• Zendaya wore a ring to the Golden Globes, sparking rumors that she's engaged to Tom Holland.
• Zendaya and Holland are known for keeping most of their relationship details private.
• PR experts said the ring could be interpreted as a nod to an engagement without needing a statement.

Zendaya wore a ring on her left ring finger to the Golden Globes on Sunday — reigniting theories that she and Tom Holland are engaged.

Two branding PR experts told Business Insider that this approach could generate more attention than a simple statement.

Holland met Zendaya in 2016 when she auditioned for 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming," in which he played Spider-Man. Zendaya's character, Michelle Jones, became Holland's love interest in the sequels to "Homecoming," leading fans to speculate about whether the actors would date as other former "Spider-Man" costars did.

Holland confirmed their romance to GQ in November 2021. He also criticized journalists for publishing a photo of them kissing in a car earlier that year, before they were ready to go public.

Since then, Zendaya and Holland have appeared in public as a couple but kept most details about their relationship private.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reporter Amy Kaufman said that when asked if she was engaged, Zendaya "kept showing her ring, smiled coyly and shrugged her shoulders mysteriously."

On Monday, TMZ and People reported that they were engaged, citing unnamed sources.

Neither Zendaya nor Holland have commented, and their representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Kayley Cornelius, a celebrity PR specialist from Manchester, England, said Zendaya's choice to wear the ring could be a clever PR stunt, as it could get double the attention.

She added that fans and journalists were already speculating about whether the couple were engaged and that the conversation would restart if they addressed the rumors.

"If they just came out with a statement saying they're engaged, the moment would've lived and died by the end of this week," Cornelius said.

Mayah Riaz, a PR and personal-branding expert based in London, said she wouldn't label the moment a publicity stunt but thought Zendaya's team "would be fully aware of the buzz it would generate."

"It has excited fans and media, driving attention without either of them having to make a formal statement," Riaz said. "This understated approach is very in line with their brand of letting their work speak for itself while occasionally letting personal moments shine."

Holland and Zendaya's choice to stay private helps their relationship look authentic

Riaz said the private approach reinforced the actors' brands as "mature, focused professionals."

"They've cultivated trust and respect from their fan base, as they are seen as prioritizing their personal lives over publicity," Riaz said. "Doing this allows them to focus public attention on their work rather than their personal life, which can be beneficial for those wanting to be taken seriously in their craft."

Cornelius said this approach made Holland and Zendaya's relationship seem more relatable and authentic.

"They're probably losing out on money by not being as public as they are and building up that brand and identity together," Cornelius said. "So the fact that they're willing to lose out on that, keep things private, it shows that they're likely very genuine and they very much care about one another."

Comparing the couple to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Cornelius said it was smart for Zendaya and Holland to keep their brands separate in case they break up.

"Unfortunately for Travis, he is going to find it very hard to ever shift his brand from being Taylor Swift's boyfriend," Cornelius said. "And because they've been so public together, everything that Travis does now is going to have that association with Taylor Swift."

Riaz and Cornelius said that by rarely sharing public moments together, Zendaya and Holland garner more attention than celebrities who are often out together.

They said this increased interest in the couple could backfire if fans overstepped boundaries to find out more information or if false rumors spiraled out of control.

But overall, they said, the benefits outweigh these risks.

"Tom and Zendaya have struck a great balance by being private yet not completely inaccessible," Riaz said. "They've neither denied nor overshared, allowing them to maintain respect from their fans and the media."

• Zendaya is an awards favorite this year for her role as Tashi Duncan in "Challengers."
• Her career began as a teenager, on Disney Channel titles like "Shake It Up" and "Frenemies."
• Zendaya has a "complicated relationship" with child acting but wouldn't change her career path.

"Challengers" star Zendaya says that she wouldn't change her career — but she does have a "complicated relationship" with child stardom.

