Supportive girlfriend through and through. Zendaya spoke about Tom Holland‘s role in Romeo And Juliet. The new Shakespeare adaptation is directed by Jamie Lloyd, and will be shown at the West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London from May 11 to August 3, 2024.
In a new interview with Vogue, Zendaya said that she “could not be more proud” of her boyfriend. “I’m going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can.” Tom Holland was cast as the titular Romeo starring opposite Francesca Amewudah-Rivers who plays Juliet in the new Shakespeare adaptation.
After the casting announcement a week before the interview, Amewudah-Rivers was met with racist comments on her own Instagram. One comment read, “The world is not racist, but it is the worst casting ever for Juliet.” Despite the backlash, many people came out to support her in the role and knock down the haters: “Fran, we love you, we got you, we stand with and for you. Ain’t no one gonna tarnish this moment, it is earnt and we are so here for it and to celebrate your light. This is history and you are making it.” The show sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.
The producers of the show, The Jamie Lloyd Company issued a statement regarding the racist comments. “Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company. This must stop,” a statement shared to the company’s Instagram account on Friday read. The company added that it will “continue to support and protect everyone in our company at all costs. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported.” Amewudah-Rivers is an accomplished Black actress who starred in BBC’s Bad Education and has starred in a plethora of Shakespeare roles in Macbeth, Othello, and Antigone. This will be her West End debut.
Romeo and Juliet marks Tom Holland’s return to the West End after he starred in the hit musical Billy Elliot. Zendaya talked about the similar patterns of growing up as a child star between her and her boyfriend. “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,” she told the fashion magazine. “I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully.”
