Riverdale is the talk of the TV world, with the drama series already in production on its second season.

It took a lot of work from the cast and crew for the show to achieve its stunning success, even before they rolled camera.

Of course, before any show starts, there’s an audition and casting process. Camila Mendes (Veronica) chatted with Coveteur about why she was drawn to the role, and about the long and tiring audition process to get it.

Mendes explained that she barely snagged an audition, getting the last spot on the last day and only finding out about it the night before. She was told she had a callback, but then the process went on a long break.

After the break, Camila was constantly traveling between New York and LA, doing studio tests and network tests. Despite making it far in the audition process, she was filled with doubt. She explained,

“Before the pilot was green-lit, it was just me and one other girl. I was like, ‘Wow! I’m really close.’ They sent me back and brought us all back to do another studio test and this time there are, like, five Veronicas. I was starting to really have doubts. Clearly, they were having doubts. The thing about Veronica and all of these characters is that everyone grew up with these characters and they have such a strong attachment and a personal connection, and an idea of who they should be.”

And that kind of stress and pressure takes a toll on you. Mendes also added,

“I was losing sleep, I would wake up in the night crying! I was feeling so anxious because it felt like I was on the verge of something. I was so, so close! Either my life was going to change and could transform into something I’ve always dreamed of, or it would just go about the way it was as if nothing ever happened. That was a really scary thought, that I could get so close to something that honestly felt so right.”

Luckily after the whole long process, Camila’s agent called her to tell her she had landed the role. And thank goodness! Camila explains that she felt a particularly strong connection with Veronica, even before they started filming. After feeling sick of seeing stereotypical Latina roles, she was relieved to see Veronica’s character. She explained,

“Veronica came in and it was the perfect balance. She was Latina! They wanted her to be ethnic, but that wasn’t the point of her character. She wasn’t a stereotype. She was just an American Latina. And that is how I identify, I don’t need to play up anything. I am this character. Everything just kinda fell into place with her.”

Riverdale airs on The CW.

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