32 Riverdale Facts More Shocking Than the Black Hood's True Identity

Currently in its fourth chapter, The CW's Riverdale continues to offer new, dark mysteries that affect Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, and Archie Andrews. Focusing on family, murder, and friendship, the series has captured fans with its juicy drama and eye candy. With unexpected plots, strong female characters, fashionable outfits, musical numbers, steamy romance, and Cheryl Blossom's sass and sarcasm, Riverdale has become one of the most topical shows.

That said, we've gathered 32 fascinating facts that even the most loyal fans probably don't know. What couple does KJ Apa ship? Who sleeps the most on set? What character did Cole Sprouse originally audition for? Find out ahead!

KJ Apa Ships . . . Barchie!
The CW via giphy

KJ Apa Ships . . . Barchie!

Apa believes Archie and Betty are endgame. "If there was any relationship that I would ship for, it would be Archie and Betty, which is kind of a classic, iconic relationship," he told Vulture.

Camila Mendes Draws Inspiration From . . . Blair Waldorf and Summer Roberts!
The CW via giphy

Camila Mendes Draws Inspiration From . . . Blair Waldorf and Summer Roberts!

Mendes looks up to Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl and Summer Roberts from The O.C. because they're strong, confident characters. "They say it like it is, and they're in control and are confident and have a lot of pride," she told Glamour.

Mendes explained what sparked that inspiration in an interview with The A.V. Club: "Even when I auditioned, I remember when I first went in, I was dressed really dark, more like an edgy rocker girl from New York. They're like, 'No, no, no, this girl is preppy.' So the next day at the audition, I went with the little skirt thing, and they're like, 'Wherever you can wear pearls, wear them.' I was like, 'Oh, I see.' They're like, 'Think Blair Waldorf.' So then I came up the next day looking more like Blair Waldorf. And I was like, 'Okay, now I understand who she is and in the context of the characters we've already grown up with.' But I also, I was a big O.C. fan myself, and Rachel Bilson was one of my idols. I loved her character of Summer Roberts. In terms of Veronica's humor, I channel Summer Roberts a lot."

Madelaine Petsch Is Afraid of Water Because of an Earlier Incident
The CW via giphy

Madelaine Petsch Is Afraid of Water Because of an Earlier Incident

Petsch is terrified of open bodies of water. "I was in a glass-bottomed boat that broke a long time ago, so I've always been kind of freaked out," she told Glamour. "I took a 16-hour trip to Norway on a boat that freaked me out, all of that. When I read the script for that scene in Riverdale, I assumed they'd use a stunt double in the boat. When I got to set, they were like, 'So, we're gonna put you in a wetsuit.' And I was like, 'Excuse me? A what?'"

Unlike Archie, Apa Is Great at Music
The CW via giphy

Unlike Archie, Apa Is Great at Music

Apa's natural talent of playing the guitar was discovered when he was 13-years-old. He even brought his guitar to his final audition.

"For my final screen test, I took in my guitar and played them a song," he told Collider. "I think that locked it in." That said, he believes his and Archie's musical tastes and skill levels are very different. "I don't know how to say it, but we're not at the same level, you know what I mean?" he told The Last Magazine. "Somehow I have to say that not in a cocky way, but he's a beginner. Also, the songs that he writes, I don't think I would listen to them. I do not have the same taste in music as him."

Riverdale Was Originally Pitched as a Movie
The CW via giphy

Riverdale Was Originally Pitched as a Movie

One vice president from Warner Bros. imagined Archie traveling through time and Louis C.K. playing the redheaded protagonist. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and director Jason Moore took a few weeks to unravel and explore this idea, but ultimately decided that a high-concept Archie film was not something they wanted to tell, Aguirre-Sacasa explained during The CW's 2017 Winter Television Critics Association panel.

Riverdale Doesn’t Exist in a Specifically Defined Time Period
The CW via giphy

Riverdale Doesn’t Exist in a Specifically Defined Time Period

Cole Sprouse confirmed that Riverdale doesn't take place in an exact time period after fans expressed their confusion of the show having both a 1950s vibe and modern technology. "Riverdale has no formal or announced time period as of now," he wrote during a Reddit AMA. "And with the amount of money we dedicate to atmospheric fog, the setting is supposed to feel dream-like."

