Camila Mendes says Riverdale's 'pressure cooker environment' left her needing anxiety medication

Riverdale has been a crucial part of a whole generation while growing up. The twists and turns that a group of students faces while navigating through emotional difficulties along with complicated mysteries made this series worth watching. Many of the cast members of the series are now established in the world of entertainment with multiple projects under their belt.

Camile Mendes, who took on the role of Veronica Lodge in Riverdale, has been a significant part of the storyline, and the series has also shaped her acting career, especially for the projects that she takes on in recent years.

In a recent interview with Jay Shetty during On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Camila Mendes reveals that though she “did love” her experience during the filming of the show, she also faced a “pressure cooker environment” which caused her to take anxiety medication.

Camila Mendes says Riverdale's 'pressure cooker environment' left her needing anxiety medication

Filming Riverdale for seven seasons has not been an easy task for Camila Mendes. It affected her physical and mental health. While sharing her experience about the series in On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Camila Mendes reveals that she would often feel a “pressure cooker environment” during the filming of the series. This situation was initially caused by the eating disorder that she had developed during that time.

Mendes’ character, Veronica, often wore outfits that included “tight dresses”, “miniskirts,” and also involved her showing her stomach and “midriff”. Hence, there was no control over what she was wearing. So even during the days when she “Felt bloated” or did not “feel good” about herself, she had to wear something that made her “feel worse” and also “super insecure”.

These eventually led to her having “panic attacks” before the filming of the scenes, as her “perfectionism” came up during these times, causing her to break down in tears. Crying before the filming of a scene would lead to her makeup getting ruined, and she had to spend an additional “30 minutes in the makeup chair”. Camila Mendes also adds that these situations would cause “everyone on set” of the series to wait, leading to a “pressure cooker environment” as there “is no time to deal” with these things.

The chance of taking time off would further create complications due to the production cost being “thousands of dollars”. With these rising difficulties during Riverdale filming days, Camila Mendes eventually resorted to getting prescribed medication to help with her anxiety. She took "lorazepam", which would “numb” her so that she would not have to go through the emotional breakdowns. Through her words, it can be understood how difficult the whole situation had been for her.

It cannot be denied that Camila Mendes has done an impeccable job in bringing life to Veronica’s character. The struggles that she went through during the filming could not be understood from Veronica’s presence in the series, depicting Mendes’ remarkable professionalism.

Camila Mendes also adds that when she looks back at these difficult moments that she faced during the filming of Riverdale, she understands that it was “just being young” and the aspect of not “having control” over the strict schedule that she had to follow, which she also points out as a “hard” one.

Besides Riverdale, Mendes has done multiple projects through the years, such as Upgraded, Do Revenge, Fairfax, Dangerous Lies, The Perfect Date, Idiotka, etc.

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