Some of the best relationships on television are between a mother and a daughter, and what you see between Veronica and Hermione Lodge on The CW’s Riverdale is no exception. As played by Camila Mendes and Marisol Nichols, the pair is settling into a live in Hermione’s home town after a “fall from grace” of Madoff-like proportions from Veronica’s crooked father, Hiram.
We spoke with Marisol Nichols (Resurrection Blvd., 24, Teen Wolf) about that mother-daughter relationship as well as her character’s relationships with others recently at the Television Critics Press Tour, to learn more about the character who was called “Hermione” decades before such a name was made cool by Harry Potter.
KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: Can you talk about the relationship that Hermione has with Veronica?
MARISOL NICHOLS: If I do say so myself, we have the coolest relationship as mother/daughter. There’s this really cool arc that they go through where you see how this mother and daughter have survived, being extremely smart and extremely New York, and they play this sort of cat and mouse game, but at the heart of it, they love each other.
Me and Cami [Camila Mendes] were talking, like, we love our relationship. It’s really great and very real. I think the audience is going to love it as well. It’s really good.
Can you talk about working with Camila Mendes as an actress?
I love her to death. Cami is amazing. Cami reminds me of me when I first moved from Chicago to L.A. with a series. I was like “oh my God! Okay. Do I know what I’m doing?” And then “Hell yeah! I know what I’m doing!” She’s really, really great. Very grounded as an actress. And we both really just care about the work, and we genuinely like each other, so it makes it really easy.
I saw on IMDb that one of your earliest roles was on Beverly Hills, 90210. Did you work with Luke Perry then?
Isn’t that hilarious? I remember meeting him. I mainly worked with Jamie Walters and Brian Austin Green. And then Brian worked with us on Resurrection Blvd. for, like, the entire series. So it’s kind of funny. I was like “Luke do you remember me? I did an episode of 90210 when I first moved here!” [Laughs]
What’s it like to work with Luke and have that relationship on this show?
Okay. So. Everyone in the business knows that Luke Perry is one of the nicest guys in the world, so to work with him is a dream, because A, I’m working with somebody really, really nice. We really get along. And he’s a really good actor. I know he’s known for 90210 which is sort of this “teen show” and so you don’t really give a lot of credit, but he’s done some amazing work, with Fifth Element and all these amazing projects over the years, and he’s a very good, grounded, layered actor. So, I really enjoy working with him, and it’s not so bad, having a love interest to be Luke Perry, so it’s nice.
Does anyone in town find it odd that Hermione lives in a penthouse apartment with a butler yet has to work at Pop’s to make money?
I find it odd that Hermione lives in a penthouse and is working at Pop’s, doing the whole diner thing. I have a hard time feeling sorry for her, and I think the audience too, considering this gigantic rock on her finger, but at the same time, she’s desperately hanging on to that world that she came from as much as she can, and so she doesn’t want to open up the can of worms. She could, if she wanted to just live off the money, but she wants to do things the right way and do things the clean way, to kind of break free of what Hiram has dragged them into.
Do you think that Fred, Hermione, and Alice Cooper might have been the Archie, Veronica, and Betty of their day?
Of course they were! I keep pitching to Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] a big 80’s flashback episode where you see where they got their personalities from. What are the rivalries between Alice and Hermione? I have this whole backstory that [Fred and Hermione] were in love, and Hermione made a mistake, and chose Hiram.
Are sparks going to fly when Mary Andrews comes back, and have you gotten to work with Molly Ringwald?
I am so excited! [At the time of this interview being conducted] My second scene as soon as I get back is with Molly Ringwald. I’m really, really excited about that. It’ll be interesting, because she’s got to know that they had a thing… but I think the most conflict is going to be when Hiram comes back and finds out. I’m a little scared of what that’s going to entail.
Do you have any dream casting for Hiram?
Yes! Antonio Banderas! Antonio Banderas as Hiram Lodge!
What does Hermione think of Mary, anyway?
I think Hermione understands Mary. Hermione has made her own bed. She married a guy who she didn’t bother to find out too much about, and she married him, and he turned into something completely different than what she thought she was getting into, naively and stupidly. I’m sure there are a lot of marriages out there that people have done the same thing, and they were like “I didn’t really know him” or “I didn’t really realize all of those things.” So I think with Mary, she’s probably kind of jealous that she got to be with Fred all of these years and didn’t get dragged into this underground world and crime elements that she does not want to be a part of.
Do you think it’s helpful to the older viewers like myself who might have seen all of the “parent” actors when they were younger in the 90’s, that they are familiar faces?
I think so? I hope so. I think the really cool thing is that all the actors that are playing the “kids” are new, so we’ve never seen them, but all the adults… it’s Luke Perry! It’s Molly Ringwald! Hopefully they’ll recognize me! So I think it gives the audience something to recognize. Hopefully they’re like “oh, I like that person!” I think it’ll be fun for our older audience.
Will we get to see Hermione lock horns with Cheryl Blossom’s parents at any point?
Oh, God, yeah. Everyone in Riverdale is going to lock horns at one place or another. But, yes. You’re going to see the conflict between the Lodges and the Blossoms as well. It’s funny that this small town seems like there would be nothing going on, and it makes me wonder “well, if we have these secrets, what does every small town have? Do other towns have secrets like this?” And I believe they do. Locking horns between these families is fun.
Riverdale has another new episode this Thursday at 9PM on The CW! Browse KSiteTV for more content including a podcast related to the show!
