The 19-year-old actress who plays Karen Shetty in the musical movie version of the Lindsay Lohan-fronted classic romcom wants to prove that she can 'truly' play different characters.
- Jan 30, 2024
AceShowbiz - Avantika Vandanapu wants her "Mean Girls" role to help to "break stereotypes." The 19-year-old actress stars as Karen Shetty in the new "Mean Girls" musical movie, and Avantika hopes that her role as an on-screen "bimbo" will prove to be "impactful" for South Asian women.
"Karen feels like somebody who embraces being a bimbo and embraces being someone who's sexual. I think playing that kind of character, especially as a South Asian woman is really, really crazy," Avantika - who stars in the new film alongside Renee Rapp and Angourie Rice - told the BBC Asian Network.
The actress is keen to prove that she's not someone "who can only play the shy nerd." She said, "It's validated this feeling that I can truly play different characters and embody different people."
Avantika has previously worked in the India film industry, and she's actually found Hollywood to be a less intense environment. She shared, "The film industries [in India] are a different beast. It was much, much more difficult, like we just work more hours there and it's a little bit more of a hustle."
Despite this, Avantika acknowledged that both industries have "their pluses and minuses." The movie star added, "The joy of doing Indian musical numbers and working with people who speak the same language as you, and working with people who look like you in a country where everyone's brown, there's no stereotype to fall back into. I think that's incredibly liberating."
Meanwhile, Avantika recently revealed that she has a "people-pleasing" mentality. The actress explained that in spite of her success, she still struggles with self-doubt.
She told Vogue India, "I take pride in being hyper-conscious but I'm also aware that it stems from my own self-doubt. Sometimes, I'm so worried about what everyone thinks of me that I lean into a people-pleasing mentality."
