57 Fun And Amazing Riverdale Facts That Will Entertain You

Since its premiere on January 26, 2017, 'Riverdale' has earned a strong fanbase.

What made 'Riverdale' win so many of its fans' hearts and make these fans keep coming back to it over and over again? Some might say it's ‘Bughead’ or ‘Verchie’, while others would say it's an interesting and dark take on Archie Comics.

Based on the famous characters of Archie Comics, 'Riverdale' is an American teen drama television series that was adapted for the television network The CW by the chief creative officer of Archie Comics, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is a comic book author, playwright, and screenwriter who is famous for his work on TV series like 'Glee', 'Riverdale', 'Big Love', and 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'.

He has also worked for the ever-famous Marvel Comics.

The series ‘Riverdale’ was produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. The adaptation was initially created to be a feature film for Warner Bros. Pictures; it was later decided to be made as a television series for Fox.

In the year 2015, the project moved to The CW and a pilot was ordered. The filming for the series took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

When the comics were first published over 75 years ago, they were loved by many. Numerous titles were published about the life of Archie and his friends navigating through relationships and comic adventures in the small town of 'Riverdale'. 

'Riverdale' first debuted on January 26, 2017, and has earned many positive reviews.

The series was renewed for its sixth season which premiered on November 16, 2021.

The series, just like its comic version, features the adventures of Archie and his friends and starts with the drowning of Jason Blossom, the twin brother of our red hair bombshell, Cheryl Blossom, and the series kicks off with the investigation that is taken up by Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones, the narrator.

With that, let’s jump into the Riverdale universe and get to know the stars a little closer.

If you love interesting facts like these, further reads like what was Marilyn Monroe's first movie and animals that hatch from eggs should definitely be your next stop.

What is Riverdale's real name?

The TV show is based on the characters of Archie Comics: Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones.

The TV show features the stars KJ Apa, Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, and Camila Mendes as the central characters that are based on the characters of its original comic. The role of Archie Andrews, a high school football player with a strong passion for music, is played by KJ Apa.

Betty Cooper, the sweet and beautiful girl next door, is played by Lili Reinhart.

Veronica Lodge, an ex-wealthy socialite who recently moved to Riverdale from New York and the Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) of the series, is played by Camila Mendes. Cole Sprouse plays the role of Jughead Jones, Archie's best friend and a social outcast.

Other featured actors are Marisol Nichols, who plays the role of Veronica's mother, Hermione Lodge. Madelaine Petsch plays Cheryl Blossom, Ashleigh Murray plays Josie McCoy, and Alice Cooper is played by Mädchen Amick.

The role of Fred Andrews was played by Luke Perry, and his wife or the mother of Archie is played by Molly Ringwald.

Other notable roles are Hiram Lodge, played by Mark Consuelos; Kevin Keller, played by Casey Cott; F.P. Jones, played by Skeet Ulrich; Reggie Mantle, played by Charles Melton; Toni Topaz, played by Venessa Morgan; Fangs Fogarty, played by Drew Ray Tanner; and Tabitha Tate, played by Erinn Westbrook.

Riverdale Cast Rules

As the series started becoming more and more famous, Netflix started becoming more protective of the cast, and by now, the greatest problem that the cast probably faces is remembering all the rules and regulations. Let’s take a look at some of the strict rules that the stars have to follow on the sets of ‘Riverdale’.

Firstly, the stars are not allowed to dye their hair any other color than the hair color the character is supposed to have. This is important because, for some of the actors, their characters are recognized by their hair.

For instance, Jughead Jones has his famous hairstyle, along with the same beanie that represents the crown on Jughead from the comics.

Cole Sprouse can’t just change his hair whenever and however he wants. Other cast members, too, have to maintain the same hairstyles and dye their hair regularly to achieve the desired hair color because they do not have it naturally.

The cast members are also not allowed to arrive at the set with makeup applied. This is mostly because the makeup artists do not want to waste their time removing and then reapplying.

Right, we know. Not a biggie for the male cast members, but you might ask if the female cast members are fine with it. Well, even if they are not, the fact that filming starts at 5 o’clock in the morning means that most likely no one really cares about it that early in the morning.

Out of all the rules, the one that Netflix is particularly strict about is an attempt at avoiding any kinds of spoilers leaking out.

During interviews, the interviewer can be very tricky in trying to squeeze out information and therefore the actors are provided with a massive sheet that tells them what is allowed to be spoken of and what’s not.

To secure the plot from being leaked, Netflix takes up another security measure, which is by adding passwords to the emails they send out to the cast members. This makes it a lot more difficult and complicated for hackers to hack into their mail and leak any plot details.

Netflix also provides the cast members with a unique password, which means that even if anything does get leaked, they can easily trace it back to the leaker.

Netflix also tries to avoid any scheduling conflicts, for example, a clash in the schedule for filming if the actors sign a different project at the same time as the ‘Riverdale’ filming.

The actors of this TV show are not allowed to sign any other projects. However, the stars are allowed to take up new projects only if they don’t clash with the schedule.

