Name a more epic female duo on TV right now than Betty & Veronica from “Riverdale.” Go ahead, we dare you!
Lili Reinhart & Camila Mendes have brought Archie’s favorite ladies to life on the CW’s breakout show and they are just as great of friends in real life as they are on screen! The two recently did a bright and colorful photoshoot for Cosmo at a roller rink where they opened up being typecast, depression and even sorted their co-stars into high school stereotypes.
The best moment, though, is when they played the Newlywed Game to find out who knew each other better. We won’t spoil it for you, but watch below to find out Lili’s go to karaoke song, Camila’s guilty pleasure and more.
Cosmo Interview Highlights:
On getting typecast before Riverdale:
Camila Mendes (Veronica): A lot of the roles [I read for] were the urban, underprivileged kids that grew up in the Bronx, on shows that were about crime. I didn’t want to play a stereotype. I still find myself, even post-Riverdale, where I’m not Latina enough and I’m not white enough. I’m somewhere in between. I was born and raised in the U.S., but both my parents are full Brazilian. Also, Brazilian is different than Dominican; that’s different than Venezuelan. They’re all different types of Latinos. You can’t can’t categorize them as one big thing.
Lili Reinhart (Betty): I’m white and I’m blonde. Sometimes that can be a blank slate. It can go anywhere and be very malleable. But other times, you’re put into the girl-next-door corner, which is what Betty is — but Betty is so much more. With Betty, I look the part but there’s a darkness. That goes for me as well.
On Lili’s struggle with depression and anxiety:
Lili: There’s no pattern necessarily. It can come and go in waves, which makes it a little more difficult because you’re not really sure when one point ends and another point begins. It can be based off a certain situation, or it can be seasonal, or it can have no reason at all, because it doesn’t need a reason. It’s a chemical in [my] brain that I have to take medication for, so I don’t constantly feel doom and gloom and sadness.
[I’m speaking out about it because] I felt like the celebrities and people who did talk about it were commended for being so brave. It’s not something that you need to praise anyone for. It should be commonplace. It should be something that we talk about in school. The fact that it isn’t makes people ashamed of it. For teenage kids, they feel a pressure to sweep things under the rug because they feel like they’re not important enough to have problems. They aren’t being bullied so why are they upset? I dealt with that. I had friends at school. People were like, “You have no reason to be upset. Your feelings are illogical.” My message is that that’s not true. You don’t have to have a reason. Your feelings are validated by the fact that you’re feeling them.
On how they’d categorize their co-stars by high-school stereotype:
Lili: KJ [Apa, who plays Archie] is the jock.
Camila: Constantly working out. Twice a day.
Lili: Cole is the funny, sarcastic—
Camila: Nerd? He’s so smart. Annoyingly. Don’t write that down. It’ll get to his head.
Lili: [To Camila] You’re like the cool girl to me. You have, like, your fuckin’ jeans on and your cool shoes and your sunglasses and your coffee, and you’re like, “Hey guys.”
Camila: You make me sound so annoying!
Lili: No, you’re like the cool fuckin’ chick who doesn’t have to try. What am I?
Camila: I don’t know what stereotype. She’s like the stoner girl, not because she smokes weed — because she rolls in with her sweatpants.
Lili: I like that! I’m the girl who doesn’t give a fuck.
Camila: You’re chill AF.
For more, visit cosmopolitan.com.
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