Born of Brazilian parents, Camila Mendes grew up in Atlanta but spent most of her life in Florida. With a keen interest in the art world, Mendes attended a Fine Arts program and graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Starting with an IKEA commercial, the actress managed to land the coveted role of Veronica Lodge in The CW’s. Riverdale right after that, which would help her make a name for herself around the world.
Despite her growing success, Mendes has faced both racism and sexism in Hollywood. More importantly, she still manages to stay grounded and humble. She recently starred in the Netflix hit take revengealongside Maya Hawke, who appears to be cementing her position in the acting world. That said, let’s take a look at Camila Mendes’ six best performances, ranked.
6/6 The New Romantic (2018)
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Written and directed by Carly Stone, The New Romantic is a Canadian romantic comedy-drama starring Jessica Barden. It centers on a journalism student who gains attention after writing a column about her experience as a sugarbaby. Mendes also plays a fellow sugar baby who is interviewed for the newspaper column and eventually befriends the protagonist. Although the film received a limited release, it received positive reviews and praise for its acting performance. It discusses the difference between being a sugar baby and sex work, and how sexual intimacy plays into it.
5/6 The Perfect Date (2019)
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Based on the novel the stand-in by Steve Bloom, The perfect date is a romantic teen comedy on Netflix. Directed by Chris Nelson and starring Noah Centineo as Brooks, it tells the story of a high school student, who needs money for his dream college, decides to sell himself as a “plus-one” boyfriend to anyone. the. Though he occasionally plays a fake boyfriend, he has his eyes set on the snobbish Shelby (Mendes), who, after learning about his job, completely loses interest in him. The film attracted a lot of public attention as it was viewed by 48 million households in its first four weeks of release. Despite being labeled a typical rom-com, it sets it apart from others in the same category by the endearing protagonists who keep the story going.
4/6 Riverdale (2017 – present)
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Based on the characters of Archie Comics, although it started out as a teen crime series, Riverdale has turned into a supernatural horror series. The CW TV show is exactly what helped Mendes make a name for himself in the acting world, with her lead performance of former it girl Veronica Lodge. The last (sixth) season, per Collider, is a far cry from the first season which revolved around a teen who was mysteriously murdered, which got other teens involved in the case. While the show was a bit of a joke on social media, with all the unexpected and out of context events happening in it, Veronica has remained the audience’s favorite character to this day. She is sassy, seductive and her own person. We’ll see what the final seventh season has in store for her.
3/6 Coyote Lake (2019)
Directed and written by Sara Seligman, Coyote Lake is a psychological thriller starring Mendes, Charlie Weber and Adriana Barraza. The plot centers on a woman named Teresa and her daughter Ester, who live outside society, running a bed-and-breakfast boarding house where they stun and murder the visitors. However, when two drug dealers come to stay at the property, Ester sees a way to finally escape her overbearing mother. It’s a movie that really allowed Mendes to showcase her acting skills. It has clean cinematography, great acting even outside of Mendes, and the plot continues to intrigue until the very end. Ester’s character is completely on the other end of the spectrum compared to Veronica in Riverdaleand it provides a space for Mendes to showcase the complexity of her skills as an actor.
2/6 Take revenge (2022)
We should mention Mendes’ most recent project that didn’t hit Netflix until September: take revenge. The film, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, is a black teen comedy starring Mendes and Maya Hawke in the lead roles as Drea and Eleanor. After being ostracized by their peers, they decide to join forces and go after everyone who has ever wronged them. What some of you may not know is that the concept was loosely inspired by Hitchcock’s Strangers on a train. It focuses on the bad side of women, those who decide to take matters into their own hands and freely express their feminine anger. Despite all praisethe film received some disgruntled reactions from the audience for completely ignoring the actresses’ chemistry and not making their relationship romantic.
1/6 Palm Springs (2020)
Directed by Max Barbakow, Palm Springs is a romantic science fiction comedy starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti and JK Simmons. It’s about strangers who happen to meet at a wedding in Palm Springs, but get stuck in a time loop. Mendes plays the bride of the wedding and a half sister of the main character Sarah (Milioti). The film was highly praised for the performances of the cast, as well as for a great execution of the concept. It focuses heavily on nihilism and the difficulty of finding purpose when your life repeats itself over and over. It will definitely make you cry, but in a good way.