Mendes Moved a Lot as a Kid — No, a LOT
The CW via giphy

Mendes Moved a Lot as a Kid — No, a LOT

Born in Virginia, Mendes moved 16 times, mainly in Florida, within the first decade of her life. "At first [we moved because of] my dad's job," she told BuzzFeed. "He just kept getting promoted and transferred, and then it was because my parents divorced and my mom couldn't decide where she wanted to live, ever. So my sister and I got swept into the whirlwind of her life."

Riverdale Is One Actress's First Role Ever!
The CW via giphy

Riverdale Is One Actress's First Role Ever!

Like a dream come true, Veronica is Mendes's first role. "This is my first big role . . . or first role ever," Mendes told V Magazine. "I finished school in December 2015, but I didn't actually graduate until May 2016. Right when I was finishing school, I started auditioning for the show."

Sprouse Originally Auditioned For . . . Archie!
The CW via giphy

Sprouse Originally Auditioned For . . . Archie!

Sprouse felt drawn to the character of Jughead. "It was funny, I was given Archie to read, at first," he told Collider. "Before I auditioned, there was a scene that he does with Jughead, and I wasn't too familiar with the characters, at that point. So, I read Jughead and I was thinking, 'Oh, I really like Jughead.' I found out that he's the narrator, and I found out all of these really cool things. He'll be the narrator for every episode, throughout every season. That's how you know I can't get [killed]. I thought it was a really interesting character."

Pop's Chock'Lit Shoppe Looks Almost Too Real
The CW via giphy

Pop's Chock'Lit Shoppe Looks Almost Too Real

The set for the iconic Pop's Diner is so convincing that truckers once accidentally pulled up to order food. "The set designers constructed such a realistic diner (pops), and with our studio being located near a major industrial thoroughfare, we had hungry 18 wheelers pulling into our lot under the perception that it was a functioning diner," Sprouse wrote during a Reddit AMA.

One Actress's Name Has a Fascinating Backstory
The CW via giphy

One Actress's Name Has a Fascinating Backstory

Petsch has an interesting story behind her first name. "My mom got to name my brother, so it was my dad who got to name me," Petsch told Glamour. "My dad said to my mom right before she was going to have her C-section, 'How about 'Street?' I think 'Street' is the best name for our daughter.' My mom started screaming and said, 'There is no way I am naming my daughter 'Street!'' And then she comes back after having me, looks at me, and is like, 'OK, I understand Street. Why don't we do 'Lane,' like lane on the road, and we'll call her Madelaine?' That's how my name came about."

One Actor Broke His Hand While Filming Cheryl's Big Rescue Scene
The CW via giphy

One Actor Broke His Hand While Filming Cheryl's Big Rescue Scene

Apa broke his hand while filming the season one finale. "In a weird way, and I told this to KJ, the second we knew that Archie was going to be punching through ice, I literally said, 'Now guys, KJ is such a committed actor, he's so method, he's so in this character and passionate, you have to make sure he doesn't hurt this hand,'" Aguirre-Sacasa told ComicBook.com. "So when at the end of that day I got a phone call that KJ had maybe broken his hand, I was like 'Yup.'"

"That was a gnarly day of shooting, I'll tell you that much," Apa told TV Line. "I wasn't really punching the ice, but I got a little bit too excited. I was punching a foam mat … [that was] sitting on the ice. … It was cold, so I didn't really feel it. It wasn't until 20 minutes after that I realized I broke my hand. I didn't tell anyone."

Petsch Thought She Was Auditioning for the Role of Betty
The CW via giphy

Petsch Thought She Was Auditioning for the Role of Betty

In 2015, Petsch auditioned for a role on The CW's Legends of Tomorrow. Although the casting director, David Rapaport, loved her, he wanted her for the pilot he was casting. A week later she met with the producers to audition to play Betty. However, Rapaport quickly notified her that she was actually auditioning for a different, secret role. "'You're obviously not auditioning for Betty; it's for another part that I can't tell you about yet. You look exactly like I imagine her to look, and you've got the presence,'" he told Petsch.

