Madelaine Petsch

CW’s newest series, Riverdale, stars 22-year-old newcomer Madelaine Petsch who plays Queen Bee Cheryl Blossom. The teen drama has been receiving rave reviews so we thought it was only fitting to speak to the star of the show to get all the juicy gossip.

BELLO MAG: You play one of the leads, Queen Bee Cheryl Blossom, on the new CW show Riverdale. This is your first big TV show, congrats! What was the process like getting to this point?

MADELAINE PETSCH: Thank you! I’m so excited and still pinch myself daily. I mean, I’ve known what I wanted to do since I could talk, so it’s just been a lot of time and hard work. I moved to LA straight out of graduating my arts high school and worked three jobs to afford living while taking acting classes and auditioning often. I started building up relationships the more I went into the same rooms to audition at the same time becoming more confident in my craft. Finally, in the last year before Riverdale I was able to just focus on auditions and learning. I ended up auditioning for David Rapaport, Riverdale’s amazing casting director, and he immediately knew I would be a good fit for Cheryl.

BM: What’s it like playing the sassy villain type? What are your favourite qualities about her?

MP: I love playing Cheryl, it’s always something fun, new and exciting. My favourite parts about Cheryl are all her layers. She may be the villain, but she’s also so emotional and really just young, insecure and trying to find herself while hiding behind this curtain. Meanwhile trying to cope with the loss of her only ally (Jason) and now being stuck in a home alone with her parents who don’t love her or care about her. She’s so complex and has some of the best sassy one-liners.

BM: What can you say about her character development this season?

MP: She starts as this ruthless mean girl and then you learn more about her family life and how she deals with the loss of her twin brother, the only person she ever loved or trusted. Cheryl’s façade gets pulled away little by little and you really find this broken little girl, lashing out at people because she’s truly lonely. Not a side you get to see of the villain very often.

BM: Are we going to find out what happened to her twin brother Jason Blossom by the end of the season?

MP: Yes you are.

BM: What are the cast relationships like when the cameras aren’t rolling? Do you guys watch every week’s episode together?

MP: We are like one big family on and off set. We do watch the episodes together when we are in the same cities and have an on-going group text message all the time!

BM: Fans have gone wild for your beautiful red hair! Is it natural or did you have to dye it for the show?

MP: Au naturale. Got it from my mama haha. So funny too, I hated it when I was a kid and now I feel like it’s one of my favourite physical attributes.

BM: So your character Cheryl is very made-up and she loves her red lippy. What is your make-up style like when you’re not acting?

MP: When I’m not on set I’m either fresh faced to give my skin some breathing time or if I’m going out I prefer more of a nude palette, usually a mauve lip and some light brown eyeshadow!

BM: Do you prefer having make-up artists or do you like doing it yourself?

MP: When I haven’t done my own makeup in a while because I’ve been working a lot then I miss doing my own but then when I’ve been doing my own for a while I miss getting it done. Grass is always greener!

BM: If you had to change up your hair in some way, dye, cut, style etc. (and you were allowed to) what would you do?

MP: I’m pretty fond of my hair the way it is, that being said I guess I wouldn’t mind changing up the style a bit so it wasn’t SO much maintenance. I know if my hair stylist is reading this he will be nodding and saying “I told you so”.

BM: What can you tease about the episodes to come on Riverdale?

MP: There are so many unexpected twists and turns it’ll make your head spin 😉 Oh and Cheryl goes off the deep end. That’s all I can share!

BM: Is there anything else you want to share with your fans?

MP: Just that I can’t thank them enough for all their love and support! They truly are the best.

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Photographers Noah Asanias + Leslie Alejandro =

Styling Gian Carlo Umahon

Makeup Minjee Mowat

Hair Michael Gibson

Production Bello Media Group