In real life, she’s trying to navigate her
space amid a group of male comedians
and feel more comfortable improvising,
which is what they often do for the third
take of a scene. “I’m slowly getting my
own little bits in there, but it’s definitely
intimidating initially. At the same time,
it’s really fun to watch, because they’re
doing their thing, they’re in their
element, and that’s a foreign world to
me, so I love it.”
It may have taken some encouraging from
some of her co-stars to reassure Mendler
that she has what it takes to be a comedic
actor. “[Ron Funches] actually thought
that I was funny from the beginning. I
was feeling kind of awkward, not very
sure in myself, in my character, but he
always laughed at me from the beginning
— but, like, laughed encouragingly,” she
clarifies. “It makes me feel so good.”
It’s surprising to hear that Mendler
has ever felt unsure of herself. She’s
extremely humble — shying away from
the term “artist,” because she thinks it
sounds a bit pretentious — but so clearly
comfortable in her own skin. That didn’t
happen automatically though. There was
a time when she used to worry — a
lot — about forgetting the lyrics to her
songs when performing live.
46 ragged // raggedmag.com