Avantika Speaks About Representation in Hollywood in New Interview
Avantika Vandanapu, known for her role as Karen in the recent reprise of Mean Girls, tells Cosmopolitan about her struggles as a South Asian actress in Hollywood.
After portraying the iconic Mean Girls character, Avantika is considered one of the newest up-and-coming actors in Hollywood. According to Cosmopolitan, the young star has taken a leave of absence from college to pursue her acting career.
The actress has many projects in the works for fans to anticipate, this includes her Indian television series, Big Girls Don’t Cry, and the newest horror film, Tarot. Additionally, Vandanapu will star in an adaption of A Crown of Wishes for Disney+. The film will be based on Roshani Chokski’s young adult fantasy novel.
Avantika mentioned Simone Ashley when talking about South Indian women in Hollywood and representation for Cosmopolitan pic.twitter.com/MhdJA5wopK
— best of simone ashley (@simonearchives) May 8, 2024
Moreover, in her interview with Cosmopolitan, the star addressed the negative comments she received on her role as Karen in Mean Girls (2024). Avantika stated, “The racist hate didn’t really affect me, if I’m being honest. Anything that I can’t change about myself, I take it in stride. I don’t know what you want me to do about being a brown woman. There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Furthermore, Avantika mentioned the lack of South Asian representation in Hollywood when she was a child. Rather than being intimidated, the actress took it in stride. She stated, “I grew up in Indian classical dance and competed in India’s version of So You Think You Can Dance, a massive dance reality show that filmed in Bombay. It was my first exposure to the film industry, and I fell in love with it. At the time, South Asian representation wasn’t as prevalent in the American film industry as it is now.”
The actress continued to explain how her mom influenced her decision to pursue acting. She stated, “and so my mom was like, ‘Well, if you want to be an actor, the best place with the most opportunities are in India where there’s no trope or box you’re backed into by being brown.’” Vandanapu continued to mention how her mother found an audition call, and once she was booked, she fell in love with it.
"as i’ve grown older, i have found a lot of comfort in my faith and my culture. my bindi is symbolic of how open i am about who i am. there's no hiding anymore.” – avantika for cosmopolitan pic.twitter.com/kqu6lMrGst
— avantika archive (@avantikarchives) May 8, 2024
You can read Avantika’s full Cosmopolitan interview here. You can also stream her most recent film, Mean Girls (2024) on Paramount+.
