Riverdale ’s Charles Melton Is Giving Bad Boys Big Hearts
Charles Melton had the deck stacked against him when he joined the cast of Riverdale in its second season as perennial bad boy/Archie Andrews rival Reggie Mantle after original actor Ross Butler departed. Seamlessly integrating into one of the hottest, most madcap teen dramas in recent memory is no easy feat—but it's one Melton has done capably, bringing a new sensitivity to Reggie's character in the show's in-progress third season.
It's a versatility that's serving him well—this summer, we'll see him play a romantic lead as Daniel Bae in the film adaptation of the hit novel The Sun Is Also a Star, and he's currently proving his action-hero mettle on the set of Bad Boys for Life with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, currently set for a 2020 release.
Recently, GQ spoke to Melton about his increasingly bright career, vulnerable masculinity, and being a mixed-race star on one of the biggest names in teen drama.
GQ: You're having a hell of a year!
Charles Melton: A lot's been happening, it's been very exciting. This past year doing The Sun Is Also a Star was a passion project. And coming back to Riverdale, which is such a fantastic show to be a part of, to shooting Bad Boys 3 with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. I feel crazy, man, saying these names out loud!
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Tell me a little about The Sun Is Also a Star.
It's a beautiful romance, it takes place in New York. Two people, different lives, whose parents are immigrants who came to America to make a different life for them. They meet each other, they have 24 hours—it's a story where they experience fate, destiny, love, and hope.
Yeah, and the big heartbreaking thing at the middle is the immigrant experience, right?
Yeah, my mother is an immigrant. I'm an army brat—so I grew up traveling every two to four years. My father met my mother in Korea, and I remember being 12 years old and my mom was in the process of getting her American citizenship. I remember the questions—she had me and my sister quiz her, every day. Man, I'm telling you—every day.
The process is extremely demanding, right? They ask you about things most citizens don't have to know.
It's crazy. At that time, my dad was traveling a lot with my mother, moving to Tennessee and to Texas, so they're asking questions like “Who's the governor of Texas? Who's the mayor of this city?” They had so many questions about the history of America, and the recent history, which I think a lot of people aren't aware of.
Watch:
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This is also your first romantic film—what's your favorite part of being in a love story?
I'm a firm believer in love and falling in love. There's something about being very vulnerable playing this role, without any sort of judgment. It's great to be a part of a romance. It installs hope. Being an Asian lead of a studio film is very humbling, and it's very exciting to be a part of that story, an interracial story, which represents a true America, I believe.
Do you have a favorite rom-com or romantic film?
I love Before Sunrise. Have you seen Before Sunrise?
Oh yeah, it's excellent.
The whole aspect of it taking place in one day is very similar to The Sun Is Also a Star. It's a little bit more real. Things happen quickly, you don't have the span of six months, or three weeks, or a year, or five years like you do in normal romance dramas. So to be part of something that was so timely and happening in real time was so exciting and very unique and different.
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On Riverdale, you've been getting the chance to show off new sides of Reggie Mantle outside of just, like, the antagonist jock he started out as, right? What's that been like?
It's always fun to layer a character, to make the character a little bit more dynamic than it is on paper. Joining the show's second season—everyone on the show's been my family, the cast is all very close with each other; they welcomed me with open arms. Riverdale has played a very big role in my career, and I'm very grateful for that. It's exciting to play a character who's traditionally Caucasian and is considered the jock, bad boy of the crew.
You've mentioned vulnerability a few times. Can you talk to me a little bit more about that? How important is that to you?
I think there is this idea of masculinity where you hold your feelings in, you don't really say how you're feeling and truly express how you feel, especially when it comes to love and being vulnerable and feeling insecure about something. I always want to grow, and playing the role of Daniel in The Sun Is Also a Star, there's this vulnerability, this sense of hope, love, and wearing my heart on my sleeve and not being afraid to be hurt. It's how you can truly connect with someone or something, and I strive for that as an actor.
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I think it's better for men to be more open about their feelings and to express how they feel instead of trying to hold everything together and acting like everything is okay, and to be macho and to be strong. There is strength in being vulnerable. There is strength in being honest with your feelings.
What's it been like dealing with the Riverdale fandom?
I'll tell you one thing—when I was flying from L.A. to Atlanta last week, I was going through security. This man who is about my dad's age came up to me and said "Hey, you're Charles, you play Reggie, you're that guy from Riverdale" and I go yeah, and he's like "May I get a picture" and I'm like "Sure."
I go through security and I see that he is with his wife and his son—his wife is a Filipino woman and this was a Caucasian man. And his son Justice was 10 years old, and his wife looks at Justice, looks at me, and says "See, he looks like you, you look like him" and I'll tell you what, man, that was a very beautiful moment for me.
It was a very nice experience for me, man, being an Asian-American. I'm proud of my heritage, right? I'm proud of being American and I'm proud of being Korean and I'm also proud of being mixed race where I can represent two cultures — essentially the culture of what "American" is. Growing up, I never saw anybody that looked like me on TV, and to be part of that change that is happening right now in this industry is—I don't take that lightly. You said your parents are immigrants as well, you're first-generation?
Second. My grandparents are Guatemalan on my mom's side.
One of my best friends is Guatemalan!
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Oh that's awesome. I don't know a lot of Guatemalan people, it sucks, man.
I feel you, man. Imagine being Korean in Kansas!
What was that like? You went to college there too, right?
Yeah, I moved to Kansas after my freshman year in Germany. I always had this unique idea of what America was because my only idea of what America was [came from] living on military bases all over the world and watching movies. Then when I went to military schools overseas where the minority was white people, the majority of the population was mixed. All these children in the military, it was a very unique experience.
Can you tell me a little bit about your experience on Bad Boys for Life? It's your first time doing a big action movie!
It's a lot of work, man, a lot of training. I do all my own stunts so I take pride in that. There's so many moving pieces! It's been [fun] going from playing a 17 year old on Riverdale, to playing this insecure, vulnerable, [character] who wears his heart on his sleeve, to playing this badass, tatted up, former DEA agent in an action movie. I'm smiling from ear to ear right now. It's been crazy.
Is it starting to get funny how young your character is on Riverdale?
[Laughing] Yeah, all my buddies back home are like married and have kids now, and they give me a hard time, but it's all out of love. They're like "Yeah you're still in high school." It's funny. My sister is in college, my baby sister, who I still see to be in 3rd grade. And the character I'm playing on Riverdale is younger than her, actually. It's kinda funny to think about.
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Do you have friends and family you had to explain the show to?
Oh yeah, I mean everyone in my family knows the Archie comics. They grew up with the Archie Comics—if there is anyone I'm explaining the show to, it's everyone on my moms side who's Korean. They're not aware of the Archie comics. They just think I'm like Brad Pitt or something like that. [Laughs]
That's amazing.
[Laughing] Right? Yeah they think I'm living in a mansion, or something like that, but I'm like "Nope, still living out of a suitcase working." It's pretty funny but it's all love, you know? They love me the same.
There's a scene in The Sun Is Also a Star where your character sings karaoke. Is Reggie going to sing in Riverdale?
We have the musical episode coming up and yes, you're going to hear me sing.
Before we go, I wanted to ask you about Luke Perry, whose passing was a shock to us all. Did you get to work with him or spend any time with him at all?
I filmed two scenes with Luke and I yeah … that guy is just full of love and life, man. We're all here getting through everything that's going on together.
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Charles Melton Tries On This Season’s Freshest New Menswear
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Holly Andres
Styled by Lucy Armstrong
Grooming by Johnny Hernandez for Fierro Agency
