Podcrushed - Lili Reinhart

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

The star of Riverdale and Chemical Hearts, Lili Reinhart, joins Podcrushed to discuss her journey from a 16-year-old aspiring artist to a booked-and-busy actor. Lili reflects on her early struggles and auditions, the transformative experience of Riverdale, and the challenges of bringing indie projects like Hal & Harper to life. She also opens up about her latest productions and the pressures of adapting popular IP, all while maintaining her sanity in Hollywood. Don’t miss this one!    For a limited time, you can try Pretty Tasty for free -  just go to http://prettytasty.com, pick your flavor, and use code PODCRUSHED.    Podcrushed listeners can grab Rosetta Stone’s LIFETIME Membership for 50% OFF at rosettastone.com/podcrushed.That’s unlimited access to 25 language courses, for life!   Our new book Crushmore is out now! Go go go! https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crushmore/Penn-Badgley/9781668077993      00:00 Introduction 04:19 Lily’s Early Acting Journey 10:05 Challenges and Rejections 15:52 Moving to LA and Booking Riverdale 25:13 First Crushes and Heartbreaks 28:08 Embarrassing School Memories 30:18 Transition to Adulthood 30:54 Moving Back to LA and Auditioning for Riverdale 33:03 Booking the Role and Moving to Vancouver 34:20 Chemistry Tests and Initial Reactions 37:05 Shooting the First Season of Riverdale 39:01 Impact of Riverdale’s Success 39:28 Favorite Storylines and Behind-the-Scenes Memories 42:36 Challenges and Rewards of Independent Television 54:10 The Love Hypothesis and Handling Fan Expectations 57:16 Upcoming Projects and Future Plans 01:02:24 Advice to 12-Year-Old Self    🎧 Want more from Podcrushed? 📸 Instagram 🎵 TikTok 🐦 X / Twitter ✨ Follow Penn, Sophie & Nava Instagram Penn Sophie Nava TikTok Penn Sophie Nava See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lemonada I watched Grasswood Girl for the first time when I was 16 in L. And was it like descending on a cloud? Was it like, wow, this is confirming me. This is what I want to do. That's exactly what happened. Welcome to Pod Crushed. We're hosts.

I'm Penn. I'm Nava. And I'm Sophie. And I think we would have been your middle school besties. Fishing around for. Two other besties so we could be in a quadruple. So wrong. Welcome, welcome to Pod Crushed.

I'm joined by my co-hote, one of my co-ho, only one of my co-hosts, 50% of the dynamic duo who represent 66.6% of the tremendously charming trio. Navi-Cavlin, what have I even, where did I, I can't remember when I wasn't talking. Please go. Yeah. Buenos Aires, Penn, I want to know How were the Crusades today? How many people did you conquer?

What's it like discovering a new world? Oh, it's sweet. So this is because, for those of you who are only listening, I have this, I have a goatee. Like, I've never had in my life. It's, it is, well, yeah, isn't that a goatee? It's like the... Oh, I guess, I don't know.

A goatee is the mustache change. I feel like the mustache is really pronounced. I'm noticing that more than the goatee. Wait, oh, really? So to you, it's the lip that isn't? It's the mustache that's really... Yeah. Okay, all right, fair.

Yeah, it's, um, so I did it for Halloween. I did it for Halloween real quick because my five-year-old really wanted me to be Joker, the Joker, and I was just, because he's like just discovered Batman. Somebody gave him a Batman book. But like Joker in Spain? Like, I still am not connecting.

Yeah, I know. It doesn't, so I had a beard. And I was like, well, I'm going to have to shave. I didn't want to shave fully. I thought, this will also be like a little bit of a disguise, a little bit of a, I will be le joker. Because I also, I really, so maybe it's because I just didn't want to look like one of these guys who, like, loves the Joker.

Well, you don't. You know how it's become like a bro thing? Yeah, I really. You know, like, to adults, the Joker now has this completely different lore that it has for a child. And I realized that when my child asked me to be the joker, I was like, oh, I don't like the joke.

I don't want to do that. I don't want to be that. So it was one of the very few times. I'll be a musketeer. Sorry. Yeah, so I shaved it into a goatee and did so he could see the little bit of the face makeup. And what I've always known about myself,

which is why I've never done this before, is that if I shave a goatee mustache combo, I look undeniably like a concave. the door, just undeniably. I don't know. I have, I wish, I want to be a guy. Just coming out, feeling to the new world. It's uncanny.

