Charles Melton says “Riverdale” was his acting school

"It was like my academy of acting," Melton tells EW.

Starring on Riverdale wasn't all wrestling contests, selling Jingle Jangle, and time travel... it was also, at least in Charles Melton's case, a training ground for actors.

Melton, 32, is earning rave reviews and awards buzz for his portrayal of Joe Yoo in May December. He stars as the husband of Gracie Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore), a man stuck in arrested development via a marriage that began when Gracie initiated a sexual relationship with Joe when he was still in middle school.

But Melton credits all of his acting skills to his time on The CW series. "I worked with 91 directors on that show alone," he tells EW. "I made lifelong relationships. I learned so much about the filmmaking process, and I had fun. It was my academy of acting — exploring and taking risks. If it wasn't for Riverdale, I would've never had the opportunity to self tape for Todd Haynes."

In addition to his remarks to EW, Melton also recently likened his time as Reggie Mantle to studying at an incredibly prestigious acting school. "Riverdale truly was my Juilliard," he told i-D.

Melton ended his run on Riverdale after seven seasons when the show came to a close in August.

One thing that didn't assist Melton from his time on Riverdale? His chiseled good looks. To play suburban dad Joe Yoo, the actor put on 40 pounds. "I felt that Joe would be a good-looking man," Todd Haynes said previously. "But Charles has that sort of hunkiness and pinup quality that wasn't necessarily how I pictured him."

For Melton, it was about getting into the psyche of Joe's behavior. "The ultimate goal was thinking of Joe, who's a suburban father of three," says Melton. "He's the guy to eat the second, third, fourth, fifth plate at the family friend's house in order to make them feel good about what they cooked or whatnot. He's eating the leftover cakes that Gracie doesn't sell. There's this fragility, but this overpowering quality that she has with Joe, where he's caretaking on so many different levels and very codependent, unhealthy levels where she is on this pedestal. It was conversations too that informed what Joe would feel like. Where does he find comfort?"

"Maybe it was just a big excuse for me to eat whatever I wanted," Melton continues. "There's this sense of masculinity. I would assume Joe was a former athlete. [The weight] played into the whole picture of who Joe is."

May December is now streaming on Netflix.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.