[Reel People note: This article contains some spoilers from the first three episodes of Riverdale, but not so many as to be a dick about it]
When The CW first announced that it would be bringing comic book icon Archie Andrews and his townie friends to television for a tonally dark teen drama series, some critics and fans were skeptical: How well would the kooky 76-year-old comic book franchise translate to the small screen?
The answer? Pretty damn well indeed. Riverdale – which premiered in January and stars Kiwi actor K.J. Apa as the red-headed teen – is a dark and twisted Millennial off-spring of Beverly Hills 90210 and Twin Peaks (which is a relevant comparison, given that 90210’s Luke Perry and Twin Peaks alum Mädchen Amick play Archie’s dad and Betty’s mom, respectively).
In the Vancouver-shot series, Archie attends Riverdale High School with BFF Jughead (Cole Sprouse), girl-next-door Betty (Lili Reinhart), and worldly Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes). They drink milkshakes at the Choklit Shoppe and dance to Josie and the Pussycats at the school dances. The town sign says, “Welcome to Riverdale, the town with pep!”
Except these aren’t your grandma’s Archie and Friends. Veronica’s daddy is on trial for embezzlement. Jughead – who narrates the series – is moody and sardonic. Betty’s family is all kinds of dysfunctional. Josie’s music explores what it means to be a woman of colour in 21st century America. Riverdale’s students wrestle with slut shaming, mental illness, and statutory rape – as well as the shocking death of a classmate that drains the town of that cherished pep.
“I like that they re-imagined it in a subversive, darker, modern world,” says Cody Kearsley, the Vancouver actor who plays athlete Moose Mason on the emerging hit. “It makes it more approachable for the younger generation who didn’t grow up on the comics like we did, and it’s still nostalgic for [older people] as well. And all of the characters have a darker back-story.”
Even the character of Moose – portrayed in the comic books as a lumbering jock who regularly comes to blows with Reggie Mantle over steady girlfriend Midge Klump – has been re-imagined for the Millennial age.
In the pilot, Moose – now a closeted gay teen – propositions openly gay character Kevin Keller in the boys’ washroom. Later, as Moose and Kevin amble down to the lake for some skinny-dipping, Moose says he’s open to everything but kissing, to which Kevin replies, “I love a good closet case.”
“As Kevin says in the second episode, sexuality is fluid,” says Kearsley. “I love exploring that idea, especially as a jock character.”
Kearsley is a relative newcomer to the Vancouver screen scene (two years), and to film acting (his first time on set was last year for the upcoming Power Rangers movie, in which he has a small speaking role), but not to performing. “When I was three-years-old, I went to my cousin’s dance recital and kept trying to get up on the stage,” says Kearsley, who grew up in the Okanagan. “So the next year, my mother put me in dance lessons.” Kearsley spent the next 15 years training hard in ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop, before discovering a proclivity for acting while attending a Fame-type performing arts college in Los Angeles.
Like Moose, Kearsley played sports throughout high school, and for the most part, his peers didn’t know that he was also a competitive dancer. “I actually danced in a town over because I didn’t want my friends to know that I was doing ballet,” says Kearsley, who spent the years between college and Vancouver immersed in the theatre world. “It wasn’t until grade 11 or 12 that I did a musical and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m into the arts.’ So I can relate to the struggle of hiding this softer side from other people and putting on this façade of being the jock. When you’re 16, it’s hard to be who you truly are. “
Riverdale – which uses Lord Byng High School for its eponymous high school exterior shots – features a bounty of Vancouver talent in nostalgia-laden roles, including Martin Cummins as Sheriff Keller, Colin Lawrence as Coach Clayton, and the prolific Lochlyn Munro (Scary Movie, A Night at the Roxbury) as Hal Cooper, Betty’s dad.
Kearsley recounts the surreal experience of sitting next to Munro at the initial table read. “He took the time to talk to me about what it’s like to be on set, and he gave me some advice,” says Kearsley. “I think a lot of the older cast came into it with open arms for the younger generation.”
Riverdale airs Thursdays at 9pm on The CW; new episodes are posted weekly to Netflix. Follow Riverdale @CW_Riverdale.
