Camila Mendes and Rudy Mancuso Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions

I'm Camila Mendes. And, I'm Rudy Mancuso.

And, this is the Wired Auto Complete Interview.

[joyful upbeat electronic music]

Three each? Wow.

Okay, here we go.

Camila Mendes [cardboard tears] Upgraded.

Upgraded!

It's a romcom I did, set in London.

It's really sweet, you should watch it.

It's very good. I dunno what else to say.

Very good. It's like Devil Wears Prada,

but in the art world. In the art world.

Camila Mendes.

[Both] - Personality!

I do have a personality.

Gimme three personality traits.

Like I, that's gonna sound so vain when I say it.

Okay, so vain. [Camila laugh]

I'll start. Start over.

I'll start. Okay. Yeah.

You describe my personality.

Definitely confident. Okay.

Yeah. Regimented.

Ooh. Loyal.

Oh my God, that's so cute.

Calm down. I say, like, bubbly,

'cause that's, kind of, like Bubbly?

You don't think I'm bubbly?

I don't know what bubbly means.

I just think of, like, soda. Like.

Energetic!

People tell me I have a bubbly personality.

Yes. Like, I'm.

Like, you're positive, you're straightforward,

you're ambitious, you're. Yeah.

Is Camilla Mendes related to Sean Mendes?

I should have known this was coming.

No, I'm not.

Believe it or not, Mendes is a really popular last name

in the Brazilian/Portuguese community.

But, just a tip, if you see an S at the end

of Mendes, Rodrigues, Lopes, anything,

that's how you know they're either Brazilian or Portuguese.

'cause if it's a Z,

then they're a different type of Latin American.

But, also Shawn Mendes is her brother, but.

[laughs] Camila Mendes Brazil.

Very appropriate. Yes.

My family is from Brazil.

Both my parents were born and raised.

I also lived in Brazil for about a year when I was 10,

when I moved to South Florida, I started hanging out

a lot more around people who shared my culture.

And, you know, now being around somebody all the time

who's also Brazilian helps.

It's a very unique life experience.

We split between Portuguese and English.

Yeah. Especially when we're angry.

[laughs] Camilla Mendes new tattoo.

Shimmy it up. Show us. Show us.

There we go. It's a pearl.

It should be in an oyster, but I was like,

oysters aren't that cute.

So, I put it in a clam instead. That's what most people do.

But, anyway, it was to symbolize my role as Veronica

in Riverdale, because she always wore pearls.

That was her signature.

And, also, it's my birthstone.

So, it was a nice melding of the two, me and the character.

Where was Rudy Mancuso born? Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

And, I spent great deal of time in Newark, New Jersey,

'cause there was a tight-knit Brazilian community,

known as the Ironbound.

And, that's actually where we shot Musica.

We filmed at his real house where he grew up.

It was my mom's house in the set.

And, yeah, it was all real, all on location.

Does Rudy Mancuso direct? Do you direct?

I think so. No, you directed something?

A movie? It's a film?

Yeah. Oh, yeah, I know it.

It's [snaps fingers] Musica!

Musica! That's right.

Yeah. I mean, I guess I was professionally born

on the internet, but film was always my passion.

The goal was always compose music and direct films.

And, I just wanna add something.

I've worked with a few first time filmmakers

and I've never worked with one

that truly felt so comfortable on a set.

It came so naturally to you, and I realized,

I'm like, oh, you're not really a first time filmmaker.

You've been making your own content for a decade.

And, there's something about having a decade

of directing your own stuff on the internet.

That experience really lends itself to filmmaking.

I think you should just answer these to be honest.

People underestimate content creators,

I'm just gonna say it.

Rudy Mancuso, Circle of Love.

Speaking of content creation,

this is a very popular video that I made,

I published on YouTube,

shot it very cheaply while I was working with Shot Studios.

And, actually, there's a montage in Musica,

that is directly inspired by Circle of Love.

Right. I remember now.

