The Queen Bee… er, make that Queen Vee of Riverdale High School is ready to make her TV debut. The pilot for ‘Riverdale’ a dramatic re-imagining of the classic Archie Comics line has cast newcomer Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge. Mendes is a true newcomer with only one acting credit on her resumé in a short film called ‘Randy Doe’.
The TV version of Veronica is described as “a silver-tongued high school sophomore who returns to Riverdale from New York, eager to reinvent herself after a scandal involving her father.” In the classic comics, Veronica is the daughter of wealthy– but often sinister– businessman Hiram Lodge. Despite their wealth, she attends public school where she vies for the affections of Archie Andrews against her best friend, girl-next-door Betty Cooper.
On ‘Riverdale’, Mendes’ Veronica will compete with Lili Reinhart who is playing Betty. New Zealand import K.J. Apa plays Archie, while Cole Sprouse plays his (ex?) best friend Jughead.
Also part of the cast are Luke Perry as Archie’s dad Fred Andrews, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom and Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy, lead singer of Josie & The Pussycats.
Also part of the series, but unannounced are Reggie Mantle, Riverdale’s social climbing schemer and Kevin Keller, an openly gay student, who tends to serve as Jughead’s other best friend.
The show’s synopsis reads:
“Set in present day and based on the iconic Archie Comics characters, ‘Riverdale’ is a surprising and subversive take on Archie, Betty, Veronica, and their friends, exploring the surrealism of small town life — the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade.”
‘Riverdale’ is being executive produced by Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter (‘Arrow’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Supergirl’) and Archie Comics’ Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Jon Goldwater. Aguirre-Sacasa wrote the pilot episode.
Are you ready for this modern take on the classic Archie Comics gang?
Source: Comic Book Movie
