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Camila Mendes Ditches Her Usual Brunette, Debuts Unique New Hair Color

The actress is mixing things up this summer in preparation for her latest role.

Allie Hayes

Camila Mendes
Camila Mendes / Leon Bennett/Getty Images for TIME

Camila Mendes is embracing the changing seasons with a change to her hair!

The 30-year-old actress, who is best known for her roles on the hit CW show Riverdale and Netflix’s popular teen comedy Do Revenge, stopped by Instagram this week to share her new look with her 23.7 million followers.

In the four-photo carousel, Mendes posed in natural lighting to reveal that her signature long, dark brunette tresses had been swapped out for a sultry wine shade with deep purple undertones. Parted down the middle and styled straight, the new look is certainly a departure from her Riverdale days!

Captioning the post, “new character incoming @colorbymattrez,” the actress was all smiles for several selfies while wearing a black, high-necked tank top, accessorizing the look further with silver earrings. Her make-up was kept minimal to allow the hair color to shine, with Mendes opting for feathered eyebrows, neutral eyeshadow shades and a semi-glossy pink lip.

Another look at the unique hair hue in different lighting was posted to her TikTok account, where Mendes documented her experience in the salon.

You can view Mendes’s TikTok video here!

In the video, Mendes could be seen with hair colorist Matt Rez, who applied the shade all over as the actress waited patiently. Then, after a couple of hours and a quick blow-dry, her new shade was ready to go! The hue looked even brighter under the fluorescent salon lights, pulling as more of a classic Cherry Cola color.

And plenty of Mendes’s passionate fan base were excited to see the change of pace, as well as see the TV and movie star embrace said “new character”:

“AHHHH I feel like you can literally wear any hair color and it looks so good !!” One follower proclaimed on Instagram.

“Obsessed with the way you’re soft launching a new role by also gagging us with a new hair color,” another commenter added. “The queen that you are.”

“Okay girl just be suiting every hair colour THERE IS. IM IN LOVE,” exclaimed a user on TikTok.

Who this mystery “new character” is remains to be seen, but Mendes already has plenty to be excited about in 2025!

For one, the actress recently starred in Idiotka—a comedy film centering around a reality TV fashion competition which debuted at the SXSW Festival back in March. Mendes was also tapped to star in the 2026 live-action adaptation of Masters of the Universe, where she was cast as Teela alongside Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man.

But no matter the role, Mendes is destined to do great things—and rock some seriously great hair while doing it!

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Allie Hayes
ALLIE HAYES

Allie Hayes is an experienced pop culture staff writer and editor specializing in movies, TV and celebrity news. Before joining the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit team as a Breaking/Trending News Editor, she worked at several outlets including BuzzFeed, The Daily Dot, and Newsweek. When she’s not writing for work (or writing for fun), you’ll find her curled up on the couch reading yet another romance novel, obsessively watching pro wrestling with her friends, or taking blurry photos of her two adorable cats.

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