KJ Apa admits that he struggled with shirtless scenes on Riverdale.Photo:Kailey Schwerman/The CW
Kailey Schwerman/The CW
AsRiverdalewraps up its dark, spooky — andverysexy — tales of Archie Andrews and the gang after seven seasons on The CW, the cast is looking back at their years on the show.
And forKJ Apa, who played handsome, red-headed lead Archie, being a sex symbol didn’t always come easily.
“It can mess with your head a little bit,” the actor, now 26, toldVultureduring a roundtable discussion with his castmates. “I’ve been through a lot of s— with that.”
Apa says that, initially, he liked the idea of showing off his body.
“At first, as a young child, which is what I was, I thought it was cool,” says Apa, who was 19 when the show premiered in 2017. “You almost want the opportunity to be shirtless. I was like, ‘Yeah, let me take my shirt off. Boom!’ ”
Riverdale ends this year after 7 seasons on The CW.Nino Muñoz/The CW
Nino Muñoz/The CW
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But quickly, the actor — whose son with model Clara Berry,Sasha Vai Keneti Apa, turns 2 next month — discovered the downsides to all the shirtless scenes.
“You gotta consistently stay in incredible shape. It takes a toll,” he admits, saying he felt like he couldn’t speak up about how he was feeling.
“Even saying that I didn’t feel comfortable I had a hard time with. I thought people would be like, ‘Why not? Just f–ing do it, bro.’ ”
His well-documented six-pack wasn’t the only physical requirement of the role that Apa said he found challenging.
“I’ve walked around with red hair for the past seven years,” he said, adding that he’s looking forward to “not having red hair.”
“There’s a part of my identity that I want to get back that I don’t really feel connected to,” Apa said.
KJ Apa played redheaded Archie Andrews on Riverdale for 7 years.Marc Hom/The CW, Sam Tabone/WireImage
Marc Hom/The CW, Sam Tabone/WireImage
Apa isn’t the onlyRiverdaleresident who admitted to struggling with their body image. CostarMadelaine Petsch, who played wealthy bombshell Cheryl Blossom, agreed.
“The other day, I had to do a lingerie shoot and I felt so sh—y about my body I cried,” the actress, 28, shared. “I tried on six different outfits and eventually found something that made me feel remotely okay.”
Lili Reinhart, who played girl-next-door Betty Cooper, explained that “it’s been trippy to grow up on this show and constantly see images of myself from when I was 19, 20, 21.”
“My body does not look like that anymore,” Reinhart, now 26, said, adding that it’s part of the nature of her business.
“Just being an actor in general, you feel like you’re holding yourself to a consistent standard of ‘I must not age, and I must continue to look like I did.’ ”
Mendes, now 29, added, “it’s just the nature of being on a teen show.”
source: people.com
