The ‘Mean Girls’ star is ushering in a new era for Hollywoods beloved bimbo.
In her own life, however, shell leave the labels behind.
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Its a dreary Thursday afternoon in early December at a Taco Bell in Manhattans Hells Kitchen neighborhood.
A table of two girls, in high school from the looks of it, lean over surreptitiously.
Oh my God, is that her?
one whispers to me, holding out her iPhone thats lit up with an Instagram account.
Can we take a picture?
one of them asks.
Avantika happily obliges, and the trio shuffle around to get a selfie.
Im shaking, Im so sorry, the fan admits as she snaps the pic.
And suddenly, I know what its like to have lunch with the Plastics.
Avantika demures that she currently looks less glam than she typically appears on her social media account.
While her dad fell asleep 10 minutes into the viewing, it was A Moment for Avantika.
[The movie] is very important to me.
Some part of you just feels so incredibly seen by that film.
She still went for it though, submitting a self-taped audition in September 2022.
She admits she wasnt particularly hopeful.
It was a very popular casting call going around young Hollywood at the time.
She didnt think her singing was strong enough for a marquee musical number.
And, most crucially, the characters description didnt mention anything about Karen being a person of color.
In North Shore High speak: they were Mathletes not Spring Fling Queens.
Karen Smith would now be Karen Shetty to accommodate for Avantikas South Asian identity.
It was a switch that was just as surprising to Avantika as it was to anyone else.
It’s the antithesis of everything that we’ve been told our community is from the very beginning.
According to the films directors, Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne, Avantika was a shoo-in.
Everything she did felt truthful, spontaneous, and hilarious.
She embodied the role in such an effortless way.
She feels a little bit louder, Avantika says of her version of Karen.
In fact, she was barely there long enough to establish a clique.
But Avantikakeptbooking parts and they wound up staying abroad for four years.
Shes thankful that her parents supported her artistic endeavors, no matter how untraditional.
Which I think was good.
I think it’s nice to be pushed in things that you like to do.
But for now shes still discouraged by the culture in the film industry there.
[In South Asia] it feels so against you systematically because of nepotism, she says.
And there’s so much colorism.
Or at least thats how she saw it as a kid.
(When she returned to LA, she still attended high school to rack up AP credits.)
She clearly was, getting accepted into her dream school, Columbia.
It felt like destiny, she says.
It’s been really nice to have my identity not just tied to my career, she says.
Theres none of that.
Its just people who are really creatively talented.
And everybody’s just starting out.
There’s something really simple and pure and beautiful about that.
Shes totally fine not having a clearly defined path forward.
That, much like Karen, is a no-brainer.
Photographer:Chinazam Ojukwu |Styling:Ryan Young |Hair:Marc Mena for Exclusive Artists |Makeup:Colby Smith
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I need one in every color.
Princesses, mermaids, and true love’s kiss, oh my!