The actor, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in "Challengers," joined fellow awards season contenders for The Hollywood Reporter's annual drama actress roundtable. The group, which also included Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldaña, Tilda Swinton, and Angelina Jolie, spoke with each other about their iconic 2024 roles and careers.

Zendaya, 28, has been working since her teenage years, starring in Disney Channel shows and movies like "Shake It Up" and "Frenemies." Now, she says that she's working to cultivate hobbies — in her case, pottery and baking — outside of acting.

"I have a complicated relationship with the idea of child acting because I've seen it be detrimental to people," the actor told THR. "I'm so grateful that this is how it turned out. I wouldn't change it, but there are things that I wish I lived out privately, you know? Because you're figuring out who you are in front of the world."

Zendaya has previously spoken about growing up in the spotlight, telling Vogue Australia in 2020 that she navigated her transition into adulthood by maintaining a "clear vision" of her goals as well as a "very good sense of self."

"Challengers," which was directed by Luca Guadagnino and costars Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, also gave Zendaya the opportunity to play an adult character in Tashi Duncan. Though not exclusively, many of her previous highly acclaimed roles in series like "Euphoria" or films like the "Spider-Man" franchise have featured her as a teenager, even well into adulthood.

"For so long I was playing a teenager, way past when I was one," she told THR. "Being able to play Rue [on HBO's 'Euphoria'] has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. But there comes a time when you've got to start playing your age and beyond. And it was a scary thing."

• Christopher Nolan's next film after "Oppenheimer" adapts a Greek epic, Homer's "Odyssey."
• "The Odyssey" stars Tom Holland, Matt Damon, Zendaya, and Anne Hathaway.
• Here's what to know about the upcoming film's plot, release date, and cast.

After his box-office hit, award-sweeping "Oppenheimer" movie, Christopher Nolan is next adapting "The Odyssey" for his next film.

"Oppenheimer" was the biggest film of Nolan's career, winning seven Oscars, including Nolan's first best director award.

After being set as a double feature with "Barbie," the film also grossed $975 million, Nolan's third-biggest ticket sales for a movie.

On Monday, Universal Pictures announced that Nolan's next film would adapt Homer's Greek epic poem and will be shot "across the world using brand new Imax film technology."

The film will arrive in theaters on July 17, 2026.

"The Odyssey" will likely have cast of stars.

Outlets have reported in October and November — before it was public what the film would be — that several A-listers were in the frame for Nolan's next project.

Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter said, citing unnamed sources, that Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, who starred in Nolan's "Interstellar," would feature.

Hathaway confirmed the casting when speaking to Women's Wear Daily in early December.

"I have so many feelings about it that I don't even know how to articulate. It fills me with so much joy, and I don't know how to talk about it," she said. "I love Chris and Emma Nolan so much, and to be invited into their world is, I mean, I know from experience it's one of the best places you can find yourself. Getting to be invited twice really felt like something, three felt like it would've been greedy, so I never let myself hope that that would happen, and that it has makes me emotional, to be perfectly honest. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right."

Nobody has said which role Hathaway — or any of the actors — might play.

Penelope, Odysseus' wife, is the most significant woman in the source material, along with Athena, the goddess of wisdom who watches over Odysseus.

Deadline and THR also reported, citing unnamed sources, that another Nolan veteran, Robert Pattinson, who starred in "Tenet," will also star in the film.

The publications also said Zendaya, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong'o, and Charlize Theron would be in the cast.

Major characters include Odysseus himself, the legendarily cunning hero, as well as his son Telemachus, the beguiling witch Circe, the monstrous one-eyed cyclops, and Poseidon, the sea god who wants Odysseus to suffer.

On December 18, Holland said on an episode of the "Dish" podcast that he is in the film but doesn't "know anything about" the plot, which was at the time a secret.

"I'm super excited. Everything is very hush-hush. I met with him it was awesome. He kind of loosely pitched what it was, and I'm sure when he's ready, he'll announce what it is," he said.

He seemed to confirm that Pattinson, Zendaya, and Damon would be part of the cast with him.

