Camila Mendes may be a newbie in the entertainment world, but that’s not stopping her from making a name for herself. The Brazilian beauty has gained recognition for her role as Veronica Lodge on the teen-drama, Riverdale. The show is loosely based on the infamous Archie Comics and puts an interesting spin on the characters. Much like the original character, Veronica is depicted as an attractive, silver-tongued teen that is also the object of protagonist Archie’s affections.
Mendes has fully immersed herself in the character and has been open about everything, even when it comes to her personal life. The actress isn’t afraid to be honest and candid, and the same can be said for the racy photo-shoot she recently did.
Camila Mendes is more than just Veronica Lodge
The 24-year-old star did an interview and photoshoot with Nylon where she opened up about not caring what anyone thinks of her and navigating her own path. The actress explained how she felt about revealing her body parts in the photoshoot and why she was comfortable with it. “When I’ve been in photo shoots, and there’s a little bit of my nipple showing, there’s always a whole conversation about it. Like with Nylon, everyone was just like, ‘Is this okay? Are we going to do this?’ And I was like, ‘Everyone stop talking about it. Let’s just go shoot it. This isn’t a conversation,'” Mendes expressed.
She continued, “I completely shut it down and said that this was something that we were not going to sit there and debate, because I know how I feel about it, and I’m totally fine to take a photo with my tits showing.”
When it came to taking on the role of the vivacious Veronica, Mendes said she was surprised to learn that this character would be a Latina. “From the beginning, when I looked at the character, I thought, Oh, she’s like a pin-up girl. It’s going to be Krysten Ritter, a white girl with black hair. I saw her as a white girl,” Mendes stated. Of course, once she found out she was wrong, she knew she had to try her best to get the part.
She’s willing to share her life with fans
Since playing the character, Camila Mendes has been more transparent with her fans and even with herself. “I only recently started dealing with my own eating disorder. So, as I was dealing with it, it felt like it was a good opportunity to talk about that, because I’m still in that vulnerable state too. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I am so past that phase of my life. I’m so perfect and happy now.’ I’m still struggling and I’m still dealing with all of those things. I might always still struggle,” Mendes said frankly.
It’s not easy being such a young and in-demand star, and it’s even harder to be so open and public in such a harsh environment. The actress is incredibly strong to share so much with her fans and other young women, so it’s impossible not to admire her.