Multiple Endings For Jason Blossom’s Murder Were Shot
The CW via giphy

Multiple Endings For Jason Blossom’s Murder Were Shot

The show filmed different alternative endings to safeguard spoilers. During season one, Sprouse told Collider that they were "filming many different endings to Episode 12, as an attempt to confound everyone even further."

Mendes and Sprouse Attended NYU at the Same Time
The CW via giphy

Mendes and Sprouse Attended NYU at the Same Time

Although they weren't friends, both Mendes and Sprouse studied acting at New York University at the same time. "I saw him around and there was a time when we had class in the same building so I would always see him outside," Mendes told Office Magazine. "He was a weirdo! He had really long hair down to his butt cheeks. [Laughs] He was really shy too. I would see him at parties sometimes and I always kind of randomly talked to his brother [Dylan] but I never got a chance to talk to him because he was more to himself."

Apa Is Not a Natural Redhead
The CW via giphy

Apa Is Not a Natural Redhead

Apa's hair is naturally dark brown. The process of maintaining Archie's red hair isn't easy. "I had to go to the salon every two weeks to get it dyed and bleached and stuff," he told Vulture, noting that he can't go longer than two weeks since his hair grows really fast. Maintaining his hair also isn't painless. "It was really painful the first and the second time I got it done because they do my eyebrows as well," he told Vulture. "They ended up bleaching my eyebrows, and I had two holes — they burnt into my skin."

Lili Reinhart Advocates For Mental Health
The CW via giphy

Lili Reinhart Advocates For Mental Health

Reinhart chose to use her fame to help improve the lives of people affected by mental illnesses. "When I first had to think about what I wanted to represent as a person in the spotlight, I said I want to be a mental health advocate because it's something that I've dealt with my whole life," she told SELF. "To me, it was kind of a no-brainer — why would I not talk about it?"

Moreover, she has opened up about her own struggles with depression time after time on social media. "It came to a point where I told my parents I wanted to see a therapist and a psychiatrist and see if there was medication I could [go on]," Reinhart told Glamour. "I was very proactive. It makes me feel stronger to be able to say that I was able to seek help when I knew that I needed it and not just suffer in silence."

Petsch Is an Archie Comics Fangirl
The CW via giphy

Petsch Is an Archie Comics Fangirl

Petsch used to read the comic series growing up. "Archie Comics sent me vintage Cheryl Blossom comics, so I have a bunch of beautiful ones," she told Glamour. "They also send me all the covers they have now of the new Archie. I've got a crazy amount of them."

Jughead Only Has One Beanie
The CW via giphy

Jughead Only Has One Beanie

Jughead is known for his iconic grey beanie. Currently, Sprouse uses the same beanie to film in; however, at one point he did have a back-up hat. "We did get another one at the end of last season, but it was stolen when I placed it on a lunch table in the scene where Cheryl slapped Jughead," Sprouse wrote during a Reddit AMA. Sprouse also claims the beanie smells like Mane 'n Tail.

Sprouse Is the Most Adventurous of the Cast
The CW via giphy

Sprouse Is the Most Adventurous of the Cast

As a budding photographer, Sprouse is always exploring Vancouver on the weekend. "He's always scouting for locations. He'll be like, 'Anybody want to be my test subject for this location I'm at?'" Petsch told Glamour. Sprouse also encourages other castmates to go out and explore the city. "When we're filming, Cole encourages us, 'Go out and travel on the weekends when you're not filming!'" Reinhart told Cosmopolitan.

Petsch Is Vegan
The CW via giphy

Petsch Is Vegan

"I actually have been vegan basically my whole life," Petsch told us, noting that she does eat honey though. She also added that she's been plant-based her entire life, meaning she's never eaten meat before. Petsch has participated in one PETA awareness campaign as well. Her favorite restaurant is Veggie Grill.

