What is the dynamic between Cheryl and Betty (Lili Reinhart)? “In the beginning of the season, Cheryl hates Betty, because Polly and Jason dated, and Polly is Betty’s sister, and I am in love with Jason,” Petsch explains. “He’s the only person that I ever loved who loves me unconditionally, so it’s tough, because I kind of blame her for taking him away from me, and then as the season continues, we grow close. I’m trying not to be too obvious, but they grow close because of events that unravel as the season opens and we end up kind of forming a very strange and unusual bond.”
Would you like to see Riverdale doing Afterlife with Archie, and might we see a zombie Jason as part of that? “That’s a very good question,” she says. “You might see a zombie Jason. I love Afterlife with Archie and I would love to do that. Originally, we had talked about doing a Halloween episode that was like that. Unfortunately, we don’t air around October at all, so we won’t be able to do that, but knowing the writer and knowing that he is the writer of Afterlife with Archie, he would love to do that, and I’m sure he finds ways to sneak everything in. So, we will definitely sneak that in as well.”
Will Cheryl start to develop feelings for anyone else in Season 1, even out of spite? “I asked the same question when we first started the season, and we kind of toggle between those two ideas,” Madelaine tells us “Truly, Cheryl’s so broken up about the loss of her brother and the person who loved her more than anybody. He’s the only person she’s ever noted unconditional love to. She doesn’t have a close relationship with her family at all. So throughout the season, I think you’ll see a hint of her maybe slowly transitioning out of that depression, but you won’t see any love interests this season. I think it’s just Jason.”
About the Cheryl and Josie dynamic: “It’s very interesting, because I feel like we’ve got a very interesting social hierarchy in our high school,” she says. “Both Josie and I — although we never really interact too often — we kind of have an understanding that we’re both the Queen Bees of the school, although I obviously am more of a Queen Bee, naturally. She kind of rules the musical side of the school and I don’t really mess with that. I rule the cheerleader area. We rule together, but we don’t really talk about it that often. So, there are moments when you see us interact where you realize that we actually are quite good friends, but we don’t really talk that often because I think it’s like a mutual understanding thing.”
Considering she’s had a thing for a redhead before, could Cheryl start chasing after Archie? “You know, I do think that,” she affirms. “I haven’t heard that, but I’ve heard some whisperings, and because our family is so redhead-focused, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see my parents forcing me into some interesting situations with Archie as well.”
How involved are the adults in this story, with Cheryl’s parents in particular? “This is not just a teenager show, which is why I think this is so different for The CW specifically,” she says. “The parents have their own world and their own drama going on that integrates very well into us, as well. I mean, we’ve got Hermione and Fred, and we’ve got Alice, and we’ve got Hal, we’ve got all of these different people who play such key roles in the show. My parents do pop in and out quite often, since their son has died, and you see a very interesting dynamic with the way that the parents play with the kids. You see the relationships between the families, which is so important, and the relationship between my family is not good, and you really see that unravel between [episodes] 1 and 5, really.”
Is there a specific episode that’s a really good Cheryl story? “Number Five,” she confirms. “Number Five is my brother’s memorial, so it’s all of my family’s stuff unraveling. You get the secrets between the Blossoms and the Coopers that go back beyond the Polly and Jason stuff, and you get to learn more about that.”
Are we going to see any flashbacks with Jason at any point? “Absolutely, you will,” she says. “You saw some in the pilot, and that’ll be a continuing motif, I think, until we find out who murdered him.”
How much time passes between these episodes? “They’re kind of back to back,” she reveals. “Right when the pilot’s over, we kind of go straight into Episode Two, days later. It’s very quick, short days in between. Some are three to four days and there’s maybe a day between the next episodes. They’re very short spans of time right now.”
You can watch video of our on-set interview below. Be sure to follow our Riverdale-based Twitter feed @RiverdaleTV for more show updates as they become available!
