditioned over and over. She really wanted it, and it just ended up not going her way.”
The executive noted that Zendaya “put so much effort and so much work” into her auditions, but ultimately “it’s just one of those things.”
And she believes the “Greatest Showman” actress' career could have been very different if she had landed the undisclosed part as it may have stopped her from taking her debut feature film role in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, in which she portrays MJ.
She added: “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.”
The original “Descendants” movie was released in 2015 and followed by sequels in 2017 and 2019, as well as spin-offs “Descendants: The Royal Wedding” - an animated film - and the newly-released “Descendants: The Rise of Red.”