Madelaine Petsch on Being “Riverdale” Royalty and Redefining Herself IRL
If Riverdale’s Cheryl Blossom was listed as “boss bitch” in your phone, the actor who plays her, Madelaine Petsch, would most likely be under the name “bestie.”
The 25-year-old actor has been bringing the show’s iconic redhead to life on camera for the past three seasons (season four will drop on October 9th), but any real similarities between Petsch and Cherry Bomb begin and end with those auburn locks.
To anyone who knows her well, Petsch is much more likely to flash a bright, toothy grin than sling Cheryl-style, savage AF one-liners. And while Cheryl may be the bully everyone loves to hate, Petsch would rather poke fun at herself on her YouTube channel than tease anyone else.
That’s why Petsch was so surprised the first time fans turned their dislike of Cheryl into personal attacks on her. “When I was bullied online after the 2017 Teen Choice Awards following the first season of Riverdale, I was very upset,” she says. “I thought, 'Why do people hate me? I don't get it. I’m just playing a character.'”
Besides, she’d been performing nearly all her life. Before most kids can run, Petsch was acting, dancing, and singing. “I'm one of the few people that, by the time I was six years old, I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” she says. “My parents were very supportive. And I really loved being on stage and bringing different characters to life.”
Petsch’s passion for acting blossomed in her teens and then she was faced with a big decision: stay in her hometown of Port Orchard, Washington, or follow her dreams to L.A. The choice was hardly difficult.
She had stars in her eyes, no doubt, but the move also gave her some much-needed space from the bullying she received in junior high. “I grew up in a small town,” she explains. “And a lot of people made fun of me for having red hair, my parents are South African, I wasn't raised religious, I’m plant-based. I had everything up against me, like all the things that made me unique were the things that people would chip away at.” In particular, Petsch experienced cyber bullying. “I remember someone made a really awful Facebook or MySpace page about me and my best friend. We were so mortified. Hearing what other people say on social media makes it so hard to fight back.”
But Petsch put her pain behind her as she set out to make it in Hollywood. Working three jobs to pay her rent, Petsch describes her life at the time as the “typical actor story.” She was a barista, hostess, and personal assistant, spending all her down time at auditions. At one point, she considered dyeing her locks brown in the hopes that it would help her book more roles. “My mom was like, ‘Please don't do that,’ she says. Petsch listened.
Finally, she got a call to read for David Rappaport, the casting director of Riverdale. Four months later, while at her personal assistant gig, she got the call that she’d booked the job. “I started crying and screaming, and my boss came in,” she says. “I was like, ‘I booked the role!’ And she was like, ‘You quit?’ And I was like, ‘I quit!’” And with that, Petsch set off for Vancouver to start filming season one of Riverdale in September of 2016.
At the start of filming, Petsch and the rest of the Riverdale cast had no idea the show would become such a phenomenon. “We were like, ‘No one's ever going to watch our show,’” she recalls. Of course, people did watch the show, A LOT of people. All of a sudden, Petsch found herself catapulted into fame. All of the attention, while so rewarding, also brought out her social anxiety. “I actually think that it has gotten worse as I've gotten older, which is something that I'm working on,” she says. “I have a great therapist in Vancouver.” And if things get intense, she has her mom on speed dial. “When I'm having a panic attack, she'll work me through it, even if it's 3:00 AM,” says Petsch.
Despite the show’s success, Petsch once again has had to deal with online bullies, especially ones who mix her up with her character. In 2017, she started her YouTube channel, in part to let fans in on who she really is. In her inaugural vlog, titled “my life in a nutshell,” she divulges her Veggie Grill order (it’s a whole lotta tempura string beans) and shows how she likes to spend her time at Lollapalooza (aka chilling in a hammock while looking like a total babe). Originally, she’d planned to put out five or six videos, but two years later you can still find new vlogs on Wednesdays featuring Petsch playing games with her fellow castmates, quizzing her bf, actor Travis Mills, or getting ready for one of her many press obligations. “I want people to get to know Madelaine,” she says. “I want them to know that I'm weird and funny and I love people. If they still have bad assumptions, then that’s on them, not on me.”
