# Camila Mendes

Camila Carraro Mendes (/kəˈmiːlə ˈmɛndɛz/; Portuguese:; born June 29, 1994) is an American actress. She made her acting debut portraying Veronica Lodge on The CW teen drama series Riverdale (2017–2023), for which she won a Teen Choice Award in 2017. Mendes transitioned her career to film, taking on supporting roles in The New Romantic (2018), The Perfect Date (2019), and Palm Springs (2020). She has since played leading roles in the black comedy film Do Revenge (2022), and the romantic comedies Upgraded (2024) and Música (2024), also serving as an executive producer for the latter two.

## Early life

Mendes was born on June 29, 1994, in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Brazilian parents. Her father, Victor Mendes, is a business executive and her mother, Gisele Carraro, is a flight attendant. She has an older sister. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, then back to Virginia, and then to Orlando, Florida. Due to her father's job and later her parents' divorce, Mendes moved 16 times growing up, but lived mainly in Florida. At the age of 10, she lived in Brazil for a year. Mendes attended the Fine Arts program at the American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida, graduating in 2012. In May 2016, Mendes graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

## Career

Mendes' first acting job was a commercial for IKEA. In 2016, Mendes was cast as "silver-tongued high school sophomore" Veronica Lodge in The CW's teen drama series Riverdale (2017–2023), a subversive take on the Archie Comics. For her performance she won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Scene Stealer in 2017. Mendes was represented by the Carson Kolker Organization, later changing to CAA.
Mendes made her feature film debut as Morgan in The New Romantic, which premiered at the SXSW Festival in March 2018. In the same month, Mendes joined the cast of the romantic comedy The Perfect Date. The film was released on Netflix on April 12, 2019. In 2019, the film Coyote Lake premiered, in which Mendes is the lead. In 2020 she appeared in the critically acclaimed sci-fi/comedy Palm Springs, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released that July on Hulu. She subsequently headlined the Netflix thriller film Dangerous Lies, released that same year.
In 2022, she co-starred opposite Maya Hawke in the teen black comedy Do Revenge for Netflix earning critical acclaim. Mendes played Drea, a popular student at an elite high school trying to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend. Adrian Horton of The Guardian praised her performance writing, "In particular, Mendes’s six years on Riverdale have refined her performance of a popular bitch with secret vulnerability to a fine, relishable point." In February 2024, Mendes starred as Ana Santos, an ambitious art world intern in the Amazon Prime romantic comedy film, Upgraded. The film also starred Archie Renaux, Lena Olin, and Marisa Tomei. The film earned positive reviews with Courtney Howard of Variety describing this film as a "clever and charming romantic comedy" adding "Mendes and Renaux make for a lovely on-screen duo, teasing out lighthearted tenderness within the witty banter." That same year she starred in another Amazon romantic comedy, Mùsica (2024) which premiered at the SXSW Festival. Rafael Motamyer of IndieWire praised the film for its "subversion of the musical comedy", adding the film is "charming" while also praising the chemistry of the two leads.
In June 2024, Mendes co-founded production company Honor Role with Rachel Matthews.
In August 2024, it was announced that she has been cast as Teela co-starring with Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man for the upcoming live action movie reboot of Masters of the Universe.

## Personal life

When auditioning for characters of Latin American background, she has been told, "You don't look Latina enough." Mendes is Brazilian American and identifies as Latin American. She speaks Portuguese.
   "I really appreciate how these two cultures created who I am. I am a Brazilian of blood, with all the extended family of Brazilians, but I was born and raised in the United States. When I go to Brazil, I feel like an American, and in the United States, I always realize the traits that make me Brazilian."
Mendes was roofied and sexually assaulted when she was a freshman at NYU, which inspired her to get a tattoo that says "to build a home" in cursive lettering above her rib, representing her commitment to build stability and safety for herself.
Mendes dated photographer and director Ian Wallace from 2013 to 2017. Mendes had begun dating Riverdale co-star Charles Melton by October 2018; they broke up by December 2019. In 2023, she revealed that she was dating actor and internet personality Rudy Mancuso who she met while working on Música.

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | The New Romantic | Morgan Cruise | |
| 2019 | The Perfect Date | Shelby Pace | |
| 2019 | Coyote Lake | Ester | |
| 2020 | Palm Springs | Tala Ann Wilder | |
| 2020 | Dangerous Lies | Katie Franklin | |
| 2022 | Do Revenge | Drea Torres | |
| 2024 | Upgraded | Ana Santos | Also executive producer |
| 2024 | Música | Isabella | Also executive producer |
| 2024 | Griffin in Summer | — | Producer |
| 2025 | Idiotka | Nicol Garcia | Also producer |
| 2026 | Masters of the Universe | Teela | Filming |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2017–2023 | Riverdale | Veronica Lodge | Main role |
| 2020 | Day by Day | Grace | Voice; episode: "Fallin' Rain" |
| 2020 | The Simpsons | Tessa Rose | Voice; episode: "The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds" |
| 2020 | Dear Class of 2020 | Herself | Television special |
| 2020 | Celebrity Substitute | Herself | Web series |
| 2021–2022 | Fairfax | Melody | Voice; recurring role |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
| 2018 | "Give a Little" | Maggie Rogers | Dancer | |
| 2018 | "Side Effects" | The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren | Riley | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Scene Stealer | Riverdale | Won |
| 2018 | MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Kiss (with KJ Apa) | Riverdale | Nominated |
| 2018 | People's Choice Awards | Female TV Star of 2018 | Riverdale | Nominated |
| 2018 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress Drama | Riverdale | Nominated |
| 2018 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Ship (with KJ Apa) | Riverdale | Nominated |
| 2019 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress Drama | Riverdale | Nominated |