'Riverdale' Makeup Artist on the Series' Serpents Tattoos

It's still over a month before Riverdale returns for its third season, but thanks to a new teaser trailer released by The CW last week we know that there are a lot of changes in store for Archie and his friends, including the appearance of some intriguing new Southside Serpent tattoos. Now, one of the show's makeup artists is giving fans some insight on that interesting ink.

In a recent interview with Refinery 29 Erin Mackenzie, who served as the makeup department head for the first two seasons of Riverdale, explained there's more to the double-headed hissing serpent ink sported by members of the show's notorious gang -- and more people than you'd expect have them.

"Not only were the Serpent [main] cast members tattooed, but the background performers as well, and there have been many," Mackenzie said.

On the series, anyone who has been initiated into the Southside Serpents gang earns a Serpent tattoo even if they aren't always visible. That's the case with Alice Cooper (Madchen Amick) whose past as a Serpent was revealed last season and while there's a brief look at a tattoo on Mama Cooper's hip in the most recent Riverdale trailer, it's unclear (yet) if that's her Serpent ink -- and Mackenzie's not telling.

"Madchen and I talked about some ideas where [her tattoo] would be on a few occasions in the makeup trailer, but what's said in the makeup trailer stays in the makeup trailer," she said.

And we might just be seeing new tattoos in the third season. Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) earned her Serpent jacket at the end of the second season and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) who is the current Serpent King asked Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) to be his Queen. We've also seen in the trailer that Archie himself (KJ Apa) will be getting a prominent Serpent tattoo. The context for that ink -- or any of the possible new ink on the show -- likely unfold as the season plays out, Mackenzie explained that each tattoo is unique as is how they are created for the show.

"The tattoos were printed from FX shops in Vancouver with various levels of age," she said, indicating how FP's (Skeet Ulrich) ink looked different from Jughead's, though Jughead's was special for its own reasons.

"The finishing is what made all the difference," Mackenzie explained. "For example, Jughead's tattoo was a stick-and-poke style, so it required a steady hand and a [temporary] tattoo pen on top to give it that hand-stitched effect."

And if you think the tattoos get applied only when they will be explicitly seen, think again. Mackenzie said that the makeup department applied the ink anytime there was even a chance it could be seen.

"It would depend on their costume and action within the scene," she explained. "We wouldn't take the chance of not applying it with the action possibly revealing the tattoo."

Fans will get a chance to better appreciate those Serpent tattoos with the season three premiere of Riverdale, which is titled "Labor Day", will debut on Wednesday, October 10th, at 8/7c on The CW.