Riverdale: Meet The CW's Buff Archie, Scandal-ized Veronica and the Rest
This is not quite your grandma’s Archie comics come-to-life.
The casting breakdowns for The CW’s Riverdale, which currently is a script in development and promises a live-action, modern-day take on the iconic comic book characters (in a town where “secrets, intrigue and scandal abound”), reveal greater muscle mass for our carrot-topped group leader, a stressed-out Betty, scandal-stricken Veronica and new adversity for Jughead to overcome.
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Prolific TV producer Greg Berlanti is among the project’s executive producers, while Archie Comics’ chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is penning the pilot.
Here now, the specific breakdowns for the Core Four:
ARCHIE ANDREWS | A high school sophomore, the redhead is still boyishly handsome but “pumped and looking good after working construction for his dad during the summer.” Archie is grappling with heavy issues and juggling the interest of several girls while discovering his passion for writing and performing music against his father and his football coach’s better wishes. Oh, and he’s harboring more than one dark, terrible secret.
BETTY COOPER | The blonde and pretty sophomore is described as having “some self-esteem issues and affinity for Adderall.” Eager-to-please, wholesome and studious, Betty has a super-crush on her longtime best bud, Archie. But tired of being the “perfect” everything, she turns to her new friend, Veronica, for life advice. Betty has an emotionally brittle mom, a goth-like sister and a coveted spot on the cheerleading squad — though with certain conditions….
VERONICA LODGE | Producers are aiming to ideally cast a Latina as this “silver-tongued” stunner, who has just returned to Riverdale from New York following a scandal which resulted in her father going to prison. Extremely intelligent, self-confident and immediately popular, Veronica is eager to reinvent herself — from Mean Girl to caring friend.
JUGHEAD JONES | A hearing-impaired actor is being sought to play Jughead as an “emo-heartthrob.” The lanky lad is Archie’s former best friend, seeing as the two still are smarting from a rift that took place between them. Angry, but with a philosophical bent, Jughead “refuses to take the olive branch being proffered by Archie, the hurt goes that deep.”
What do you think about The CW’s take on the red-headed classic? Sound off below!
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