Over the years, she’s also allowed her role on Riverdale to teach her a few personal lessons. As someone who had a love-hate relationship with her red hair growing up, playing the iconic redhead has encouraged her to embrace her natural color. “I think Cheryl has helped me really love my red hair. Finally, my hair and I have a great relationship,” she says. “And when fans tell me they’re being bullied, I remind them that the things they’re being bullied for now are the things that make them unique. When you get older, those things are going to make you stand out.”
Exploring the harsher sides of Cheryl in the earlier seasons also helped Petsch get some closure on the bullying she experienced when she was younger. “I've learned the mindset of the people who bullied me very well because Cheryl’s been a bully on the show. I've learned that the people who've made the most fun of me as a kid probably had their own sh*t that they were going through. And so they were taking it out on other people. And that breaks my heart.”
Season four has a lot in store for Cheryl as she rejoins Betty, Jughead, Veronica, Archie and the others at school. Together, Cheryl and Toni (or Choni, as the show’s fanbase lovingly calls them) seem to take every challenge in stride. And if the chemistry between the two characters feels real, that’s because it is — the two have been friends for years, after initially meeting at a network test for Riverdale.
According to Petsch, fans totally respond to that connection. “Being part of a ship like Choni, it's incredible how important it feels,” Petsch says. “I meet fans so often who say that they felt like they had the courage to come out to their parents or their friends because of my character.”
Choni fans will be happy to hear that the couple is going strong in the new season, and Petsch promises that season four will feel more like season one. While it does start off with what Petsch calls a “great mystery,” there’s a heavier focus on the relationships of the characters than in more recent seasons.
For Petsch, this was a welcome change. “I can feel us already going back to the season one vibe of us all having scenes together.” An added bonus of big group scenes: spending more time with her fab co-stars on set. “We really all do love each other and get along really well,” Petsch says.
One thing that is missing from the Town with Pep this time around is the late Luke Perry, who passed away from a stroke in February 2019 at the age of 52. While season four is said to have a special tribute to the actor, Petsch says that there are no words to describe the loss. “Luke was my oracle throughout Riverdale,” she says. “He was on 90210 and had done all this work, so anytime I had any questions, he opened his door to me. He was such a kind and loving soul, and he was so generous. He was the kind of actor that gave you everything when he worked with you.”
Petsch is still coping with her loss, and finds herself missing Perry in moments big and small. She recalls a time he coached her through nasty media comments about one of her red carpet outfits and how he would talk her down if she did an interview that she felt went poorly. “The hardest thing for me was that every Comic Con, Luke would call me in the morning and he would say, ‘I have a pimple, I need you to cover it.’ And he would come to my room and make me cover his pimple. This last Comic Con was really hard because I didn't get my phone call.”
Petsch also says that Perry instilled in her so many lessons that she’ll carry into the future. “I've learned from Luke to be a bright light for people because you never know who needs it, just like I did.”
Petsch brings an optimism into everything she does nowadays, including exploring other opportunities. She recently wrapped filming, Sightless, a movie in which she plays a woman (“not a teenager!” she cheers) who loses her sight and is forced to adjust to her new, dangerous environment. Petsch also admits that she would love to play the DC supervillain Poison Ivy, maybe even alongside Ruby Rose’s Batwoman. Another passion of Petsch’s: her sunglasses line, M3, with Privé Revaux, her second time collaborating with the brand. Petsch drew all of the eyewear sketches herself. “I'm very into accessories. Jewelry, shoes, bags… the works. I would love to one day get into clothing,” she says.
With the lull in filming, Petsch is also carving out more time for art. “There are phases of my life where I'll paint for three weeks and then I'll draw for a month. I'm getting back into piano these days,” she says.
Another thing she’s trying out: giving zero f*cks, which she also says she couldn’t do without a little help from her female Riverdale co-stars. “When I first moved to LA, I thought I always had to have makeup on and look perfect, because what if I ran into a casting director in the grocery store,” she says. “Now, I‘m around so many empowering women. We remind each other to be funny and embrace who we are. I don’t feel any pressure about being perfect on social media anymore. I'm showing my true self all the time. I’m just being me.”
Photography by Daniel Matallana | Fashion direction by Aya Kanai | Makeup by Vincent Oquendo, the Wall Group for Maybelline | Hair by Marc Mena using Aveda products | Manicure by Julie Kandalec at Bryan Bantry Agency using Chanel Vernis | Video fashion credits: Peter Pilotto dress, Petsch's own earrings
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