Zendaya Praises Boyfriend Tom Holland for ‘Beautifully’ Handling Sudden Fame: It ‘Changed Overnight’

Zendaya doesn’t share much about her romance with Tom Holland, but she was happy to gush over him in her latest interview.

The Dune: Part Two star, 27, offered some insight into her relationship in a new cover interview with Vogue published on Tuesday, April 9. Zendaya explained that she and Holland, also 27, understand each other so well because they both know what it’s like to become enormously famous at a young age.

“We were both very, very young, but my career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight. One day you’re a kid and you’re at the pub with your friends, and then the next day you’re Spider-Man,” Zendaya said, referring to Holland’s debut as the superhero in 2016. “I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully.”

Zendaya added that she plans to support Holland next month when he returns to London’s West End in a new production of Romeo & Juliet. “[I] could not be more proud,” she told the outlet. “I’m going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can.”

In the same interview, Zendaya revealed that the viral photos of her and Holland holding hands at the Louvre almost didn’t happen. When the duo initially tried to plan a visit to the famous Paris museum, they were advised that their fame might make the crowds even worse — but they decided to go anyway.

“It was actually fine. You just kind of get used to the fact that, ‘Oh, I’m also one of these art pieces you’re going to take a picture of. I just gotta be totally cool with it and just live my life,’” Zendaya explained, adding that staffers allowed the couple to stay after closing time. “It was one of the coolest experiences ever. It was like Night at the Museum.”

Zendaya and Holland met while working on 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, but they didn’t directly confirm their relationship until July 2021 when they were spotted kissing in a car.

“Zendaya and Tom really did their best to keep their romance under wraps when they first started dating,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2023. “Before they began seeing each other, they had both always been very private when it came to their personal lives. It was something that bonded them in the early stages of their relationship because they were both on the same page when it came to avoiding public speculation.”

The insider hinted that the twosome didn’t mind going public once it became clear that the public knew about their romance. “They acknowledge that everyone knows they’re together,” the source explained. “So Tom is proud to call Zendaya his girlfriend and express how much he loves her because he wants the world to know.”