‘Riverdale’ Actress Camila Mendes Goes on Throwback Journey to Her Hometown of Charlottesville

Now that filming of the popular CW drama series Riverdale has officially wrapped its seventh and final season, series star Camila Mendes appears to be taking a little time off for a trip down memory lane.

On Monday, the 29-year-old actress posted to her Instagram a series of photos and throwback snapshots highlighting a recent pilgrimage she made to her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, where she says she spent the first four years of her life.

“This weekend i paid a visit to the city where i was born so i could check out every place i resided during my first four years on this earth 🏡♥️,” Mendes posted to her 26 million followers.

In the first photo, Mendes is flashing double peace signs at the camera while posing on the front lawn of a yellow clapboard house with a giant tree behind her. The next photo is a throwback of the same house when it used to be painted white. In the older photo, the giant tree is just a sapling.

“i didn’t live in charlottesville long so i have few memories there, but my dad put together a whole itinerary for me to revisit the residences in order of when we lived in them,” Mendes explained of the places she chose to visit on her excursion. “luckily the homeowner at the last house was super friendly and invited me inside, crazy how the memories came flooding back in.”

The next snap Mendes posted featured her posing in front of a brick row house, followed by another throwback of the same brick row house, this time with a young family squatting on the paved area by the front door. Mendes doesn’t identify who the family is in the throwback photo, but it likely includes her parents, older sister, and her younger self.

Mendes rounded out the photo dump with more snaps featuring her standing in the yard of a third home, this one a roomy-looking clapboard house, plus more snaps of when she resided at that address as a little girl.

Clearly the journey back in time was making Mendes feel sentimental, with the Do Revenge actress signing off her post, “anyway not trying to unleash my cancerian emotions on you all 🦀 this was just an incredibly meaningful experience for me and i wanted to share 🫠.”

Mendes and her boyfriend, YouTuber Rudy Mancuso, recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary in July.

“always in our own little world 💭 te amo so much one year down, and many more to go 🤞🏽,” Mendes posted last month to her Instagram, along with a photo of the twosome locked in an intimate embrace.

The two likely met when they costarred in 31-year-old Mancuso’s Prime Video rom-com Música, which he also wrote and directed.

Mendes wrapped filming for Riverdale in June, which is set to end in August.

“that’s a wrap on veronica 💔,” the actress wrote on Instagram on June 26 referring to the iconic character Veronica Lodge. “there’s no caption or photo dump that can illustrate what an emotional experience it’s been filming our last episode of riverdale. i’m not just saying goodbye to a TV show, i’m saying goodbye to an entire life i created in vancouver, to a transformative period of time that shaped me as an adult, to a community of people who have seen the best and worst of me over the course of seven intense seasons.”

When the show began airing in 2017, the series focused on the characters as high schoolers delving into the baffling murder of fellow student Jason Blossom. As the show continued throughout its 7-season run, it embraced storylines including serial killers, superpowers, and time travel.

The final season focuses on the characters being stuck in the 1950s, with no memories of the events of the previous seasons, after a comet wiped out the town in the season 6 finale. 

The final episode of Riverdale season 7 airs Wednesday, Aug. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.