It's really uncanny. Like what, for those who are watching, you can just, like, why, why does it look on my face? Just, there's nothing else it looks like. Yeah. Well, it's amazing. Thank you for that. Let's just get right into our guest today. So today we have, an actor you probably know,

but also she's becoming a prolific producer in her own right. We have Lily Reinhart, probably best known for her breakout role as Betty Cooper on Riverdale. More recently for films like Hustlers and Chemical Hearts, Lily is known not just for her on-screen talent, but also for her openness. She's spoken candidly about mental health and body image, the realities of growing up in the public eye. She has some very exciting projects that are in the pipeline. A few of them are the very best people for people.

Bidden Fruits and Fake Wedding, all stuff we get into. She's also got something that you may have heard of, a piece of IP, a book that's been turned into a film called The Love Hypothesis, and that's probably going to be a very big thing. So she's, again, she's becoming a real producer here. Her production company is called Small Victory. This episode was a huge one. Don't go anywhere.

We'll be right back. As we head into the cozy season where the days are shorter and the next. nights are colder. I love taking the opportunity to slow down and do something that's just for me, which is rare as a mom. So it's really important that I do it. I figured, why not get a head start on this year's New Year's resolution with Rosetta Stone? Learning a new language from the comfort of my home in my PJs, my favorite thing to wear. It sounds like a win-win to me, honestly. Rosetta Stone is the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years. Their immersive, intuitive methods help you naturally absorb and retain a new language from your computer

or your phone whenever it fits your schedule. I have been running into a lot of Spanish speakers recently. I mean, I was running into a lot of Spanish speakers in L.A. And now I'm in Texas and I'm still running into a lot of Spanish speakers. And I always, you know, people kind of expect me to speak Spanish sometimes. I get that quite a bit like, did your mom speak to you in Spanish? People aren't quite sure if I'm Latina or not. And so it is really my goal to be able to just like seamlessly answer, yeah, I speak Spanish and to have it be the most normal thing in the world. I, there's nothing I want more than that. Honestly, it's on the top of my priority list. The issue for me with having the courage to speak in a language that I'm learning is feeling like I don't

have the accent down. And so not feeling confident enough to just like go with it. That's why I love this feature on Rosetta Stone called True Accent. It's a speech recognition feature that provides real-time feedback on your accent. It's always been the hardest part of learning a new language. I feel like it's tricky to just like nail it. You think you've got it, but you actually don't. And so I love that about Rosetta Stone. Don't wait.

Unlock your language learning potential now. Podcrush listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language. courses for life. Visit rosettastone.com slash podcrush to get started and claim your 50% off today. Don't miss out.

Go to rosettastone.com slash podcrashed and start learning today. The folks at Ollie know how special your relationship is with your dog. While your kids may grow up and head off to school, your dog stays right by your side, just peeing right on your ankles,

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starts with their food. And that's why Ollie delivers fresh human-grade food that your dog will love head to ollie.com slash podcrushed tell them all about your dog and use code podcrush to get 60% off your welcome kit when you subscribe today plus they offer a happiness guarantee on the first box so if you're not completely satisfied you'll get your money back that's o l l l i.com slash podcrushed and enter code podcrush to get 60% off your first box we started 12 years old with everybody without fail, kind of like Jennifer Hudson starts with a spirit tunnel, no matter who you are. Oh, no. For you, it sounds like maybe at 10 years old you already had really convinced your mom, at least, to make this shift.

So give us a snapshot of you at 12. Not only we do want to hear what daily life is like, because I think that kind of gives some of the most insight, but also how was this very budding artist starting to see the world? Twelve was actually such a transformative year for me. I think it was the year that I booked my first ever legitimate thing. I booked a PBS pilot. And, yes. A pilot, meaning a series?