This would be the first film Zendaya and Holland had worked together on since 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

"The Odyssey" is one of the foundational stories of Western literature.

Homer is known for two epic poems, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," both of which tell the story of the Trojan War.

"The Iliad" narrates the end of the war, while "The Odyssey" tells of the ten-year struggle by Odysseus to return to his island home, Ithaka.

During the journey, Odysseus and his crew fight against a man-eating cyclops, powerful giants, and the sirens. They defeat witches and sea monsters, and anger the Zeus and Poseidon. But Odysseus has Athena on his side, trying to help him get home.

Meanwhile, a band of suitors are trying to take over Odysseus' kingdom on Ithaka, supplanting his son Telemachus and convincing Penelope to marry one of them.

In a dramatic conclusion, Odysseus sneaks back to the island and slaughters the suitors, reclaiming his family and kingdom.

This will be Nolan's first film about Greek mythology, breaking away from his regular sci-fi and war films. Nolan will be writing the script for the movie.

Nolan's film could beat "Troy" as the most commercially successful Homer adaptation.

Several filmmakers have brought Homer's work to screen over the years, including the Oscar-winning directing sibling duo the Coen Brothers and Oscar-nominated German director Wolfgang Petersen.

Petersen's "Troy," which premiered in 2004 starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, was based on Homer's "The Illiad." It was the most commercially successful Homer adaptation, grossing $497 million worldwide, but received a lot of criticism that it didn't translate Homer's story well.

Pitt told The New York Times Magazine in 2019 that he was "disappointed" by the film, and the experience made him pivot toward "quality stories" for the rest of his career.

The Coen Brothers' "O Brother, Where Are Thou" and the 2004 "The Spongebob Squarepants Movie" are two other Hollywood movies loosely based on "The Odyssey."

Homer's work has also been adapted into multiple TV series, including the 1997's "The Odyssey," which starred Christopher Lee and Vanessa Williams.

• Tom Holland said working on films with Zendaya is the "best thing" that's happened to him.
• He said the couple can vent about what annoys them on set back at their hotel room.
• Holland and Zendaya have worked on three "Spider-Man" movies together.

Tom Holland said working on set with Zendaya, his girlfriend, is a "saving grace" because they can vent about what's annoyed them when they get back to their hotel room.

Rumors of their relationship started in 2017 when they were working on "Spider-Man: Homecoming," but they didn't make things official (and public) until 2021 after photos of them kissing in public surfaced online.

They have starred in three "Spider-Man" movies together, and are expected to reprise their roles in the as yet untitled fourth movie.

On Wednesday's episode of the "Dish" podcast, Holland briefly opened up about how the pair's relationship is useful when they're working on the same project.

He joked: "Studios love it. One hotel room. Separate drivers. We're not crazy now. Listen it's work, alright?"

When asked about having Zendaya as his costar, he said: "Oh God, yeah. It's a saving grace. Yeah, best thing that's ever happened to me.

"It's just that perfect thing when you're on set and a director will give you a note that maybe you don't agree with, or I know that she doesn't particularly like, and it's just that, like, familiar glance at each other of like, can't wait to talk about that later."

While Marvel Studios is still figuring out the plan for "Spider-Man 4," the couple will next appear in Christopher Nolan's upcoming movie for Universal Pictures.

The premise and title are currently being kept under wraps, although it's rumored to be a futuristic action movie about helicopter cops in New York.

Holland said: "To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know anything about it. I'm super excited. Everything is very, very hush-hush. I met with him, it was awesome, he loosely pitched what it was. I'm sure when he's ready, he'll announce what it is."

In November, Zendaya told Vanity Fair that working with Holland is "strangely comfortable."

She said: "It's like second nature, if anything. You feel extra safe with the person you're acting beside. I love working with him. He's so talented, and so passionate about what he does.

"He always gives things one thousand percent, even if he's absolutely worn down. I really appreciate that about him."