'Riverdale' Star Camila Mendes Fires Back at Latina Stereotypes; Calls Veronica 'The Perfect Balance'

'Riverdale' Star Camila Mendes Fires Back at Latina Stereotypes; Calls Veronica 'The Perfect Balance'

We all have one more day until we see Camila Mendes light up the small screen on Riverdale as Veronica Lodge.

Speaking with Coveteur, Camila opened up about her character and how she’s leaving all other Latina stereotypical roles behind.

“It was frustrating because all of the roles I went out for I never really felt like I was right for,” she shares. “Especially being Latina, people want to make use of that.”

“So I would go out for shows like Blue Bloods and Shades of Blue, and all of these crime dramas where they are looking for these foster child Latinas, like ‘underprivileged and urban,’ as they would say.”

Camila continues, “I never really fit that stereotype, and I didn’t want to play a stereotype. I kept getting the note that I’m not ‘urban enough.’ So it’s like, okay, I’m not urban enough and I’m not white enough, what am I? Why are there no roles out there that fit me!”

Thankfully, Riverdale came along.

“Veronica came in and it was the perfect balance,” she says. “She was Latina! They wanted her to be ethnic, but that wasn’t the point of her character. She wasn’t a stereotype. She was just an American Latina. And that is how I identify, I don’t need to play up anything.”

Camila adds, “I am this character. Everything just kinda fell into place with her. So finally I get the call from my agent on February 26th. She was like, ‘You got the role!’ I was just immediately relieved; in the end they didn’t even end up sending anyone else’s tapes. They never found another girl to compete against me, and they didn’t send any other tapes.”

Riverdale premieres TOMORROW, January 26th on The CW.

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Photos: The CW
Posted to: Camila Mendes, Riverdale