[9] She then lived with her mother at Saint Petersburg and regularly travelled between there and Frankfurt, before moving with her father to East Meadow, New York, at age 13, after her parents separated.

[10] Mahendru attended East Meadow High School, where she was active in competitive cheerleading and kick line teams; she graduated in 2004.

[14] She was enrolled at New York University for a master's degree in international relations as she wanted to work for the women in Afghanistan, but dropped out to pursue acting.

In 2017, she performed in Seven as an Afghan refugee and women's rights activist Farida Azizi at the LA Theatre Works.

The play was a collaboration between 7 playwrights and female activists each from around the globe that portrays inspiring stories of overcoming adversities to bring about real change and improve the lives of women.

[23][24] Mahendru stars in the seventh episode of the anthology series The Romanoffs, which began streaming on Amazon Video on November 16, 2018.

[25] She plays a lead role as Jennifer "Huck" Mallick in the AMC series The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which premiered in 2020.