Yes, and it didn't get picked up, and it's very okay that it didn't. But it was my first, you know, I grew up in Cleveland, so my mom and I were basically kind of going off of whatever Cleveland had to offer at the time, which was not that much. It was basically, if you wanted to be an actor, you signed with, like, a modeling agency and then hoped that it sort of branched into something bigger. I feel like it's that way in every satellite city, like rather every city is a satellite city. to L.A. Seattle was the same way for me. Yeah. And so I, I mean, I knew I wanted to be an actor. I was a theatrical kid and I did community theater. And then so I joined like this modeling agency in Cleveland and I somehow booked a pilot. And that sort of gave, I think, my parents and me, this boost of

confidence that I could somehow keep going. Because I think who's to say. at that age or that time, especially for my parents who had no idea about anything. No one in my family was an actor. So they just didn't have a North Star guiding them or anyone to really turn to to ask questions. So we were all just kind of crossing our fingers. And then I kind of just kept booking little things from there until I was 14 when I, my mom would drive me from Ohio to New York for open casting calls that she found on Actorsaccess.com. How long is that drive? Eight hours.

Okay. And she was doing it by herself and because I couldn't drive and we would use my dad's frequent flyer miles if we wanted to fly, which we didn't, but we would use his hotel points to stay outside the city because it was cheaper and then would drive into the city for a for like we would do however many we could in a day and I my mom was like sitting in the waiting room with me once and for some reason David Schwimmer was there oh my gosh and I just remember her being like and I was I was I think I was 14 or 13 at the time and I I wasn't familiar with friends yet um and she was like that's david swimmer from frats and i was like first of all

you can't say that when the man is three feet away like i even knew that in a stage whisper mom no i even knew at that age i was like he can't be doing all that um but i had no idea who he was at the time but looking back i was like okay cool not sure why we were in the same casting hallway auditioning for the same thing, but it's fine. You guys are kind of the same type. I don't know. Yeah, we're in the same. Yeah.

What is your memory of, like, if you just, what's your first kind of gut feeling when you, because I also can look back to 12, 13, 14, and remember what it was like going to auditions, being in a waiting room. But I was in L.A. You're in New York. That's a very, very, very different vibe.

You know, L.A. can be intimidating maybe because of, it's where it happens, but it's nowhere near as just physically, grandiose as New York City. I mean, my mom was in her blue minivan and we're driving the, she's driving the streets of New York, like

going, eh, I don't know where I'm going. It's scary. And at that time, you had MapQuest. So the directions were printed out and it was telling us how to get from this audition to this next

place and then parking the car, which is Yeah, I was actually thinking parking would be a nightmare. Just a real ordeal for you. That's a horror story in New York. Yeah. I mean, you're just finding a parking garage and crossing your fingers and it's like $30. Yeah.

And it's just a lot. And I forget what your question was. I got caught up. Well, well, no. So that's part of it, though. It's just how that could feel. Because I would imagine, again, just in the like $35 for a half an hour parking extravaganza, But, like, I would think that it would feel like a gauntlet every time.

Like, every time you're like, I'm crossing Mordor to get to the ring. Like, it really does, it's not, it's already such a pressurized situation for such a young person. You know what I mean? I'm just curious. Did you take it with maybe a surprising amount of ease because you weren't even aware of what was happening or were you, like, super anxious or somewhere in between? I think I, at that point, it hadn't caused me existential dread. yet. Yes.

Okay. It eventually did. And now, like, if I get an audition, it fills me with horror because I just hate auditions. I think from 12 to 19, I experienced 2,000 noes. And so I had a very formative time in my life. I'm dealing with this in therapy currently. Like, I grew up in an environment where I was as a child. and a teenager trying to pursue my dream being told no on a very consistent basis. And yes, I would get

little wins here and there, but they were never breakthrough anything. You know, it was like, oh my God, I booked law and order and not such a feat. But it was also incredibly isolating because then I would go back to school and sort of feel like everyone hated me because I was doing something different from them. And I already hated school and felt kind of like an outcast because I was really pursuing this very out-of-the-box dream from everyone else around me. And it just felt increasingly isolating as time went on. And I think like psychologically quite damaging, actually, as a kid and a teen. And I think in New York at that time and even self-tapes, they were exciting to me. I was like, I'm like, it was my, I don't want to say ignorant, but it was my, it was my

optimism that I had at the time of, oh my God, anything I do that I'm taping in my basement in Cleveland, Ohio is going to send me away to L.A., which is, I think when I was 12, sort of became my end goal. I wanted to end up in L.A. And I had done an acting camp in L.A. and that made me kind of fall in love with the city, and it was super expensive. So I felt kind of guilty to be pursuing this dream that my parents somehow just kind of had to, like, they just believed in me. I think they just saw how passionate I was, and they were sort of saying, okay, let's try it. And then every step of the way, they were getting encouragement from people who were saying, no, your daughter's talented. This is what she should be doing.