You create this kind of masking effect

where the subjects in the middle,

and the backgrounds change so rapidly.

I learned how to do that through Circle of Love,

with no experience and no money.

And, it's funny that six years later, with a lot more money

and a real studio, I'm pulling the same tricks.

Rudy Mancuso tattoo meaning, oof.

We're gonna be here all day.

We'll make it quick.

That one is half Italian, half Brazilian, born here.

That's a sound wave,

my niece Bianca saying, I love you, to Rudy,

this is a star made of eighth notes,

guy sitting at piano in one line.

Oi, which she also has, same tattoo,

which means Hi, in Portuguese,

and something we say in the movie.

Piano, 10, 80, 10, it's like a work philosophy,

[Both] Charlie Chaplin. Fernet-Branca,

Yeah. His favorite.

Digestif alcohol, originated from Milan, I like very much.

Four Birds representing mom, dad, my older sister and I.

And, that's the outline of Cristo Redentor

from Rio De Janeiro, the mountain.

Oh, a Musica. Musica E.

Musica E, Which means music is,

And, then you have like a little musical note.

I have a musical note over here,

but I'll spare you the The nudity.

Awesome.

My turn!

Ready Cami? It's all about you again.

Ready. Camila Mendes [cardboard peels]

Do Revenge outfits.

Ooh. I'm glad you brought it up.

Oh God, here we go.

[laughs] Yeah, I had a lot of great outfits

in Do Revenge.

They're stunning.

We had a wonderful, wonderful team of people.

It's, like, such a specific vibe and character.

And, I mean, what I personally love the most

about that style journey is that, you know,

at the beginning,

she obviously has a very fun sense of style, very colorful,

very unique.

But, towards the end,

it kind of gets more and more ridiculous and absurd.

And, she's wearing like a giant flower on her shorts.

And, it's just the more she loses her mind,

the the crazier her outfits get. [giggles]

Camila Mendes Jenna Ortega, sneaky.

Sneaky, sneaky.

oh, I can't speak on this too much, but a big fan of hers.

We're in talks.

[both giggle]

Maybe you are the one who Googled it.

You're trying to find out what's going on yourself.

Camila Mendes [cardboard tears] Lily Reinhardt,

and Madelaine Petsch.

My Riverdale Co-Stars.

Love those girls very much.

We have a joint TikTok together.

It's called Blonde Brunette Redhead.

Used it to make silly little TikToks,

while we were filming Riverdale.

Now, we're kind of like, what do we do with it?

But, we're gonna keep it alive,

and just post whenever we hang out together.

Camila Mendes [cardboard tears] workout.

Yes, I do. [laughs]

Thanks for noticing.

What is The Camilla Mendes Workout?

Well, I have an amazing trainer, LA Tom Augustine,

who's in New York for the year,

so I'm gonna have to figure something out.

But, yeah, I just work out with her a few times a week,

do a little circuit training.

I join sometimes.

It's like a big hangout session, yeah.

Rudy comes with me.

The first hour is us just talking and hanging out.

Basically, talking for an hour,

and working out for five minutes.

Yeah, exactly. But, it works!

But, it's great.

Toss it. [sign clatters]

Right. Where did Rudy Mancuso start his career

Location wise, I started it where I grew up,

which is New Jersey, making videos.

Is that what they're asking though?

Not, where location wise, where?

Yeah. Oh, the internet.

Where specifically on the internet?

Vine. This is pre-Instagram videos, pre-TikTok.

I was making looping music videos, and little sketches,

and claymation and stuff.

No one anticipated the explosion that the Vine community had

on media and culture.

Why did Rudy Mancuso [cardboard tears] stop making videos?

It's an interesting question.

To put a lot of time, focus, and energy into filmmaking.

Hence the reason, Musica, that I directed, got made.

How did Rudy Mancuso [cardboard tears] meet Camila Mendes?

Ooh. It's a pretty short story.

Is it short? Not as short as us.

[Camila laughs jokingly]

We met through this film, through this project.

