Zendaya Says First-Ever Date Was an Unknowing Sneak Peek into Her Future: 'I Consider Myself Honored'

The Dune: Part 2 actress recalled a full-circle beginning to her Spider-Man involvement when she was on her first-ever date at 15 years old at CinemaCon


Zendaya. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Talk about a full-circle moment for Zendaya.

While the actress met her beau Tom Holland on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming back in 2016, her love life actually involved the web-slinging superhero years earlier.

"Literally my first date was when I was 15 years old and it was to go see [The Amazing] Spider-Man in 3D," Zendaya, 26, said on Thursday at CinemaCon while accepting the Star of the Year Award.

"Now I consider myself honored to be able to buy a ticket and sneak into the back of one of your theaters, which I've done many times before, and watch my own," she added.

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Zendaya. Gabe Ginsberg/WireImage

During her acceptance speech before the film-exhibition community, the Euphoria star — who has starred in three Spider-Man films alongside Holland, 26 — spoke of the importance of movie theaters and the experience of shared viewing.

"I think my gift is storytelling — that's what I love to do," said Zendaya. "It means nothing if those stories don't get to people they need to get to."

In a theater, she continued, "that's where someone can feel seen" and "feel less alone."

"That's when someone can escape," the Emmy winner explained. "That's where someone can build a new dream. And I have been witness to that, and I've experienced it myself."

RELATED VIDEO: Zendaya on Tom Holland: "The Superhero Is Also a Good Person"

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It's a "magical" feeling to watch others view her movies, Zendaya said.

"It's been so special because I get to watch what the moviegoing experience does for people. It's healing and it's magical and I feel so grateful to be a part of it," she explained.

Zendaya spent much of the week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas chatting with movie-theater owners and studio executives — but she also had some time to let loose, too.

On Thursday, the Dune: Part 2 star shared a video to her Instagram Story from the "Usher: My Way" Las Vegas residency at Dolby Live, which she seemingly attended the previous evening.

"When I tell you we barely had a voice by the end of this," she captioned a video of her singing alongside Holland and other friends. "Childhood dreams come true, going to an @usher concert."