Camila Mendes

2.1. Birth and upbringing

Camila Carraro Mendes was born on June 29, 1994, in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Brazilian parents. Her father, Victor Mendes, works as a business executive, and her mother, Gisele Carraro, is a flight attendant. She has an older sister. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, then returned to Virginia, and later relocated to Orlando, Florida. Her mother hails from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, while her father is from Brasília, Federal District, Brazil. Due to her father's job and later her parents' divorce, Mendes moved 16 times during her upbringing, though she primarily resided in Florida. At the age of 10, she lived in Brazil for a year.

2.2. Education

Mendes attended the Fine Arts program at the American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida, graduating in 2012. In May 2016, she graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. While at NYU, her classmates included actress Rachel Matthews and musician Maggie Rogers.

3.1. Early career

Mendes's first acting job was a commercial for IKEA. In 2016, she was cast in her breakthrough role as Veronica Lodge in The CW's teen drama series Riverdale, a subversive adaptation of the Archie Comics. For her performance, she received the Teen Choice Award for Choice Scene Stealer in 2017. Initially represented by the Carson Kolker Organization, Mendes later signed with CAA.

3.2. Television

Mendes's most prominent television role was as Veronica Lodge in Riverdale, where she was a main cast member from 2017 to 2023. In this series, she also portrayed younger versions of characters, specifically a young Hermione Gomez for two episodes in seasons 3 and 5, and Velma in the season 6 episode "Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Witching Hour(s)".

Beyond Riverdale, Mendes has lent her voice to animated series, including Grace in the "Fallin' Rain" episode of Day by Day and Tessa Rose in The Simpsons episode "The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds", both in 2020. She also appeared as herself in the 2020 television special Dear Class of 2020 and the web series Celebrity Substitute. From 2021 to 2022, she had a recurring voice role as Melody in the animated series Fairfax.

3.3. Film

Mendes made her feature film debut as Morgan in The New Romantic, which premiered at the SXSW Festival in March 2018. The same month, she joined the cast of the romantic comedy The Perfect Date, released on Netflix on April 12, 2019, where she played Shelby Pace. In 2019, she took on a lead role as Ester in the film Coyote Lake.

In 2020, Mendes appeared in the critically acclaimed science fiction comedy Palm Springs, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on Hulu that July. She subsequently headlined the Netflix thriller film Dangerous Lies, released in the same year, where she played Katie Franklin.

In 2022, Mendes co-starred opposite Maya Hawke in the teen black comedy Do Revenge for Netflix, earning critical acclaim for her performance as Drea Torres. Adrian Horton of The Guardian praised her, noting that her six years on Riverdale had refined her ability to portray a "popular bitch with secret vulnerability to a fine, relishable point."

February 2024 saw Mendes starring as Ana Santos, an ambitious art world intern, in the Amazon Prime romantic comedy film Upgraded. The film, which also featured Archie Renaux, Lena Olin, and Marisa Tomei, received positive reviews. Courtney Howard of Variety described it as a "clever and charming romantic comedy," highlighting the "lovely on-screen duo" formed by Mendes and Renaux. That same year, she starred in another Amazon romantic comedy, Música, which premiered at the SXSW Festival. Rafael Motamyer of IndieWire lauded the film for its "subversion of the musical comedy" and its charming nature, also praising the chemistry between the two leads. Mendes also served as an executive producer for both Upgraded and Música.

Mendes expanded her involvement in film as a producer for Griffin in Summer (2024) and the upcoming film Idiotka (2025), for which she also has an undisclosed role. In August 2024, it was announced that she was cast as Teela in the upcoming 2026 live-action reboot of Masters of the Universe, co-starring with Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man. The film is currently in production.

3.4. Other ventures

In June 2024, Camila Mendes co-founded a production company named Honor Role with her friend and fellow actress Rachel Matthews.

4.1. Heritage and identity

Mendes is Brazilian American and identifies as Latin American. She is fluent in Portuguese. She has spoken about experiencing discrimination in Hollywood, stating that during auditions for characters of Latin American background, she was sometimes told, "You don't look Latina enough." Mendes has expressed her appreciation for her dual cultural background, stating in an interview with People Magazine: "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."

4.2. Personal experiences

During her freshman year at New York University, Mendes was drugged and sexually assaulted. This traumatic experience inspired her to get a tattoo that reads "to build a home" in cursive lettering above her rib. This tattoo symbolizes her commitment to establishing stability and safety for herself.

4.3. Relationships

Mendes dated photographer and director Ian Wallace from 2013 to 2017. By October 2018, Mendes began a relationship with her Riverdale co-star Charles Melton; they broke up in December 2019, though they briefly reconnected in June 2021. In 2023, she revealed she was dating actor and internet personality Rudy Mancuso, whom she met while working on the film Música.

5.1. Television

5.2. Music videos