And then they're also kind of blowing smoke up your ass because you're paying $1,000 for me. to, like, give you a boot camp. So it's like, who's to say if they actually believed in you? But I think slowly over time, due to the rejection, the moment I would get an audition, it's like my heart would sink, and it would cause me a lot, a lot, a lot of anxiety. And I think I still carry that with me today. And luckily, I really don't, I don't have to audition for most things anymore, which I'm super, thank God, because I'm clearly not very good at them.

And they just fuel me with, I'm like, I'm never going to give my best performance in a self-tape. And it feels kind of, I don't know, auditions are kind of evil. It's like, it's just so much pressure. My boyfriend, on the other hand, loves them. Like, has the best time of his life shooting in audition. And I'm like, we just could. We just could not be more different. They hang over my head.

They're like a dark cloud. hanging over my head, and I would always, lesson learned, but when I was 16, and I was, like, really getting a lot of auditions. I hadn't, you know, I had done Law & Order. What else had I had I done? I did, like, a guest role on a Fox show that was canceled. So I had done things, and things were kind of like, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that these things I was auditioning for would, I could book them, but I just wasn't. That's when it started when I was 16, I think to really become so, it felt like a pressure cooker because I knew I wanted to move to L.A. when I was 18.

But it was sort of like the proof is in the pudding and I wasn't booking a lot. So it was sort of how am I supposed to kind of sacrifice my whole life, which I decided at 12 I was going to be an actor, didn't want to go to college, didn't want to pursue anything else. So is this not working? Is it not working because I'm not good or because I'm not in L.A. or I don't know why.

And, I mean, I think my anxiety was really sabotaging me a lot because I looked at auditions as something to get over with as quickly as possible. Like the second I got an audition, I was sort of like, mom, let's do it. Let's get it out of the way. And she's the one who would tape with me, and it would be sometimes a two-hour-long process because I was so hard on myself. And my team really pushed me. My team, I had a great team from a really young age, and they were really like, they would have me re-tape a lot of auditions because they knew I was talented, but they knew auditions really scared me.

So sometimes I had to, like, loosen up a little bit. And I think if I went back and watched an audition tape I did when I was a teen, I'd be like, oh, yeah, that was like, I didn't give any real thought into that. I just sort of wanted to get it out of the way. And so I think now, at least, I try to approach. auditions when they do come in as I really try to take my time with them I do I still have the feeling of let's get this over with but I as I'm taping it I really try to just one say I don't want to retape this so let's really go there's the motivation let's let's put a lot of that's a great motivation I'm like oh who okay don't have to do this again if I do it well but also I

really learned, I feel like I'm just babbling, is that cool? Yeah. Yes. So then I transitioned to then when I was 16, I went out to L.A. by myself one year for pilot season, which kind of doesn't really exist anymore. By yourself? By myself. We found not like a babysitter, but someone who I knew through a mutual acting coach who was willing to let me sleep in her studio apartment with her. And Looking back, sounds a little risky, but it was actually fine. And I was there for, I think, maybe six weeks, and I was auditioning. And I got, like, five auditions or something. And I was just, I remember I watched grasshop girl for the first time when I was 16.

And was it, like, descending on a cloud or just like, wow, this is confirming me. This is what I want to do. That's exactly what happened. And I also at the same time, when I finished that, I think, watched Breaking Bad for the first time. And I was like... You're like, ugh, no, this is like, this isn't going to win any Emmys. Right. And then weirdly, when I went back home is when I booked something that was a reoccurring guest star on a show called Surviving Jack that was on Fox.

and I had, I think, only eight episodes. And it's so weird in hindsight. Like our finale episode got four million or something live viewers, which today is a lot. Yeah. But like back then in 2013, I don't know, it was like not good enough canceled. That's crazy.

But I was a reoccurring on that. And so I just took whatever small paycheck I was getting and put it back into the studio city guest house that I was living in. Also, with sort of like a chaperone person who we had to pay to stay with me because both my parents, like I have siblings and my dad works

and no one from my family could be with me. So it was a strange time in my life. I'm so familiar. There's so many configurations, you know, that's familiar to me. Can I ask where in Studio City that? Do you remember where it was? I don't even, I think it was by, I remember driving by, is that what it's called, a menchies?

