Riverdale, <\/em>the soapy teen thriller series that catapulted her to stardom at age 20, playing the brilliant girl next door, Betty, for seven seasons.<\/p>\nSince the monumental show\u2019s end in 2023, the now 29-year-old Reinhart likes to stay busy. She\u2019s filmed three movies this year, and she\u2019s currently promoting a new series, Hal & Harper, <\/em>now streaming on Mubi.<\/p>\n\u201cI felt so lucky and a little confused that he wanted me to be a part of a project that felt so special, but also very grounded and real, and given my previous work \u2026 I hadn\u2019t done anything that felt tonally like that at all,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m always a little bit flattered and confused when someone wants me to be in their movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nLili Reinhart, Mark Ruffalo and Cooper Raif in Hal & Harper. <\/em>(Doug Emmett\/MUBI)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAlthough it may seem like Reinhart has already tackled every possible outlandish plot point that an actor could face in Riverdale, Hal & Harper <\/em>is a wholly different challenge. It\u2019s a slow-paced, emotional show that follows two codependent siblings (Reinhart and the show\u2019s writer-director, Cooper Raiff) as they forge their own paths in life despite lingering grief from a childhood tragedy. It\u2019s quiet, prestigious and independently made \u2014 everything that Riverdale<\/em> was not. It\u2019s so different, in fact, that Reinhart didn\u2019t really understand why Raiff, who\u2019s known for his intimate dramedies, reached out to her.<\/p>\nAfter being approached, Reinhart quickly devoured the entire 300-page script for the series, which she called \u201cthe most special story\u201d she\u2019s ever read, moved by the authenticity of the dialogue and the unique cadence of the script. As a producer and actor with name recognition and a built-in army of fans watching her every move post-Riverdale,<\/em> Reinhart says she won\u2019t move forward with a project unless the writing grips her. As a result, she\u2019s done a lot of indie movies you may never have heard of. That\u2019s how she likes it.<\/p>\n\u201cI got a text the other day: \u2018Hey, would you be interested in a really large IP franchise?\u2019 And my first comment was, \u2018Well, I have to read the script,\u2019\u201d Reinhart says.<\/p>\n
She eventually found out that Raiff cast her because of the physicality he saw in her \u2014 he liked the way she took up space. Raiff wanted Harper to feel \u201crooted in the ground and really sturdy \u2026 like a tree\u201d \u2014 a foil to a tumultuous Hal, played by Raiff himself (Mark Ruffalo plays their single dad).<\/p>\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019m always a little bit flattered and confused when someone wants me to be in their movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>Lili Reinhart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nReinhart shrugs as she recounts this, not really sure what makes her this way. But it was key in helping her pull off the twist in Hal & Harper, <\/em>in which she portrays both the grown-up version of her character and the 9-year-old version the audience sees in flashbacks. Putting on overalls got her in the zone, and being around actual children made her feel a little awkward. She\u2019s on a quest to play as many different characters as possible, so she might as well check 9-year-old off the list.<\/p>\n\u201cI want to have a really interesting, fun career and I want people not to know what the hell I\u2019m gonna do next,\u201d Reinhart says. \u201cThe moment someone puts an expectation on me in my career or if I put an expectation on myself, I\u2019m gonna stop having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
She recently filmed what might be her most anticipated project yet: An adaptation of the book The Love Hypothesis, <\/em>a romance novel that originated as a work of Star Wars <\/em>fanfiction and has a cult following on TikTok. When I admit I\u2019m also a fan, she responds: \u201cSo is everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n\n