Gina Gershon's 88-Year-Old Mother is Hooked on 'Riverdale'

Gina Gershon, who makes her Riverdale debut tonight as Gladys Jones (the mother of Jughead and Jelly Bean Jones), knows that the show's demographic skews young...but she also knows from close, personal experience that the show can be an addictive binge-watch for fans of any age.

During a recent conversation with ComicBook.com, Gershon -- best known for her roles in movies like Face/Off, Bound, and Showgirls -- admitted that her mother has turned into a big fan of the Archie Comics drama.

"When I watched the pilot, and it was just like, 'oh, dude, this is totally different than I remember than the comic.' It's a lot darker, and I've never done something with such a young fan base, but my 88 year old mother started watching it because she knew I was going to be on it and she's hooked. She's like, 'I love this show!' I felt like a guilty pleasure having to watch all of them, because I had to catch up. And I kept thinking, 'No, no, no. This is work. I'm supposed to be doing this,' but I had so much fun. It's really good. So I think the younger demographic seems like they're super obsessed, and I realize on Instagram, they are on it like nobody else. It's a little bit disturbing. But I think everyone kind of loves the show."

Gershon herself binged the show in preparation for the role -- but got the call so soon before filming that she was not yet caught up when she had to film tonight's episode.

"I was going in blind. I only got a chance to watch the first two before I had to start filming," Gershon admitted. "To be honest, the first time I was filming stuff, I'm like, 'wait, who is this? Who's Hiram? Like everyone had to keep filling me in on a lot of stuff. I didn't have enough time to watch it, and as soon as I finished this episode, then I started really watching it. Now I feel like I've sunken into the world. I have a bigger grasp on things."

Of course, being caught up and understanding what's going on in a show full of deceptive characters and plot twists are two entirely different things, as Gershon can attest.

"Listen, I think every time I'd ask a certain question, three different people would give me different answers," she laughed. "So I think everyone really gets their own point of view, which is great, actually."

Riverdale airs on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT, before episodes of Legacies on The CW.