In the just-released photos from the Riverdale episode “Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!,” The CW has released a first look at Ashleigh Murray as Josie McCoy, wearing the live-action version of Josie’s iconic leopard-print leotard from the Josie and the Pussycats animated series.
“I have been asking for that costume since Comic-Con!” Murray told ComicBook.com during a recent visit to the set of Riverdale, the joy evident in her voice. “The second I landed in San Diego and I saw Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa], I was like, ‘is there any way it’s going to happen? Please tell me we’re going to be in those costumes!’ I wanted to walk around Comic Con in those costumes! That’s the thing: I am so in love with this character and so in love with the things that they’ve done and who they are and who we want them to be.”
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The costume might feature a long tail and ears for hats, but don’t expect the retro look to go along with a Riverdale-ized reimagining of the Josie and the Pussycats theme song. Murray said that while an earlier draft of the finale included the Pussycats performing the tune, it didn’t make the final cut.
In terms of iconic moments for the beloved character, though, Murray was audibly excited by the experience.
“They actually designed them specifically for us and they pieced my costume together,” Murray said of the Pussycats gear. “Some of the girls, they actually bought the leotards and it was made that way, but they actually constructed mine for me. I remember Rebekka [Sorensen-Kjelstrup], she’s the head of wardrobe, she was like ‘I want you to stand out because you’re Josie and you should be iconic,’ and I was like, ‘yes!’ So the fact that they had that costume and the tail and they curved it and they had the wire on us and it moved, I [laughs] Oh, my God, that day. That was my favorite, favorite, favorite day of shooting, hands down, was when we actually got to do it. And we went in and they had the huge set and the Josie and the Pussycats and the big cat head. It was just — whoa!”
You can see the costumes — and find out what throwback tune they sing while wearing them — in the sixth episode of Riverdale coming to The CW in two weeks.
More Riverdale: KJ Apa on Archie’s balancing act | Cole Sprouse on Jughead’s relationship with his dad | Camila Mendes: Veronica wants to trust her parents, but can’t | Lili Reinhart shoots down a popular fan theory
Riverdale airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