Is that the frozen yoga place? I know what you're talking about. It was by a menchies. And I think it was on the cusp of Valley Village. And sometimes I think I'm driving through that area and it's like sparking a memory deep inside me. And I remember like hearing Lord's album for the first time. Not the Lord. Not the Lord, but Lord.

I remember hearing Lord speaking. No, I heard Lord and I actually couldn't believe. I was like, this girl's the sing-em-age as me. And she's like so successful. And I think I was pretty jealous of Lord at that time. But I enjoyed the music. Yeah. So throughout this period, you know, I mean, you obviously showed a lot of will and perseverance.

and vision where you're like, I mean, you may not have felt it at the time and you might even, I would, you know, I would understand if like feelings of stress, anxiety, fear could overwhelm that and you remember it as those kinds of ways. But at the end of the day, like, it takes a lot of, not everybody does that, you know, not everybody does it, and you did convince your parents that you wanted to do this

and they were ultimately supportive. I'm curious, like, through, and feeling that anxiety of, of coming to either L.A. or New York and auditioning so familiar to me. So I really feel you. I guess what I want to pull out a bit is like the thread of where you did have this spark of what you loved. And how, where was that throughout this period? Where were you getting fed, you know? Like were there places? It's a weird feeling because I really loved theater growing up because that was. my only avenue to act. I couldn't just go be in a film. So I was in theater and that being around

like-minded people I think was incredibly helpful to me to see that there were other young people who were creative and wanted to spend four hours after school dancing and singing. And that was sort of like, wow, there are people like me because I just felt that I didn't feel that at school. And I I felt, I wasn't bullied, but I felt very much like an outsider, and I never had this, like, a huge group of friends. I sort of had, my friends were all quite individual of each other. So it was a little bit hard for me to just go fit into a group. And I think, one, I had social anxiety, but two, I just kind of always have been that person. I've never really felt part of a huge group where it's like, oh, on a Friday night, I know what I'm doing.

And I'm with this group of people, and we're doing this. It was always very separated. And I think that isolation made me really retreat into my theater world, but also just my dreams. And I was so, like, you ask where it comes from, I feel like I genuinely thought it was just written in the stars that I was going to be an actor. And I think it was hard to explain to my, you know, grandmother who never left the town she grew up and saying, no, grandma, I'm not going to college because I want to be an actor and trying to kind of explain that to someone who just is sort of like, okay, good luck. And she never once doubted me or said it in like a condescending tone. But I really think I had just this feeling inside me that I genuinely can't do anything else. And when I would try to hold down a job, which I could, like, I was a sales associate at Pier 1 imports, which doesn't exist anymore. Pure 1, yeah. I remember Pier 1. Yeah. I worked there as a sales associate. And I just...

When you say associate, what do you mean? So like not a sales associate? Does that mean you were on the floor? Just on, yeah. Just a salesperson? Okay. All right. Yeah, I guess that's just what they call. Yeah, I don't know. That was the title. And I just, I always felt like I just was meant to be an actor and every other little job that I had was just to get me to the other job. And I'm sure, you know, I'm sure a lot of people feel that way. And so, I mean, I moved to L.A. a few months after I turned 18 and I was there for six months and it was horrifyingly miserable. And I was, I had to move a few times because I just couldn't find the right place. I had a weird roommate or something bizarre, and I was living in a shared home with, like, seven people and had my own little room, but I shared a bathroom and could just hear people shitting all day long next to me in my room.

It was really kind of. It was all day long. Sounds like they had IBS. I don't know. No, it was really hard. Yeah. It's a lot. It's a lot.

It was a lot of people. There were two bathrooms in the house, but my room was connected. It was like a Jack and Jill who was. connect to the bathroom. Okay, yeah, that is unfortunate. So I played a lot of white noise when I was home from my laptop. A lot of white noise, did you? You didn't want the brown noise, did you? I didn't. I did not. And I mean, I moved home after six months. I remember hyperventilating to my mom over Skype, not Zoom at the time. And, or I guess, I don't know, it was FaceTime a thing. I don't know.

But I, we were Skyping and I was, I said, I just need to come home. This is not, I, I was like looking at applying for a job, a universal city walk. And it caused me so much anxiety just to the effort that it was going to take just to sustain life in L.A. And then that job would take me away from being able to actually pursue what I was there to pursue. I just move I just I mean it is and I moved home and thank God my parents opened me with local I mean I was 18 they were like come back it's fine and I went back to peer one and saved up almost nothing and then when I just a few months after I turned 19 moved back to L.A. And then like a month later I booked Trivrio.

