Another “Riverdale” Actor Compared Filming The Show To Being In Jail
Looks like Riverdale craft services has put dum-dum juice back on the menu because one of the show’s sexy stars has compared filming to being in prison. Again. Or maybe these actors are taking PR advice from Ellen DeGeneres? Either way, unsmart. Last summer it was Lili Reinhart, who plays Betty. She said that having to shoot the show in Canada during the pandemic made her “genuinely feel like a prisoner.” Now Archie Andrews himself, K.J. Apa, has made a similar analogy. K.J. is starring in a movie called Songbird, a sci-fi thriller about COVID-19 (no thank you, please!). He chatted with his co-star, Demi Moore, for Interview Magazine, and said his new movie gig made him feel “free.” Cuz Riverdale = Jail.
Here’s his exact quote:
I felt so free coming from a show where I feel like I’m in jail a lot of the time. There are so many restrictions on what I can and can’t do. With this character, it was like, “Wow, this is what it’s like to really express myself in a natural way.” I wasn’t covered in makeup or hair products. I had long hair and a beard. I just felt free.
Oh boy, K.J. Just say you feel constricted! That you’re stressed! Why make the jail comparison? He does go on to say that he’s faced a lot of pressure playing Archie, and some Riverdale fans don’t see him or his co-stars as actual people:
As an actor, I will be judged on everything: my political opinions, my opinions on drugs, my opinions on the people I want to be with. Everything. It’s something I’ve had to come to terms with.
K.J. says he was a naïve 18-year-old when he got the role, and he learned a lot about humility from the late, great Luke Perry. Apparently Luke told him, “You’re only as important as the PA sitting over there.”
I believe K.J. is feeling the pressure of being famous, but being in prison is nothing like starring on a hit CW show. Prison ain’t just long shoot days, heavy makeup, and getting paid big money to deliver ridiculous lines like, “I’m gonna make my bones once and for all, Mr. Lodge.” Nope, prison is hard time. It’s playing football in the blistering sun with your fellow male model prisoners while high school cheerleaders perform a Pussycat Doll rendition of “Jailhouse Rock” on the other side of a chainlink fence. That’s real prison, K.J. Don’t get it twisted.
Pic: YouTube