For instance, when Cole Sprouse was done filming for all his scenes in ‘Riverdale’ season three, he was allowed to take up a new project for the movie ‘5 Feet Apart’.

Is Riverdale based on Archie Comics?

Yes, Riverdale is an adaptation of the famous Archie Comic books. However, it does have its own touch to it that makes it different from the comic books.

If you’ve read the comics and also indulged in watching the series, the first scene itself is enough to tell you that although it's an adaptation, the series has added its personal touch of a dark twist to the plot.

The series has taken a huge turn and introduced mysterious murders and a couple of shady characters. However, the comic books, unlike the TV series, is mostly just about the everyday struggles of a normal teenager like love triangles or saving up money for dates.

In contrast, in the show, Archie and his friends find themselves facing issues like violence, murder, secrets, cults, and suspicious adults.

The Jughead in the series shares a lot of physical similarities with the one in the comics: skinny, similar fashion statements, and a similar quirky hat (although the Jughead in the comics wears a crown).

But that’s all the similarities one can find between the show and the comic book Jughead. The personality and plot for Jughead in the series are completely different from the ones in the comics.

Being the leader of the group called Southside Serpents and also being in a relationship with Betty Cooper, played by Lili Reinhart, was definitely not the Jughead you may remember from the comics.

Another character who is different from his comic self is Archie Andrews’ father, Fred Andrews. The Fred from the comics is a happily married middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a potbelly. However, the Fred that we meet on the TV screen is divorced, owns a construction company, and also has dated Veronica’s mom briefly.

Although the other characters do have a few similarities with their comic selves, the Lodge family has been completely revised. Hiram Lodge is rich in both the comic books and in the series, but the comic version of Mr. Lodge is not a criminal: he is equally rich as in the series, but legally.

He is also close with his daughter Veronica, who is played by Camila Mendes in the series.

Despite these differences, the series does share a few similarities as well, like Betty and Veronica’s friendship, Archie and Veronica’s relationship, Archie and Betty being best friends, Betty being head over heels for Archie (although in the series, she moves on and finds love with Jughead), and Jughead’s huge appetite.

Riverdale Behind The Scenes Facts

Despite a tight schedule and a plethora of strict rules, the cast of ‘Riverdale’ has a lot of fun as well. 

Remember the pictures of Fred Andrews that Mary goes through in the season four premiere? Those are real young Luke Perry pictures.

Cole Sprouse wore the same beanie for the entire season one. By the end of the season, they finally got a new beanie, which again got stolen. 

We all remember the moment when Archie and Kevin kissed in the episode ‘Wicked Little Town’, right? Guess what? The kiss was completely unscripted. Casey Cott and KJ Apa came up with the idea during the filming.

Cole Sprouse wanted the character of Jughead to be asexual; in fact, he fought for it. Well, guess we’re lucky his wishes didn’t come true and we luckily got to witness the incredible chemistry of Bughead.  

You might remember the first scene of the series, the one where Cheryl weeps about her brother’s death in the Sweetwater River. The scene was really hard for Madeleine to shoot because she is afraid of open bodies of water.

Katherine Langford had auditioned for the role of Betty Cooper. Katherine Langford later ended up playing Hannah Baker in the series ‘13 Reasons Why’.

For the role of Archie, numerous other real redheads were auditioned before anyone even considered KJ.

Kj bleaches his roots every two weeks to maintain his red hair for the role of Archie. He also used to bleach his eyebrows but had to stop because it was burning into his skin and was very painful.

The process of Camila Mendes’ audition was very long and nerve-racking compared to the auditions of other cast members. Her audition process went on for about six months. The producers brought in a lot of other actors to compete with her but it turned out that none were as good as Camila.

Although coincidental, Lili Reinhart and Mädchen Amick, her onscreen mom, have a matching arrow tattoo on each of their forearms, and from the same tattoo artist.

Madeleine has always been a huge Archie Comics fan and also has a huge collection of her own. 

Remember the scene where Archie saves Cheryl from drowning? KJ Apa really did break his hand while filming that scene.

Did you know that Lili was not the first choice for the role of Betty? It was Madeleine who was brought in to read for the role. However, the moment she auditioned, the casting director could instantly see a Cheryl in her.

KJ Apa finds it really hard to pronounce ‘girlfriend’ and ‘burger’ in an American accent. The New Zealander does a pretty good job with his accent until it comes to him saying these two words.

Madeleine and Lili became close friends after they stayed together for the entire first season.

If it wasn’t for the scene of Josie, Ashleigh Murray might have given up acting and we might have ended up losing a great gem.

After her graduation from New York University, ‘Riverdale’ was Camila’s first professional job in acting. Also, Cole Sprouse and Camila’s friendship goes way back to their college days. These two stars went to college at New York University.

The producers of the series have always been scared of spoilers being leaked. This is why they shot multiple scenes with a different person killing Jason Blossom in each scene.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 57 fun and amazing Riverdale facts that will entertain you then why not take a look at animals that live in death valley or what is the slowest animal in the world.