Riverdale star Lili Reinhart on her surprising side hustle and the power of J.Lo
Lili Reinhart discusses what it was like to work with Jennifer Lopez and why, after recently coming out as bisexual, her friends are beginning to understand her love of strip clubs.
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American actress Lili Reinhart opens up about what it was like to work with Jennifer Lopez and why, after recently coming out as bisexual, her friends are beginning to understand her love of strip clubs.
You’re about to start shooting the new season of Riverdale, where you play Betty Cooper. How do you feel about the show now, almost five seasons in?
It changed my entire life very drastically and very quickly. I’m very thankful and grateful for Riverdale. I love Betty. To play someone that I care about and have fans who watch the show and care about her as well, I don’t take it for granted.
You also write poetry – your first collection, Swimming Lessons, tackles love, heartbreak and what it means to be a young woman. Why poetry?
I like writing. I find it very therapeutic. I thought it might be nice to share my poetry with the world. It was very intimidating. You can either appreciate the vulnerability and how sometimes it [poetry] can seem cheesy but true to human nature.
It feels weird for me to call myself a “poet”. It’s my thoughts. I’m not trying to be like, “Yeah, I’m a poet!” Maybe that’s what impostor syndrome is, I’m not entirely sure.
There is a disclaimer at the start of Swimming Lessons that explains the poems were inspired by your own life but also “experiences that are not my own”. Why is that an important distinction to make?
I didn’t want everyone to be trying to make their own conclusions, “Oh, this is about this person!” Because they do that and they are going to. The poems, I think of them more as stories in a way … that helped me express a certain emotion. They aren’t necessarily exactly what happened.
You have previously spoken about your experiences with anxiety, mental health and body image. Has speaking out helped you?
I struggle with [body image]. The way that I heal is through talking about things. My close friends hear me talk endlessly. And I’m like, “Look, this is how I process my emotions. And even if it’s excessive, I’m working through it.”
I do think the way we talk about body image, it’s very f*cked up. I really hate the way bodies are portrayed in the media, like, if you’re willing to show that you’ve gained weight, you’re suddenly a hero.
Why is it that people pay so much attention to me when I talk about the fact that I’ve gained weight? Oh, it’s because there’s literally no-one else talking about it. I don’t see models talking about it, which is a severe issue in the modelling industry.
Camila [Mendes] and Madelaine [Petsch] from my show [Riverdale], we’re re-watching Gossip Girl. Those girls [have] perfect bodies, and it makes you think you need to look a certain way. I guess I like talking about it because I don’t want people to think they have to look a certain way.
Last year, you played a stripper alongside Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers. What was it like to work with her?
I didn’t really understand fully the scope of Jennifer Lopez until, I think, after I was done shooting it. And then I was like, “Oh sh*t, I just shot a movie with JLo.” I really didn’t try to go into that experience looking at it like that – she’s a human being, she has a family, she’s kind and hardworking.
I was just trying to look at her like a co-worker who I deeply admired and not like a superstar. And as we were promoting it, I was like, “Yeah … she’s a superstar.”
The film sparked a big reaction and a lot of discussion. What do you make of the experience?
It was just so cool. No-one tells a story from the perspective of a stripper. Stories don’t try to make strippers or sex workers out to be anything other than what they do and so, to kind of know these women as women and not just for their line of work was important.
It definitely made me appreciate strip clubs more. I love strip clubs now. Strip clubs are like Disneyland to me.
Do you go to them often?
Yes, I love them. I just came out as bisexual recently, so it’s not really a surprise to anyone. My close friends and my castmates, maybe they didn’t know that I was bisexual, they were probably like, “Why does this girl like strip clubs so much?” And I’m like, well, now you know.
Swimming Lessons by Lili Reinhart (HarperCollins, $24.99) is available from Tuesday.