What’s up guys, it’s Sussan Mourad with Clevver News, and Lili Reinhart has been very
busy this year dabbling in different movie roles, but after a recent interview where
she talked about the struggles of playing a teen, Lili said she thinks she might be
“done playing teenagers”… so what does that mean for her ‘Riverdale’ character?
Lili Reinhart hasn’t let lockdown stop her from exploring new acting roles and rolling
out exciting new projects over the past few months.
Although her claim to fame as Betty Cooper on the CW’s Riverdale has come to a halt
in shooting the upcoming season, Lili’s new movie, Chemical Hearts, has earned massive
amounts of praise as she portrays a high school transfer student who navigates through the
trauma, feelings and struggles of being a teenager in this day and age.
The film essentially depicts the raw emotions of being a teenager without sugarcoating what
it actually feels like to be a teenager as Lili takes on a much darker and deeper role
than ever before.
During a recent interview with Buzzfeed, Lili revealed that teen movies never really did
anything for her growing up because she claims “they weren’t realistic.”
She said, “It was just entertainment and I wasn’t taking away anything from them.”
What’s different about Chemical Hearts is the honest portrayal of teen heartache, which
Lili revealed that the film isn’t at all about high school.
She said, “It’s not all about having a heartache and your mom telling you it’s
going to be okay.
Like, no, teen heartache is a very real thing, and a lot of times it’s invalidated a bit
by adults or other teens.”
Lili also revealed that she drew inspiration for the role from her own grief and loss in
her life, saying that it wasn’t until recently that she got out of limbo.
She said, “Being in limbo for me is feeling like my feet are never fully planted on the
ground.
I never felt fully comfortable with where I was at in life or with myself, especially
as a teenager.”
Lili added, “I went through an awful depression where I just felt like, ‘Who the hell am
I?
Am I chasing the right dream?
Am I going to have the right goals?
Why don’t I have as many friends?’
There were a lot of questions that I was asking myself that I was expecting the world to answer.
I wasn’t just accepting things for where they were; I was waiting for things to get
better.”
Lili also touched on the fact that finding happiness actually IS found within yourself
as she recalls waiting for things to happen when she was 16 instead of going out and finding
it herself.
She said, “You can’t ask a Prince Charming to come in and make your life better.
It’s very much a process that happens within you.
I think the teen limbo concept is understanding that.”
One reason why Lili appreciates Betty Cooper and her emotions is because Lili has a chance
to express her own emotions through Betty, and not some happy-go-lucky teen dealing with
surface-level teen movie struggles.
However, Lili appears to be ready to move on from portraying teens in upcoming roles
as she stated, “I think I might be done playing teenagers.
I don’t know how much longer in my life I’ll be playing teenagers, but I’m grateful
to have been able to play them because I like to bring that element of being emotional and
vulnerable.”
Especially when it comes to her Chemical Hearts character, Grace, Lili appreciates the fact
that she’s not portrayed as a put-together, popular or glamorous teen, but love, “...just
being someone who’s living in their own world as an outsider and unsure of her place
now that she’s lost the person she loves.
The confusion and pain you go through when you’re a teenager is nice to play because
it feels real.”
Fans praise Lili for always being so open and honest about her personal struggles over
the years, especially while acting for millions of viewers.
In another interview Lili opened up about body positivity and the fact that she’s
still working on being comfortable in her own skin.
In fact, she previously admitted to the Los Angeles Times that she felt she doesn’t
have that “CW girl body” AKA a tiny waist, nice-shaped legs, skinny, small, tiny.
Lili recalled, “I had to do a bra and underwear scene in this last season and I felt really
insecure about it.
I really, really didn’t want to do it.
I didn’t tell anyone this.
I wasn’t pressured into doing it.
I did it because it was my job.
But I felt bad about myself doing it.
I really did.
And this is where it gets complicated.”
Lili revealed that one thing she doesn’t feel she should be preaching is body positivity
because she has a hard time practicing it herself.
Because of that Lili said, “Even if I’m not feeling amazing about my body, I felt
it was important for me to do the scene anyway in my bra and underwear so people could see
my body as it was.
I did it for the people who feel like they need to look a certain way.”
Lili is as real as they come, which is clearly why she’s so loved and appreciated by her
fans.
For all the details on her co-star and BFF Camila Mendes’ new movie role, you can click
right over here to watch another Clevver video.
Then be sure to let me know what you guys think about Lili’s thoughts on playing a
teen down here in the comments.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys!