KJ Talks Candidly about the World of Archie

Welcome to the scandalous, abs-filled, hormonal world of Riverdale. The CW teen drama has taken a decidedly broodier and definitely sexier take on the Archie comics, and a lot of that has to do with casting, with New Zealander KJ Apa picked for the lead role, E. Alex Jung writes for entertainment site Vulture.

It’s been a big year for Apa: He also stars in the Lasse Hallström movie A Dog’s Purpose. Vulture got on the phone to talk to Apa about suffering through a “gnarly” dye job, who he’s shipping on Riverdale, and what it’s like to become a sex object.

“I always go by KJ. My real name is Keneti James Fitzgerald, but KJ stands for Keneti James, which is a Samoan name,” Apa says.

“I have a massive Samoan family. And the Samoan culture has always played a massive part of my life. I’ve got hundreds of family on my dad’s side that live in Samoa and in New Zealand. 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. We go there at least once a year to see family. And my dad recently just got a traditional Samoan tattoo. He’s a chief in Samoa, so he got that tattoo to commemorate it.

“Before I became involved with [Riverdale], I wasn’t familiar with Archie at all, but I think, because of how famous the Betty and Archie thing is, I would love to see Betty and Archie get together. I think it’s so iconic and everyone kind of wants that. If there was any relationship that I would ship for, it would be Archie and Betty.”

Original article by E. Alex Jung, Vulture, February 9, 2017.