Oh wow. And we'll be right back. As we head into the cozy season where the days are shorter and the nights are colder, I love taking the opportunity to slow down and do something that's just for me, which is rare as a mom. So it's really important that I do it. I figured why not get a head start on this year's New Year's resolution with Rosetta Stone, learning a new language from the comfort of my home in my PJs, my favorite thing to wear? It sounds like a win-win to me, honestly.

Rosetta Stone is the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years. Their immersive, intuitive methods help you naturally absorb and retain a new language from your computer or your phone whenever it fits your schedule. I have been running into a lot of Spanish speakers recently. I mean, I was running into a lot of Spanish speakers in L.A. And now I'm in Texas and I'm still running into a lot of Spanish speakers. and I always, you know, people kind of expect me to speak Spanish sometimes. I get that quite a bit like, did your mom speak to you in Spanish? People aren't quite sure if I'm Latino or not.

And so it is really my goal to be able to just like seamlessly answer, yeah, I speak Spanish and to have it be the most normal thing in the world. I, there's nothing I want more than that. Honestly, it's on the top of my priority list. The issue for me with having the courage to speak in a language that I'm learning is feeling like I don't have the accent down. And so not feeling confident enough to just like go with it. That's why I love this feature on Rosetta Stone called True Accent.

It's a speech recognition feature that provides real time feedback on your accent. It's always been the hardest part of learning a new language. I feel like it's tricky to just like nail it. You think you've got it, but you actually don't. And so I love that about Rosetta Stone. Don't wait. Unlock your language learning potential now. Podcrush listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off.

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peer one we yeah we just I really don't know what it was like to work at Pier 1. We have a couple classic questions we ask every guest. So one is if you can share about like a first seminal, whether it happened when you were 12 or 15 or 19, like a first seminal infatuation, like someone that was the first person you had like intense feelings for, and then a first big like heartbreak when you were young.

I don't even know. I feel like I was the type of person who when I worked with someone, I got a crush on them. So when I started working more seriously at 15 and 16, I would get a crush on whoever was on set with me. Okay. And then there just so happened to be a narcissist that I worked with when I was 16. You worked as a narcissist in Illinois? Yes.

Can you fucking believe it? Oh, my goodness. And then about 3,000 times after that it happened again. I'm just so lucky. I'm just like really attracted narcissists. It's kind of insane. And we could talk about that later. So, yeah, I mean, I feel like I had these, like, set crushes when I was 15 and 16.

And then my first heartbreak, I mean, oh, this memory just popped into my head. I remember, I think I was in fifth grade, so I would have been, like, 10. and this girl at my school, like, you know, at 10, whatever this means, flirted or something with this guy I had a crush on. And I remember, like, looking in the mirror at myself, pretending I was talking to her. And I don't think I ever did this ever again in my life. And I was talking in the mirror. And I was like, hey, pretending I was talking to her. And I was like, I can't believe you did that.

You're such a bad friend. And then down the hall, my dad goes, Lily, because I didn't know that anyone was home. And my dad was like, are you okay? I'm like, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just talking to myself, talking to this girl that I hate. So that I think I never really did that again. But I think I was pretty upset at this girl in fifth grade, or no, I think it was fourth grade. So even younger and more kind of sad but cute, not bitching this girl out because I was like, what, how old, but I was really upset with her.

And I was talking to her through myself in the mirror, what I would say. And my dad heard the whole thing. Yeah. That's very charming. Yeah. That's really endearing. Thanks. The other question we ask, if you have.

have a memory that still makes you kind of like cringe a little bit, like an awkward or embarrassing memory from middle school or high school? I think I, this is stupid, but I was in choir and I was sitting next to my best friend in, in like the choir class. And I made it like a sound and the chair made like a horrendous fart noise. Oh, God, yeah. And so, and I'm in the back of the class and everybody turned and I literally had to be like it was the chair and of course someone believes you absolutely not and no one no one said anything about it but I remember I like that feeling of when I'm like holy hell my whole face is red and all of these 50 kids in this class think I just ripped one on my chair in choir I remember that being an embarrassing moment and then my

best friend was like had tears coming up out of her eyes crying, laughing, which also probably didn't help my case, made me look very guilty, but I do remember that. I have one like that, where I sneezed into my arm, like, and you're saying it like, you don't believe me. Oh, no, I think I was, like, predicting what was going to happen. I was like, oh, I know where this is, no. No, I know.

