Madelaine Petsch on 'Riverdale' Season 3, Cheryl's Serpent Style, and More
On Riverdale, Cheryl Blossom is the girl you don't want to f*ck with. She won't just stab you in the back—she'll shoot an arrow through it (while wearing a fabulous archery cape, nonetheless.) But on the phone Madelaine Petsch is, perhaps unsurprisingly, more akin to Good Betty: You can tell in her voice that she'd do practically anything for the rest of the crew. In fact, she and Lili Reinhart (a.k.a. actual Betty) are such good friends, they even squeeze each other zits.
"Lili used to pop my pimples—seriously," says Petsch. "That might be a little bit of TMI, but whatever. We're all really close."
Over the past year, the two have been open books when it comes to their skin troubles. Reinhart's gotten deeply personal on how her acne gave her a form of body dysmorphia, while Petsch has used her platform as a spokeswoman for Bioré to discuss her struggles with cystic acne.
It's certainly not all heavy, though. And just as Petsch can toe the line between playing a high school mean girl and a young woman broken by her family's toxic past, she can navigate a conversation on everything from unrealistic beauty ideals to kombucha. Ahead of tonight's season three premiere, we caught up with the actress to talk Riverdale, Serpent Cheryl, and have her answer all our Big Beauty Questions.
Glamour: We know Cheryl and Toni Topaz spent the summer on a motorcycle road trip together. We're curious: What do you think they got up to during it?
Madelaine Petsch: I think they went and tore up the town. We've been talking a lot about Cheryl's innocence, and I think she's still very much getting used to having a girlfriend. I'm sure they had a wonderful trip together. But they're coming back to Riverdale with a vengeance. They're ready to show the world that they're happy together. Which I love. When we started season one, Cheryl was in such a positive place. Last season was really tough for her.
How do you personally want to see Cheryl's relationship shake out?
MP: I never want them to break up. I just think they're the best. I don't know if that's a weird thing to say, because of course it's more interesting to keep things shifting. But the beautiful thing I've noticed is that Cheryl has grown so much just having known Toni for those last eight episodes [of season two]. Toni's helped Cheryl show such a vulnerable, beautiful, open side of her. And now that Cheryl has that vault open, I don't want it to ever be closed. I think if she and Toni ever broke up, Cheryl would become a monster. If people thought she was bad at the beginning of season one, Cheryl would be a nightmare. Think about this: This is the first time she's ever been in love again after her mom called her "deviant" and kicked her love out of the house and out of her life. Cheryl's been pushing this down for so long, she's finally letting herself live her truth. This is such a big moment for her still. I think she's very excited about it. And you come into season three seeing her in a really positive and strong relationship, which I think is so important for them.
