Zendaya’s New Madame Tussauds Wax Figure Has Fans Asking: “Who Is That Supposed to Be?”
The museum says it’s a meticulous tribute to her fashion legacy — but online, fans are roasting everything from the jawline to the “bulge.”
The Dune: Part Two star was honored with her 10th wax figure at Madame Tussauds’ New York City location on Jan. 7. The statue recreates a custom Bottega Veneta look she wore to a February 2024 fan event for Dune: Part Two in Mexico City, complete with a version of her engagement ring from fiancé Tom Holland.
According to Madame Tussauds, the likeness is the result of a meticulous, year-long process: a team of artists used hundreds of measurements and reference photos originally taken when Zendaya sat for her first figure back in 2015. The New York general manager called the piece a tribute to her impact on both entertainment and fashion, noting she’s now one of the museum’s most recognizable stars.
Online, though, people weren’t exactly speaking with one voice.
“Them jaws is not Zendaya, honey”
Once photos of the new figure hit social media, it didn’t take long for X (formerly Twitter) to start dissecting every detail.
Some users were blunt about the proportions. One person joked, “Body 0.00001%. Outfit 9.1%,” suggesting the styling was the only thing that really nailed it. Another wrote, “Them jaws is not Zendaya honey,” zeroing in on the jawline.
A few felt like the museum aged her up:
- “How’s a wax figure looking older than the real thing?” one user asked.
- Another commenter said it looked like the sculptors tried to recreate her from memory: “It’s like they tried to make her from memory, not… reference.”
Others just didn’t see the resemblance at all. Reactions ranged from “Who is that?” to “Obviously not Zendaya,” with one person quipping, “When you order Zendaya from a discount site.”
There were also jokes that the figure looked more like a completely different celebrity. On Facebook, one commenter wondered if Madame Tussauds had simply recycled a Catherine Zeta-Jones sculpture and “modified it,” while another person said the wax version gave off “male beauty influencer” vibes instead of Zendaya’s softer features.
Fans say the face shape and “vibe” are off
Beyond the quick one-liners, people had very specific notes about why the figure felt wrong. Several Facebook users pointed to the face shape first.
- “The face shape is totally wrong,” one person wrote, arguing that Zendaya’s real face is fuller in the cheeks, while the wax version has a sharper chin.
- Another said, “They narrowed her face and shoulders… Zendaya has strong facial structure; the wax figure is giving someone else entirely.”
Her expression was another sticking point. A commenter noted that Zendaya usually has a “gentle sweetness” to her face on red carpets and in candid photos, and that quality was “completely missing” from the figure. Others felt the sculpt made her look far more severe and mature than she actually is at 29.
The lower half of the statue caught attention too. Multiple Facebook users questioned the way the outfit fit on the wax body, with one person asking, “My question is why the bulge?” and another saying the bottom half “definitely needs to be fixed.”
Put together, it added up to a lot of people insisting, in different ways, that they’d never guess this was supposed to be Zendaya if they weren’t told.
But not everyone thinks it’s a total miss
Despite the piling-on, not all the reactions were negative. Some fans thought the internet was being way too harsh.
- One X user wrote simply, “Why is everyone hating? This one actually looks good.”
- Another chimed in, “Zendaya’s wax is on point, bro,” while someone else called it “beautiful” and said they didn’t see the problem.
A few people landed somewhere in the middle. One commenter joked, “If you squint a bit, it kinda looks like her,” while another admitted, “It is good, but not great. The face is definitely off.”
On Facebook, at least one person tried to put things in perspective: “Anyone that thinks this is bad has never seen some of the horrifying mess Madame Tussauds has put out. If you can narrow it down to 10 people it could possibly be… nailed it.”
And then there were the people who just refused to get worked up at all. As one commenter put it, “Imagine being upset about a wax figure.”
Is the problem the wax… or our expectations?
A mini side debate broke out over whether the issue is actually the sculptors or the way we look at celebrity faces now.
One Facebook user defended the artists, pointing out that wax figures are made to match a person’s real measurements and bone structure — not the contoured, highlighted version fans are used to seeing on red carpets and in photos. In Zendaya’s case, they argued, her makeup often subtly reshapes her nose and face, so a figure based on her actual features is bound to look “off” to some people.
Another commenter blamed the broader state of Madame Tussauds. They claimed that years ago, when there were only a couple of locations, the bar for sculptors was higher and positions were harder to get. Now that there are more museums worldwide, they felt the quality has become “inconsistent” and that this particular figure “would never have made the cut back then.”
Others saw it as part of a pattern with Zendaya specifically. One person referenced viral videos from the past, reminding everyone that “no one can draw Zendaya,” and suggesting that if artists struggle to capture her in pencil, it’s no surprise a wax version is controversial too.
A familiar wax-figure saga
If there’s one thing fans seemed to agree on, it’s that Zendaya deserves better than a likeness that sparks this much confusion. One commenter summed up the general mood with: “This is the first Madame Tussauds sculpture I really disagree with. How could they get this so wrong?” Another joked that the solution was simple: “They need to melt it and start again.”
Others were more forgiving, pointing out that even the biggest stars have had rough wax-figure eras. As one user reminded everyone, “They had Beyoncé looking like Faith Hill at one point. They’ll get it right eventually.”
For now, Zendaya’s latest wax twin is doing exactly what Madame Tussauds sculptures seem to do best in the social media age: giving the internet something to argue about — right down to the shape of her jawline.
If you’re interested in how we pick apart famous women’s looks more broadly, you might also like my breakdown of today’s most influential female fashion icons in the U.S., and a recent deep dive into how the media talks about women’s bodies and weight.
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