On the eve of season two,
Riverdale’s Betty and
Veronica spill the beans
on their co-stars and
what really happens when
the cameras stop rollingWe’re allowed to go shopping and be
leisurely with our time right now.’
CM: ‘It helps that we have each other.’
LR: ‘That we f*ckin’ like each other.’ON THE ADVICE THEY’VE GOTTEN
FROM COLE SPROUSE:
CM: ‘Cole gives us a lot of advice
regarding everything – all the things
that come with this life. He’s been
through it all so we go to him–’
LR: ‘No, we don’t go to him. He just
tells us. He’s a wise old soul.’ON CRAFTING A CELEBRITY IMAGE:
LR: ‘I never had to do anything specific
to craft my “image”. I wanted people
to know that I was a goofball, that I
didn’t take myself too seriously, and
that I love what I do. On my Twitter
and Instagram, whenever I can, I try
and show myself. I’m not trying to be
an Instagram model.’
CM: ‘It’s not calculated. It’s not like,
“People love that I say things like
this, so I’m going to say things like
this always!”’
LR: ‘But you know what? I think a lot
of people do that. People post things
on Instagram that they know people
are going to like. You can do that, but
Cami and I are in the mindset where
we’re both very silly, we like to goof
around, we like to have fun.’ON TERRIBLE AUDITIONS:
CM: ‘You see the same casting directors
over and over again, so you don’t want
to mess up with one casting director
for one role because then they’ll just
think you’re bad, and then they won’t
bring you back for something that you
might actually be right for.’
LR: ‘[I remember] in 2014 pilot season,
I was auditioning for the role of a trans-
gender boy. There were 10 people in
there facing me. They don’t say hi to
me. I read, I do my scenes; they’re quite
emotional [scenes]. I’m sitting there
waiting for direction. And they start
having a conversation about a moviethat came out. One guy in the room
goes, “Hey, did you see that one film,
with that guy?” I’m still sitting in the
room – “OK, guess I’m going to go.”
They go, “Thanks, bye!” As I walk out
the door, they’re like, “Where do you
want to order lunch?” It was terrible.’ON WHAT HIGH-SCHOOL STEREO-
TYPES THEIR CO-STARS WOULD BE:
LR: ‘KJ [Apa, who plays Archie] is
the jock.’
CM: ‘Constantly working out.’
LR: ‘Cole is the funny, sarcastic–’
CM: ‘Nerd? He’s so smart. Annoyingly.
Don’t write that. It’ll get to his head.’
LR: [To Camila] ‘You’re like the cool
girl to me. You have, like, your f*ckin’
jeans on and your cool shoes and your
sunglasses and your coffee, and you’re
like, “Hey guys.”’
CM: ‘You make me sound so annoying!’
LR: ‘No, you’re the cool f*ckin’ chick
who doesn’t have to try. What am I?’
CM: ‘I don’t know what stereotype.
She’s like the stoner girl, not because
she smokes weed – because she rolls
in with her sweatpants.’
LR: ‘I like that! I’m the girl who doesn’t
give a f*ck.’
CM: ‘You’re chill AF.’Season 2 of Riverdale airs October 1.
Episodes drop weekly on Netflix.WHILE THEIR CHARACTERS
mightn’t have got off to the greatest
start (FYI, never let a boy stand in
the way of friendship even if it’s mega
babe Archie Andrews), these days Lili
Reinhart’s Betty and Camila Mendes’
Veronica are as thick as thieves – like
literally... their characters have done
some seriously dark shit – and what’s
even better is that the sisterhood is
just as strong off-screen.
On set at their photoshoot at a
roller rink in Cali, they can’t stop
laughing and it’s clear they love being
a duo – partly because it makes the
adjustment to being well-known, from
having been complete unknowns just
a few months ago, a little easier to bear.
They’re learning to navigate fame as
they go, and they’re already pros at
fielding questions about fan theories.
Asked whether they’d be down to play
zombies should the series go that route
as speculated, Mendes, 23, answers
coyly: ‘If it was a sexy zombie, I guess.’
Here they give a glimpse into what it’s
like to be two of the goddamn coolest
new breakout stars of the year.ON THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF
THEIR NEW LIFESTYLE:
Lili Reinhart: ‘Balancing time.’
Camila Mendes: ‘For sure. Prioritising.’
LR: ‘When we’re filming, Cole [Sprouse,
who plays Jughead] encourages us, “Go
out and travel on the weekends when
you’re not filming!” But I know what
I need and I know that I need to sleep.
Now that we’re on hiatus, I feel like
we’ve had to remind ourselves that
we worked for seven months straight.‘WE LIKE TO
GOOF AROUND.’INTERVIEW BY HELIN JUNG. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MORGAN REARDON. PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAMI DRASIN. REINHART HAIR & MAKEUP BY SASCHA BREUER; DESIRAE CHERMAN. MENDES HAIR & MAKEUP BY BRIDGET BRAGER; KAYLEEN MCADAMS