It's loosely based on my life, and the, naturally,

the co-lead called for a very specific background,

Brazilian American, and very specific talent,

and she checked every box,

she was literally perfect for the role.

All I needed was her interest.

She was interested, and we met on.

On the internet, where it all started.

[giggles] Sounds like a dating app. Yeah.

Does Rudy Mancuso play instruments?

Yeah. A few.

Piano is the foundational instrument.

You play guitar, Little guitar, little bass,

Little violin maybe? No?

Sounds like we're getting crazy now.

[giggles] All right. Time to talk about me.

Camila Mendes.

Does Camila Mendes really sing in Riverdale?

Yes, I do. I do really sing.

I sing a lot on the show. Great singer.

I'm fine. I'm not that good.

Very good.

But, they had me singing like almost every episode,

for no reason, sometimes.

Give us a little something. Nope.

[both giggle]

When did Camila Mendes [cardboard tears] start acting?

I did a lot of theater as a kid, in school and stuff,

but I didn't start acting professionally,

until, like the end of my senior year of college.

I booked an Ikea commercial,

and then shortly after I booked Riverdale.

So, that was kind of like my first big job.

Who is Camilla Mendes' best friend?

I have a few. I would hate to just reduce it to one.

Rachel Matthews, of course, she's my producing partner.

Francesca Reale, who's in this movie.

She's in this movie. She's fantastic.

Who plays Hailey. Kiara Moreno, who's a childhood friend.

And, Rudy Mancuso.

Ah. Who do you know? You could have just said that.

And, saved the heartache.

[giggles] What's [cardboard tears]

new with Camila Mendes? [laughs]

What's new, Kid?

I don't know what's new with you?

I got a movie coming out, it's called Musica.

It's very, very good.

Directed by this guy,

and written by this guy,

and composed by this guy.

And, I also executive produced it.

[cardboard clatters]

It's me again.

Rudy Mancuso [cardboard tears] Awkward Puppets.

Awkward Puppets is, like, a sub-brand.

It's a different channel,

and it's quite literally a troop of puppets

that make strange jokes.

Namely Diego is, like, the Elmo of the crew.

And, this started while I was in college,

just that idea of doing like an awkward, humanized,

adult puppet show, which is a strange dream to have,

but still exists today.

You like puppets, right? I love puppets.

Rudy Mancuso [cardboard tears] and Camilla Mendes movie.

Very appropriate.

We we're almost gonna title the movie that, but,

Amazon didn't approve, for some reason.

They passed, they passed.

Why is it called Musica?

Films is from the perspective

of somebody with synesthesia, played by me, based on me,

who sees the world, and organizes sounds in their world,

musically.

The film also deals heavily with Brazilian culture,

and the Portuguese language.

For that reason, we chose to title the film.

In Portuguese In Portuguese.

The Brazilian word for music, obviously.

Rudy Mancuso [cardboard tears] Albert Desmond.

Who's Albert Desmond?

Albert Desmond is the character

that I played in The Flash.

Oh, right, duh.

I knew that. Yeah.

That was fun. I love you in that role.

You do? Yeah. It's really funny.

You play a good nerd.

It's kind of like a version of myself.

Yeah.

I just play myself in everything.

I'm not a very good actor.

[laughs] Yes, you are.

Rudy Mancuso, Justin Bieber.

There's a long history there.

One of my first close friends when I moved to Los Angeles,

friend and collaborator,

and he also gave me the opportunity to open for him

during his Purpose World Tour,

which was a life experience that I'll never forget.

Shout out to JB.

Would've loved to see that. Well, you met him recently.

I didn't know you then. I did meet him recently.

You met him and Hailey at the white party, right?

Mhm.

Who's Brazilian? Who is half Brazilian.

Done!

Well. Well that's all, folks.

That's all. [both laugh]

That's all we got.

Those are all our. Our responses

to your Google searches. Yeah. Keep Googling us.

[musical note]