Zendaya is probably an actress that’s on everybody’s favorite list. Everything from her on-screen presence to her off-screen persona is just admirable, to say the least. Zendaya has a certain charm to her which pulls fans of the entertainment industry towards her, who deem her as one of the most unproblematic people in Hollywood. Her 170 million followers on Instagram can vouch for that!
Well, Zendaya’s fan following goes a long way as even music icon Bruno Mars couldn’t help me enamored by her grace, talent, and beauty. If you aren’t aware, Zendaya shows up in one of Bruno Mars’ music videos from the 24K Magic album and no, she wasn’t hired through agents or auditions. Bruno Mars himself called the actress up and asked him to be in his video. The reason behind Bruno Mars’ inclination towards Zendaya makes one hilarious story!
How Zendaya Got to be a part of Bruno Mars’ Music Video
Bruno Mars released the music video for Versace on the Floor in August 2017. The video gained over three million views within twenty-four hours of its release. So how did Mars decide that he wanted Zendaya to play the sexy, leading woman in his music video? Well, we are going to have to go back to the time when Zendaya faced off against Tom Holland for Lip Sync Battle.
Holland delivered a fabulous performance of Rihanna’s Umbrella which ultimately resulted in him being declared the day’s winner. However, Zendaya wasn’t too far behind either as her lip sync to Mars’ 24K Magic was extremely fun to watch and won hearts everywhere, including that of Mars’. She was dressed up as Mars in a red pajama set and a white cap identical to the Grenade singer.
And apparently, after seeing her in Lip Sync Battle, Mars knew Zendaya was his girl. The Euphoria actress appeared on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon a few years back where she talked about how her performance to 24K Magic got her the role in Versace on the Floor.
“If anybody saw the lip sync battle, I impersonated Bruno for my lip sync battle. And it was fun and I feel like I did a pretty good job at taking on his swag and what not. And apparently he saw that and I guess that in his mind like, apparently he thought, ‘Sexy girl in video’ from that. The correlation there? I got a text and he was like, ‘Hey this is Bruno. Can I call you?’ And I was like, ‘Sure, yeah, absolutely!’ And so he called and he was like, ‘Hey you know I’m doing this video and I really want to you be a part of it’ and I was like, ‘Man, why? Why me? From that video? How does that [lip sync battle] strike gracefully to you?’”
Well, in the end, Zendaya did get to be a part of Mars’ music video, which is quite a big deal in itself. So while Holland might have won the episode, Zendaya ended up winning much more than that! The video of Versace on the Floor currently has more than four hundred million views to its name!
Tom Holland Talks about his Lip Sync Battle Turn
Zendaya was great in the episode, but Holland took the win home. But it wasn’t easy bringing the iconic performance to life. Holland told People that it was “more nerve-wracking than Spider-Man” and that it was “probably the biggest thing he had to get over.” While the only thing that was missing from his Rihanna-inspired getup was a pair of heels, Holland has regrets about not wearing them for his set.
“I said, ‘You want me to dance in the rain and do a front flip I can’t do that in heels.’ I wish I had now. That would have shut things down.”
Both performances were pretty iconic and entertaining in their own ways. You can watch the duo battle it out below.
However, there was also uncertainty surrounding his performance as he revealed that they didn’t have the approval to use Umbrella until five hours before the actual shoot. He had a backup ready to go, just in case. Holland revealed that a music video wasn’t the only thing Zendaya got out of the episode as Mars sent her flowers afterward. Holland, on the other hand, didn’t hear anything from Rihanna.
Versace on the Floor is available to watch on YouTube.