Mendes’s First Paid Job Was . . . Jolly!
The CW via giphy

Mendes’s First Paid Job Was . . . Jolly!

Mendes dressed up as an elf at the mall and sold cotton candy for her first paying gig. She also did an IKEA commercial way after, she told Teen Vogue.

Mӓdchen Amick and Reinhart Bonded Over Having Matching Tattoos
The CW via giphy

Mӓdchen Amick and Reinhart Bonded Over Having Matching Tattoos

As the actresses discovered on their first table read, they both have arrow tattoos in the same spot by the same artist — opposite arms, though. "We immediately bonded over having the exact same tattoo on our arm," Amick told the BUILD Series. Amick's arrow is a symbol of her zodiac sign Sagittarius, while Reinhart's arrow is a symbol to commemorate her survival of depression, Amick told Young Hollywood.

Apa’s First Name “KJ” Stands for His Real Name
The CW via giphy

Apa’s First Name “KJ” Stands for His Real Name

"KJ" is an abbreviation of his real name. "My real name is Keneti James Fitzgerald, but K.J. stands for Keneti James, which is a Samoan name," he told Vulture.

Sprouse Is a Wise Old Soul
The CW via giphy

Sprouse Is a Wise Old Soul

Having already navigated fame, Sprouse gives the cast a lot of good advice about anything and everything. "I remember having this conversation with him before the show came out, and he was like, 'Don't read comments. Don't read your Twitter feed. Stay away from it. It's just going to get in your head,'" Mendes told Cosmopolitan.

Apa Has Four Tattoos
The CW via giphy

Apa Has Four Tattoos

"He has four tattoos now,'' Juliana Vit, the show's makeup department head, told Refinery29. That said, it's a bit of a process to cover the tattoos for scenes where Apa is shirtless. "It takes about 40 minutes to finish him, face and body, for shirtless scenes," she said.

Reinhart and Petsch Lived Together During Season One
The CW via giphy

Reinhart and Petsch Lived Together During Season One

Petsch admitted that she's close with Reinhart, especially since they lived together in Vancouver while filming the first season. Petsch properly met Reinhart in the airport for the first time, Petsch told Glamour. After that they became best friends. "We live together, so we can talk about my relationships or personal lives or whatever, and I feel like she's always got my back," she told Glamour.

Everybody’s First Impression of Apa Was Wrong
The CW via giphy

Everybody’s First Impression of Apa Was Wrong

"I definitely thought KJ hated me," Petsch told MTV News. Mendes noted that everybody thought that since he barely talked to any of the cast. Apa explained why he acted this way. "I was 18, fresh out of New Zealand pretty much, the only foreigner on this cast, and I just felt like an outsider," he said. Reinhart stated that she believes Apa has come out of his shell the most.

One Actor Sleeps a Lot on Set
The CW via giphy

One Actor Sleeps a Lot on Set

Skeet Ulrich, Mark Consuelos, Marisol Nichols, and Molly Ringwald told us that Apa is most likely to be found napping in between filming scenes. Ulrich also noted that Reinhart often naps on set.

Apa's American Accent Is Fake
The CW via giphy

Apa's American Accent Is Fake

Apa is from New Zealand, meaning he uses an American accent for his role as Archie. "I didn't 'work on it' – I mean, I worked on it by myself, but it was kind of one of those things that I was able to do," he told Glamour. "I'm lucky in that respect, I think because it means I don't have to focus on it while I'm working, I can just focus on the work." However, there is one word he often stumbles over. "The hardest word for me is girlfriend," he told On Demand Entertainment. "It's a hard one to get for some reason. I know a couple [of] mates of mine who are actors who struggle with that one as well."

Apa Has a Massive Samoan family
The CW via giphy

Apa Has a Massive Samoan family

The Samoan culture has played a large role in Apa's life. "I've got hundreds of family on my dad's side that live in Samoa and in New Zealand," he told Vulture. "I've just been surrounded by the culture ever since I was a kid. I actually used to speak Samoan, but me and my sisters all kind of lost it." His dad is even a chief in Samoa.