Riverdale star Lili Reinhart says Barchie fans will be 'well fed' in final season
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Riverdale is the oldest its been, and yet the characters haven't aged a day. Or more accurately, the characters did age... but then the show went back in time.
When the CW drama kicks off its seventh and final season, the characters find themselves suddenly living in the 1950s. Not only that, but the former young adults are teenagers again, back in high school. "It's like a joke that I'm playing a teenager, I have to laugh," star Lili Reinhart tells EW. "Not in a bad way, but none of us look like we're 17. But it's been fun to lean into the innocence. You realize even with your body and mannerisms, you're playing into the awkwardness more being a teen."
Bettina Strauss/The CW Lili Reinhart on 'Riverdale'
For Reinhart, whose Betty Cooper has been through a number of traumas over the years, the time jump feels like an opportunity. "It's a reset, which our show needed, and it's brought a really nice coming home feeling for the last season," she says. "It's going back to our roots, in a sense. I think our show has done every genre — which is great because I know I'll never be a part of a project that allows me to truly play and do literally everything in one show with one character — but it does feel nice to be able to show this side of Betty that people haven't really seen. It's this young, fiery, curious Betty. She's in this repressed environment and she's really trying to get out and it's fun to watch her push against people who are trying to control her."
A new side of Betty also comes with a new side of Barchie. Fans will once again get to watch the friends (and neighbors) contemplate becoming something more. "I see all the Barchie fans talking on Twitter and Instagram, and it's like, you guys are going to be well fed," Reinhart says. "There's a lot of Barchie, and it's been so fun to film with KJ [Apa] this last season. We just shot a scene yesterday and he made me cry because of how good he was in it. The Barchie of it all is definitely full circle. We shot a scene in front of Betty's house the other day. There's a lot of sweet, nostalgic moments throughout the last season."
One other nostalgic thing that will be making a return (at least in one episode)? Betty's ponytail. "You do see the pony," Reinhart says, despite her shorter hair. "I do have a pony in episode 5."
Riverdale returns Wednesday, March 29, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.
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