Zendaya Shares How Raven-Symoné Inspired Her — and Reveals She Recently Watched Cheetah Girls with Her Niece

Zendaya's expressive face has spawned many a viral moment online.

According to the actress, she learned from the best, citing fellow actress Raven-Symoné in her recent sit-down with Vanity Fair.

"I will say I did grow up watching Raven-Symoné, who I think is one of the queens of facial expression," she shares, imitating the Disney starlet's That's So Raven signature catchphrase, "Ya nasty!"

"It’s in me. I grew up like this. She was so phenomenal," the Challengers actress continues. "What I appreciate about her comedy in that show is you can watch it now and it holds up. My little niece is ... is she 8 now? I had her watchThe Cheetah Girls for the first time the other day."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The actress admits her niece wasn't completely sold on it.

"To be honest, she was like, 'Why are you so into it?' I was doing the dances, the whole thing," Zendaya admits, busting into singing "I don’t want to be like Cinderella" mid-interview.

"[My niece] was like, 'Umm... Auntie. Girl. Calm down.' "

Zendaya's fandom runs deep, with her sharing, "I used to be a Cheetah Girl myself. Literally, with my three friends in school, we were the Cheetah Girls."

"We would rehearse outside because there were sliding-glass windows in the auditorium, and we would rehearse in our reflection. We tried to audition other girls. It was really serious. We did a performance for Grandparents Day. It was real."

Like Raven-Symoné, Zendaya grew up in part on the Disney Channel, starring in Shake It Up from 2010 to 2013 and later in the Disney Channel Original Movie Frenemies, in addition to other 2010s projects on the network.