Long before making Emmy history, Zendaya spent time on the MS Coast. Do you remember?

A decade before actress and singer Zendaya made Emmy history for her standout role as Rue on “Euphoria,” the A-list Hollywood star visited the Mississippi Coast.

Zendaya visited Gulf Islands Waterpark in 2012 for a meet and greet with fans of the hit Disney show “Shake It Up.” The actress played Rocky in the series from 2010-2013.

The interview was conducted by a character called Aqua Annie, played by then-waterpark employee Nicole Misita.

“We were happy to have a celebrity on the Coast and give positive encouragement from one of the people kids look up to,” Misita, who now lives in Los Angeles, told the Sun Herald Thursday.

Some young fans told Misita they had waited as long as three hours to meet the Disney star.

In the time since the interview, Zendaya has become one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces appearing in box office hits “Dune” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

“She was really humble and seems to continue to be that way to this day,” Misita said.

Zendaya won her second Emmy this week for her lead role on HBO’s “Euphoria” as Rue, a high school teenager battling a drug addiction.

She made history in ways: Zendaya is the first Black woman to win the Emmy for lead actress in drama series twice, and she’s the youngest two-time Emmy winner of all time.

“If you have (a dream) that you truly believe in and truly care about then go for it, no matter what it is, don’t let anyone stop you,” Zendaya told her fans in the Gulfport interview.

This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 9:53 AM.