She is one of Hollywood’s hottest prospects, having starred in blockbusters such as Dune, The Greatest Showman and the Spiderman movies.
No wonder then that Zendaya’s favourite thing about her recent break in Scotland is that she got to live a more ‘normal’ life, including grabbing an ice cream.
The 28-year-old actress surprised staff at Inverness-based Miele’s Gelateria when she popped in unexpectedly while filming in the city during last month’s heatwave.
Zendaya, who has Scottish ancestry on her mother’s side, was shooting scenes for her latest movie The Odyssey alongside Matt Damon and fiancé Tom Holland, when she treated herself to a tub of mint, butterscotch and Stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate) ice-cream.
She even took time to pose for photographs with staff who were ‘flabbergasted’ when she turned up asking for recommendations on what flavours to try as she took a break between shoots.
The A-list celebrity has now spoken of how she ‘really loved’ her visit to the Highland capital and praised the local people for allowing her and Mr Holland to enjoy their time without too much attention.
She told the Sunday Mail: ‘I was excited I got to visit Scotland. I really loved my time in Inverness, it was a beautiful city.
‘Obviously, we were there to work but in between filming, we had a chance for a bit of downtime.
‘The locals were so friendly and actually allowed us to do normal things.’
Zendaya has fond memories of her time in Scotland while filming with fiance Tom Holland
Tom Holland and Zendaya were spotted on a coffee date in Invernessin July
Zendaya poses for a photo with staff member Joss at Miele’s Gelateria in Inverness
The couple, who announced their engagement in January having met on the set of Spiderman, were also spotted filming along the Moray coast.
They are both cast in Cristopher Nolan’s latest creation which is due to be released next summer.
The director scheduled shoots at various locations across northern Scotland, including Cullen, Burghead and Buckie in Moray.
Mr Holland also wowed fans while filming scenes for Marvel’s new Spiderman movie in Glasgow earlier this month.
Zendaya, who stars as MJ in the superhero movies, is also expected to reprise her role in the latest instalment Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
But the California-born actress, who has Scottish roots on her mother Claire Stoermer’s side, admitted that she would one day like to take on a role with a Scottish accent. She stressed, however, that she would only do it ‘if I felt I had nailed it and it sounded authentic’.
She said: ‘It’s so important if I take on an accent that I can pull it off – taking on a Scottish accent would be special with the history in our Nolan family.’
In an interview with the Mail in 2023 Ms Stoermer said her daughter was proud of her Scottish ancestry after learning that her great-grandfather Douglas Whitelaw was a World War One soldier who hailed from Dundee.
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Zendaya says she loved getting to do ‘normal’ things during her time with fiancé Tom Holland in Scotland