The 'Riverdale' star is opening up about a dark chapter in her life.
Camila Mendes is opening up about a traumatic incident from her past.
In a new interview with Women's Health, the 25-year-old actress reveals that, while in college, she was both drugged and the victim of a sex crime.
"I had a very, very bad experience," the Riverdale star says of her first year at New York University's Tisch School, while tearing up. "I was roofied by someone who sexually assaulted me."
After the incident, she decided to get a tattoo, the phrase "to build a home" across her ribs in cursive, as a reminder to build a life that makes her feel safe.
"Whenever I feel like I'm going through something difficult, I think about what I can do physically for myself," she shares.
During the cover story interview, Mendes also discussed revealing last year that she had struggled with an eating disorder in the past, bulimia.
"I've only recently gotten better," she shares, adding that a therapist and nutritionist have helped her overcome the disorder. "I needed professionals I trusted to tell me things that I didn't know."
Mendes also opened up about the pressure she felt to be thin while growing up and her goal now to be the role model she wished she had in her younger years.
"When I was a teenager, there were no role models when it came to body positivity-that simply was not a thing. Being thin was the thing," she says. "It's health that's important, not appearance. I make choices that are good for me -- and not just in my body -- but for my soul, for my mind. And sometimes that's eating ice cream because I want to eat ice cream."
See more on Mendes and Riverdale below.
RELATED CONTENT:
