Riverdale Star Lili Reinhart Says Series Ending Is “Bittersweet”

Earlier this year it was announced that while The CW’s Riverdale will return in 2023, the upcoming seventh season of the fan favorite series will be its last. It’s news that was met with a wide range of emotions by fans of the Archie Comics inspired series and it it turns out that the end of Riverdale is one that comes with complex emotions for its stars as well, including Lili Reinhart. The Betty Cooper actress told Variety that the end of Riverdale is “bittersweet”, but that she’s also excited for what lies ahead in her post-Riverdale career.

“There are a lot of feelings. Bittersweet is the word, because I obviously will miss this group of people that I’ve been through half of my 20s with. We’ll never all be together again working on the same thing, so I recognize that and I think we all do and we are all sad about that,” Reinhart said. “It will be a very sad day when it actually wraps, but I do think the show has done so much for all of us and we’re all so ready to show the world what else we’ve got. On that aspect, knowing what’s on the other side is super exciting. I’m incredibly excited for the projects that I’ve been developing with my production company over the last year and a half that we’ll be ready to shoot when Riverdale ends next summer. But going into this final season, I think we’re all like, ‘This is our last hurrah, let’s really try to celebrate each other and spend time with each other because we won’t get this again.’”

Reinhart’s co-star K.J. Apa had similar comments back in May, noting that it would be really hard to say goodbye to the series, though he ultimately felt like it was time.

“I feel sad, you know, it’s going to be really hard to say goodbye to Archie, to Riverdale, to the sets, to our crew,” Apa said. “We’ve created so many memories on this show, for both ourselves and for the fans, so it’s going to be had,”

“I think it’s perfect,” he said about now being the time for the series to end. “All great things have to come to an end. I feel good about it”

Back in May, The CW president Mark Pedowitz spoke about ending Riverdale and why Season 7 was the right time to wrap things up.

“We had a long conversation with Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa, “Riverdale” executive producer and Archie Comics [chief creative officer] yesterday, who’s thrilled by this news,” he continued. “And we’re going to treat the show in the manner it deserves. It was an iconic pop culture star, and we want to make sure it goes out the right way and that is the decision. I think they choose that seven years is the right amount, and we want to do the right thing. That’s a personal thing. As a fan myself. I do want to do what’s right for the show.”

Pedowitz added, “We have not declared how many episodes yet. But I do not believe it will be a shortened season. It goes back to what I said earlier: I am a big believer in attempting to give series that have had long runs and appropriate send off.”

Riverdale will return for its seventh and final season in 2023.