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Avantika Vandanapu says “semi-liberal” parenting allowed her to pursue her dreams
The Indian American teenager starred in the popular remake of 2004 film, ‘Mean Girls’
The 19 year old actress will star in Hindi language film, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ / thisisavantika.com
Born in an Indian Telugu speaking family, Avantika Vandanapu captured the screen with her latest performance in the 2024 film, ‘Mean Girls’.
Playing Amanda Seyfried’s Karen, Vandanapu opened up to Vogue Singapore’s edition about her role as Karen and her performance in the song ‘Sexy.’
While the song garnered critical acclaim, the 19-year-old said her parents were on the fence but eventually came around. She recalled, “We had many conversations and I explained to them that if I were to reprise a character that had been done so well before, I needed to commit to it fully and not cut any corners.”
“And they understood that telling your kid to be ambitious, but only within certain bounds, is not a realistic expectation to have,” she told the publication.
Vandanapu’s parents had emigrated to the United States, where she was born in Union City, California, in 2005. Contrary to most South Asian parents, she credited her parents’ “semi-liberal” upbringing for getting an early start in the industry and giving her the freedom to do what she loved.
When she entered the industry at the age of 10, she recalled how her mother decided to move back to India to give her a head start. Moreover, they were very supportive in helping the young actress find the right balance between academics and acting.
Vandanapu shared that her driving force was her mother’s parenting philosophy, “You can do anything you want in the world as long as you commit to it fully and are the best at it.”
Though the Indian American began acting in Indian films early, she moved back to the States to star in her first Hollywood role in Disney Channel’s ‘Spin’.
Till date, she has starred in several American dramas like ‘Moxie’, ‘Senior Year’ and the upcoming novel-based film, ‘Tarot’. In addition she has starred in Telugu-language films like ‘Brahmotsavam’, ‘Manamantha’, ‘Premam’ among others.
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