Camila Mendes has been open about her eating disorder before, but, in a new interview during a panel at PopSugar's Play/Ground, she revealed that costume fittings for her show Riverdale were the catalyst that led her to seek treatment.
According to Mendes, it wasn't until she started working as an actress that she realized she was struggling."I don't even think I knew I had an eating disorder until I was in the industry," she said, noting that she only realized she had one when she started working with a nonprofit organization called Project Heal, which helps people recovering from eating disorders."I was like, Oh my gosh, I've been in denial about my issues," she said.
She said that Riverdale fittings were particularly"overwhelming" for her, because her character Veronica Lodge wears clothes that she normally wouldn't, and prompted her to seek help."I started to see a therapist and started getting serious about recovery when I couldn't get through a fitting," she revealed."It was, like, so the opposite of what I like to wear, and it was really uncomfortable.
Mendes pointed out that her sister struggles with bulimia, and her experience, led her to play down her own eating disorder prior to seeking help.