Camila Mendes has spoken candidly about her struggle with perfectionism and the toll it has taken on her personal life as well as her work.
The actor, who starred as Teela in Masters of the Universe, discussed the subject during an appearance on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, which was released on July 27, 2026.
In the conversation, Mendes reflected on her time starring in Riverdale, which wrapped in 2023, and shared that she dealt with both an eating disorder and panic attacks during that period.
The 32-year-old explained that her eating disorder began in high school, but intensified while she was filming the popular series alongside stars including Cole Sprouse, KJ Apa, and Lili Reinhart.
“That’s when I really started to come face to face with it,” she told Shetty. “And I felt a lack of control because I’m wearing a costume for a character that dresses differently than I would want to dress in my daily life.”
Mendes, who played Veronica Lodge on the show, said the character’s wardrobe often made those feelings even harder to manage.
“She’s wearing tight dresses and mini skirts and heels and showing my stomach, my little midriff or whatever. And if I felt bloated or if I didn’t feel good about myself that day, I had to wear something that made me feel worse and made me feel super insecure. And that perfectionism pattern showed up a lot through my relationship with my body.”
She said those insecurities could set off panic attacks, especially when she felt unable to reconcile how she looked with the fact she still needed to step in front of the camera.
According to Mendes, one of the biggest difficulties was not having enough time or room to process those emotions while working.
“I’m somebody who doesn’t experience a panic attack coming because I only have the panic attack if I feel for whatever reason that I’m not allowed to feel the emotion that I’m feeling freely.
“So, if I’m feeling like I want to cry and I know that I can’t, that will cause my panic attack.”
She added that if she had been given a short break to experience those feelings fully, it would have helped her recover much faster.
“If I was told, ‘You have an hour’. I’d be like, ‘Great. I’m going to cry for a bit. Let it out. I’ll be good to go in an hour,'” Mendes said, “but you don’t have that.”
“I have no issue just crying it out for a bit, letting it out because sometimes that’s all it is. You just need to release the energy,” she added.
Even so, Mendes made clear that those moments did not define her entire experience on the long-running series, which lasted seven seasons.
“Not every day was like that,” she insisted. “I did love my experience on the show, don’t get me wrong. I look back on that time very fondly.
“It was just being young and not having control over your schedule in your life. That was really hard.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone, contact National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). You can reach them on their free hotline at 1(888)-375-7767, which is open Monday-Friday, 9am-9pm CST.