Since landing her breakout role on The CW drama “Riverdale” in 2017, Camila Mendes has shot to fame as one of Hollywood's top Brazilian-American stars. However, despite building on her success with acclaimed projects like Netflix's “Do Revenge” and Hulu's “Palm Springs,” the actress says she has yet to receive a single script calling for a Brazilian role. “They ask me to play all kinds of Latinas, except Brazilians,” she says.
That's what drew her to her latest project, “Music,” a coming-of-age musical romantic comedy directed by and starring Rudy Mancuso that premiered this week at the South by Southwest Film and Television Festival. “Music” tells the story of Rudy, an aspiring artist trying to navigate his future as his overbearing mother (Maria Mancuso), his girlfriend Haley (Francesca Reale) and his new crush, Isabella (Mendes), push him into different directions. It is a charming and unorthodox musical that does not feature traditional musical numbers. Instead, relying on Rudy's synesthesia, the film comes to life in sequences where the surrounding environment (a nearby basketball game, children playing jump rope, a lively game of checkers in the park) becomes part of a symphony. .
At first, Mendes was hesitant about the project: Mancuso was a first-time director and had initially risen to fame on YouTube and Vine. But his reservations dissipated when he spoke with Mancuso and learned how passionate he was about making the film, as well as his desire to expose more audiences to the Brazilian-American experience. “Deep down, I think I always knew he was going to take the role,” he says. “How could I say no to this opportunity?”
The film's on-screen love story became a true story off-screen, with Mancuso and Mendes celebrating their one-year anniversary last July. “Music” will be available to stream on Prime Video on April 4.
“Music” is the second romantic comedy you have starred in and produced this year. Is that something you want to do more of?
The romantic comedies thing is completely coincidental. [Laughs] It's funny, because I know that “Music” is technically a romantic comedy, but to me it didn't feel like any romantic comedy I'd ever seen before, so I never categorized it that way in my head.
When you hear “musical,” I’m sure a lot of people start to imagine structured songs and dance numbers, which is very different from what we see in “Music.” What convinced you to sign up?
Rudy's team sent me the script with a sort of sizzle reel, basically a short version of the opening scene, just to give an example of the vision. In the action it would say “It breaks into a musical number with people banging pots and pans,” but you don't know what that really looks like without an example. That excited me, but also made me skeptical. I didn't know much about Rudy. I just knew he was a Viner, so he had my own preconceived notions of what that meant, and he was also in my head about my career choices at the time. But I decided to meet him because I wanted to meet a fellow Brazilian in the industry and he was obviously very talented. When I met with him, I was floored. I knew I needed to work with him, but I also knew I had to produce this. It was the only way to sign up, because he had notes on my character, Isabella.
What caught your attention that you wanted to change?
Well, I really wanted to develop not only my character, but also the other female role, Haley. I wanted to make sure they felt fully fulfilled and complete. Rudy said, “Absolutely, that's part of the reason we want you on board.” So over the course of a few months, I Zoomed with him to work on scenes and dialogue and make sure, especially for the role of Haley, that she wasn't just the rich white girl, that we weren't making their dynamic so binary. . . Then we obviously customized my role and gave it a little more story.
Why was it important for you to create that backstory?
With love stories, you really need to understand the conflict. What interests him about Isabella and what triggers Isabella in him? I wanted her to be authentic, so what ended up happening was I brought some of my own struggles to the role of her to find her as a character.
Beyond you and Isabella sharing the same Brazilian-American background, what were some of those personal elements that fused with the character?
I mean, it's far-fetched and not necessarily a reflection of what my upbringing was like, but a little bit of his backstory. I can say this now because we've talked about it and we have a great relationship, but when I was finishing high school, my mother returned to Brazil to live with a guy she was dating. My parents divorced and I went to live with my dad. During that time, I remember going through my first heartbreak when he was a child and really wishing my mother was there. I remember when I was a teenager that absence and that feeling of abandonment. I thought it was good to incorporate it into Isabella's character because you have Rudy's character, who is very upset by his mother's love and overwhelmed by how involved he is in his life. I think it's nice to have a character like Isabella who says, “Actually, I wish my mom was more involved in my life.” I just took that little thing from a long time ago and took it out of there to have an avenue into her character and her pain.
How did it impact you to finally be able to play a character that spoke to some of your experiences?
I think story-wise, the emphasis on family in Brazilian culture is something I've really come to embrace more. Especially now that I'm dating a Brazilian, it opened me up to that perspective of trying harder and staying close to my family to see them more. Obviously, being in Hollywood for so long, you can focus so much on your career and make it all about success. But the older you get, the more you realize that's not really what matters. I want to be able to look back on my life and feel like I created strong relationships with the people I love. And I think this movie has a very strong message with that.
This is the second project this year that you have worked on as actor and As a producer, what motivated you to take on that role?
I think producing for me was a way to make sure I was protected. Especially coming from a teen show, I'm very cautious who I work with and want to make sure they represent me well. That's a big fear I have, because when you're on a show, you work with a new director every episode and you have very little control over the outcome. You can watch an episode and see that they cut it a certain way and now you look like a bad actor. You feel like you are being misrepresented. So for me, my path to production was about trying to take control, have creative authority, and protect myself. That has evolved into a deeper passion and love for the art of producing as a whole, but that's definitely how it started.
As a producer, you have a completely new interest in this story than you do as a producer. actor. What do you hope people take away from the experience of watching “Music”?
From a personal standpoint, I'm really excited for people to see what Rudy is capable of. I know there's a big stigma around being an internet personality and having your talent undermined. So I'm really excited for people to see how creative and visionary he is.
But I'm also excited for people to get a glimpse of Brazilian culture, because there really aren't any movies that represent Brazilian culture right now. And there's something even more nuanced about “Music” in that it's Brazilian-American, which I think is accessible to a lot of children of immigrants. You don't have to be Brazilian to identify with the story. Anyone who feels the duality of being an immigrant child, having an inherited culture but living a completely different one, knows that the clash of ideologies can be very difficult to handle. Watching Rudy navigate those dualities was refreshing because I'm navigating the same thing. It's been great to have someone who understands my experience, so I hope there are people watching this film who also relate and feel seen.
Was part of your motivation for going into production the desire to expand Brazilian representation in the industry?
Oh, absolutely. I just don't think there are enough people behind the camera creating that platform, so I feel very lucky to be able to be a part of the beginning. I kept telling Rudy that Brazilians need to have their “crazy rich Asians” moment, where resilience can finally be felt.
How do you hope “Music” will play a role in expanding people's knowledge of Brazilian culture and the Brazilian-American experience?
On a very, very microscopic level, I think it would be great if it helped people learn that Brazilians speak Portuguese. [Laughs] It would be a great victory for us. But also, Brazilian culture is very beautiful and is never shown in a romantic way. I think that many people's exposure to Brazil in cinema is like “City of God” type violence. That is part of Brazilian history, but it is only one aspect. There's another side that's not really celebrated in film. I'm excited that people will hopefully recognize that.
