Avantika Vandanapu

Avantika Vandanapu (born 25 January 2005 ) is an American actress.

She has worked in several Indian films in the Telugu and Tamil languages.

She had her first lead role Disney Channel original movie Spin (2021) and subsequently starred in Netflix’s Senior Year (2022). She is best known for her portrayal of Karen Shetty in the musical comedy Mean Girls (2024).

Vandanapu was born to an Indian, Telugu-speaking family in Union City, California, part of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her family originally hails from Hyderabad in Telangana, India before they emigrated to the United States.

She took drama lessons at the American Conservatory Theater.

In 2014, Avantika won second place in the Zee TV dance competition reality series Dance India Dance L'il Masters (North America Edition).

Vandanapu entered Telugu cinema in 2015 and was signed for two movies.

Vandanapu officially debuted as a child artist in Brahmotsavam starring Mahesh Babu, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha and Pranitha Subhash which started shooting on September 16, 2015.

She then appeared in Chandra Shekhar Yeleti's film Manamantha.

Later, she signed on for Premam starring Naga Chaitanya and Shruti Hassan, in which she portrays the younger version of Madonna Sebastian.

Vandanapu revealed that the key reason for her departure from Telugu cinema was the lack of variety in the roles she was offered which mainly consisted of playing the "heroine" or having a "small supporting role".

In 2021, Vandanapu played the lead role of Rhea Kumar in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Spin alongside Meera Syal, Abhay Deol and Aryan Simhadri.

The film received positive feedback from critics with Udita Jhunjhunwala of Firstpost commending her as a "delight '' further praising her "sparkling eyes, [as] she glides through the restaurant with as much ease as she finds her groove behind the mixing console".

In 2024, Vandanapu portrayed Karen Shetty in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Mean Girls, based on the 2004 movie of the same name.

The movie received mixed reviews from critics, however, her performance was praised.

Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw lauded Vandanapu as the highlight "among the mean girls," adding that "she gets the movie’s best song".

Speaking about the change in Karen's ethnicity from the original film, Vandanapu thought "playing that kind of character, especially as an Indian American woman is really, really crazy," adding that she was "excited to finally play a South Asian character that wasn’t reduced to being a stereotype".

She will return to Indian projects and next be seen in the Amazon Prime series Big Girls Don't Cry (BGDC).

She was selected to play the role of Chutki in 14 Reels Entertainment's Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha, which was released in February 2016.

However, due to the scheduling conflicts, she could not continue with the movie.

Vandanapu will also be seen amongst an ensemble in the Anna Halberg and Spenser Cohen-helmed Tarot and is set to headline the Disney+ original series A Crown of Wishes, based on the 2017 novel of the same name.

Vandanapu currently resides in New York City.

She attends Columbia University as a member of the class of 2027.