The 28-year-old actor has always been "shy" and insists she never got into acting to become a celebrity, finding the attention challenging.
Appearing alongside her Dune: Part Two co-stars Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler and director Denis Villeneuve at a screening of the sci-fi epic in New York, they were asked by an audience member about the Messianic cult in the film and whether it has any correlation to celebrity fandoms.
"I feel like, often, I am not cut out for that part of it," Zendaya responded.
"I do love my job, I'm so grateful. I love doing the work, I love being on set, I do love moments like this - don't get me wrong - but I am terrified of that part of it, often."
Zendaya says she uses fashion as "armour" and was always a shy kid. (AP PHOTO)
The Greatest Showman star - who landed her first major role in 2010 at the age of 13 starring in the Disney Channel series Shake It Up, uses fashion as "armour" when she attends glitzy Hollywood bashes and red carpets.
"I was a shy kid, always have been, and so this part isn't natural - that is a huge reason why fashion became important to me because it became like armour to pretend to go out and do the job," Zendaya said.
The Marvel star, who is dating her Spider-Man co-star Tom Holland, finds it hard to handle being in the spotlight and wants to be seen as a person first and foremost.
"So I don't know if I, either, can fully relate, but I definitely understand what you're saying, and I think that's what's terrifying to me," she said.
"I would like to be a person and for people to see me as that first. I don't necessarily know if I want or can handle all of that or want (that) - some people that's part of it, they enjoy the power that comes from it, and I don't know if that's for me."
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