For her latest onscreen performance, Camila Mendes looked to the “manipulative” nature of reality television for inspiration.
The Idiotka producer and co-star noted that Project Runway was a big source for building the character of fashion reality TV producer Nicol Garcia in the Nastasya Popov-written/directed comedy, which premieres Feb. 27 in select theaters.
“But also, the one that we kept referencing for this was The Hype,” she told People. “I watched that one quite a bit, ’cause, tonally, it felt like this is more DIY reality.”
Mendes added, “We’re the cutting edge of reality TV. Like, we’re trying to do things differently, and that also felt very in line with Nicol’s character. Like, we’re not those cut and dry fashion shows, like we’re doing it differently.”
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In Idiotka, Margartia (Anna Baryshnikov) helps support her three-generation family in West Hollywood’s Russian district by selling counterfeit designer clothes online and working toward her dream of becoming a designer herself. When she lands a part on the fashion competition reality series Slay, Serve, Survive, Margarita has to work through her dysfunctional family dynamic on national television while trying to win the show.
During Idiotka‘s SXSW premiere last March, Mendes told Deadline that in “balancing” the character’s manipulator side with her more human side, she met with a friend who competed on a fashion reality show.
“And one main thing that he told me was that these people, they really befriend you and they get close to you,” she recalled. “But they’re also kind of provoking you and trying to get you to open up on camera and start drama for no reason. And he told me a lot about that complicated relationship.”
Mendes continued, “So, I wanted to bring that side out of her, the manipulative side, that very much has something to be gained from it. But also, I wanted it to feel like Nicol really sees herself in Margarita and admires her ambition, and I think respects her as an artist, but is trying to get real with her and say, ‘This is how the world works. If you want to make it in this business, it’s about so much more than talent, it’s also about spectacle. So, in a way, she’s manipulating her, but she’s also helping her through that.”