‘Do Revenge’ Director ‘Started Crying’ When She Saw Camila Mendes’ Audition
Fans of the hit 2019 movie Something Great have something new to look forward to in September when Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s new movie premieres on Netflix in the middle of the month. Starring Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke, Do Revenge features an all-star cast. And Robinson didn’t even finish watching Mendes’ screen test before casting her. She started crying five seconds in, knowing she had her lead.
Camila Mendes is best known for ‘Riverdale’
Mendes’ career started in earnest in 2017 when the actor landed the role of Veronica on the CW show Riverdale. Now in its penultimate sixth season, fans have seen her character and the actor grow up before their eyes.
Since then, she has had starring roles in the Netflix romance The Perfect Date opposite Noah Centineo and Laura Marano, the thriller Coyote Lake directed by Sara Seligman, and Dangerous Lies, a thriller-mystery with Nick Purcha and Joe Costa. She’s also voiced recurring characters in the animated (but not for kids) show Fairfax.
What is Camila Mendes’ role in ‘Do Revenge’?
In Do Revenge, Mendes plays Drea. The high school queen bee wants revenge on her ex-boyfriend for leaking her sex tape. A chance encounter with Eleanor (Hawke), a transfer student from another school, leads them both to plot revenge against the people who did them wrong.
In speaking to Elle, Robinson gushed over Mendes’ audition. “I will say, in Camila’s tape, I paused it at about maybe five seconds in, picked up the phone and called Peter Cron and [producer] Anthony Bregman and said, ‘We have Drea.’ It’s Camila.’ I literally didn’t even finish. I watched her say, like, four lines and I was like, ‘And that’s it.’ And I started crying.”
The up-and-coming Thor: Love and Thunder writer continued to speak highly of working with her leads. “So much of themselves [Mendes and Hawke] are in this movie and it really was such a deep collaboration between the three of us.”
How will Camila Mendes follow up ‘Do Revenge’?
Like Robinson, don’t expect Mendes to slow down any time soon. She’s scheduled to star in Música, directed by Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) and American Sole directed by Ian Edelman (How to Make It in America, The After Party).
Speaking to Elle in early 2022, Mendes says she likes to keep busy. But unlike Drea, she’s not about seeking revenge.
“You can use fame as an act of revenge,” she agreed. “Fame is great as a tool for saying, ‘Look at me now.’ And I definitely felt that way in the beginning of my career. I was like, ‘Hey, all the exes that screwed me over! All the friendships where we had a falling out! Look! Being separated from you has actually been very good for me!’ But at the end of the day, that is not real.”
Look for Do Revenge on September 16, 2022, on Netflix.
