‘Riverdale’ Season 2: New Cast Member Was Told Not to Watch the Show

“I saw it as an opportunity,” Charles Melton says of replacing Ross Butler as Reggie

KJ Apa as Archie Andrews and Charles Melton as Reggie Mantle on "Riverdale" Season 2
KJ Apa and Charles Melton on "Riverdale"

Riverdale” fans will notice a casting change when The CW’s Archie Comics series returns for its Season 2 premiere, as Charles Melton has replaced Ross Butler as football star Reggie Mantle.

“I saw it as an opportunity,” Melton told Insider of auditioning for the show. “It’s not typical for somebody to replace another character, but based off of this storyline and what the previous actor did, [Reggie] wasn’t really established, so it opened up an opportunity for me to put my own spin on things.”

Melton revealed that he received a surprising tip from executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on how to step in for Butler, who left “Riverdale” after Season 1 to focus on his Netflix series, “13 Reasons Why.”

“I went in during the audition process — it was like the second audition, and I had a session with Roberto,” Melton said. “I watched the show to kind of get a feel of it, and Roberto was like, ‘Don’t watch anything. Don’t watch what Ross did. What you’re doing is completely different.’ He was steering me to not throw myself off by trying to emulate somebody else.”

Melton joins a cast that includes KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes and Cole Sprouse.

“Riverdale” returns Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW. 

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