Avantika Vandanapu (born Tuesday January 25, 2005) is an American actress. Starting with Brahmotsavam, she worked in several films in India's Telegu industry. She had her first lead role in the Disney Channel Original Movie Spin and subsequently starred in the Netflix film Senior Year. She is best known for her portrayal of Karen Shetty in the musical comedy Mean Girls and found commercial success in the horror film Tarot.
Avantika Vandanapu was born to a Indian Telugu-speaking family in Union City, California, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Her family originally hails from Hyderabad in India before they emigrated to the United States. She took drama lessons at the American Conservatory Theater.
Career[]
In 2014, Avantika won second place in the Zee TV dance competition reality series Dance India Dance L'il Masters (North American Edition). Avantika entered Telugu cinema in 2015 and was signed for two movies. 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 scheduling conflicts, she could not continue with the movie. Avantika 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's character. Avantika 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 a "small supporting role". In 2021, Avantika portrayed Rhea Kumar in the Disney Channel Original Movie Spin alongside Meera Syal, Abhay Deol and Aryan Simhadri. She followed this with supporting roles with the Netflix movies Moxie and Senior Year with the former directed by Amy Poehler and the latter co-starring Rebel Wilson. In 2024, Avantika portrayed Karen Shetty in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Mean Girls, based on the 2004 movie of the same name. Following this, she returned to Indian projects with the Amazon Prime series Big Girls Don't Cry as a closeted lesbian who struggles to retain her basketball captaincy whilst coming to terms with her sexuality. Avantika then appeared amongst an ensemble in the Anna Halberg and Stephen Cohen-helmed Tarot. Avantika is set to headline the Disney+ Original Series A Crown of Wishes, based on the 2017 novel of the same name.