But it is, it is amazing, like the fear of farting, of all things. Well, I, because I, I sneezed into my arm in, I believe, math or science class, and And it just made the most classic sounding giant fart noise. And I and the whole class laughed and I just said, no, I, I sneezed. I was sneezing the right way, guys. I remember feeling like I was the injustice of it. Yeah. I just really felt like, but this wasn't a fart.

Right. I felt the same way. And everyone should know. I shouldn't be embarrassed. I know. This is a perfect out. You know, I just, that's not. I felt the same way, and there's no defending yourself when you're, like, around 50 school children.

Yeah. They just won't listen. So let's get back to that this critical transition phase you have, like, after, well, not after. But, you know, coming of age is technically speaking, having just written a book about it, it is technically like 10 to 19. That's how we refer to adolescents, at least, you know, it's based on some kind of, I don't know, medical neural. So if you move back to L.A. at 19, you are technically speaking, although of course you're not done growing. Of course you're not done learning. Of course you still feel like a child. But in some ways you never feel older than when you're 19 and 20 years old. Just give us a snapshot of you

moving back to L.A. and that period of time before you get the audition for Riverdale. And what that audition was like because of how much you don't like auditions. Well, I had auditioned for Riverdale a few, like a month before at my house with my mom. I put in a tape for Betty, like the character, and didn't hear anything. I was like, okay, well, didn't get it, fine, like, everything else moving on. And then I moved to L.A., which was always the plan. I knew I was never, when I moved back home at 18, I knew I was coming back. Like, I had friends there that I'd made Keep Things for me.

I was like, can you keep my mirror that I bought for my room, whatever? Just like hold on to things for me if you can. And I moved back and I stayed in my friend's studio apartment. I either slept in her bed with her or stayed on an air mattress. And that was for a few weeks. And I was at the time looking for a place to live. I was looking in Hollywood. you know something that seemed egregiously unaffordable to me like a thousand dollars a month

for a studio felt impossible but i kind of moved back with the knowing that i was going to have to get a job and i kind of had accepted that and it was hard because it just gave me anxiety to be putting attention and time into a job i was like why don't i have you know these funds that I can just live off of, well, I just wasn't blessed that way. And I was, I signed a lease on an apartment which was incredibly scary because at the time I just had no idea how I was going to pay for it. I had a little bit of money saved up, but not a lot, which is why I knew I needed to get a job. And my parents co-signed, you know, and I was kind of just trying to start this life for myself and my manager called and said they still haven't found their girl for for this

project Riverdale you can go in in person now that you're in L.A. and see how it goes and I did and it went really well and then I had like four callbacks and one of them was like the big final test which was really scary and intimidating but I had done tests before for a few other things so I was kind of familiar with it. And then I found out, I think, later that night, the same day that I tested that I booked it. And I didn't know what that meant at the time. I felt like, holy hell, I just have a job. It is kind of just how it felt. And like it felt like instant validation that, yes, okay, I did the right thing by moving back to L.A. But I didn't know what I didn't know what it would become or what it would turn into or that it would be seven years

or what my life would look like in Vancouver. I had never been to Canada. I don't think at that point I had ever left the country. So I think it was just like I felt like a baby. I felt like a real baby. Lily, who did you do your first chemistry tests with? I think I booked it on my on my own I didn't I didn't read with anybody I did like there was three scenes and I tested in front of you know it's like a dark room everyone it's almost like a theater it's set up like a theater I walk in there's like a spotlight on me and there's people sitting in these chairs and it's really dark and it's like a fever dream you're like oh I'm out outside my body right now was it on the Warner Brothers lot yeah must have been yeah because it was a WBB show um and you know all of us not not everyone who was cast but like there were like five of us

in in this conference room and someone had headphones in and someone's like staring out the window and you know we're all just like in our own little worlds and um and and then i went in and and then they brought me back once i was cast to read with kj who booked archie and then Madeline who booked Cheryl. So I didn't chemistry read with any Veronica's, which is kind of surprising. But we were moving

very quickly. We didn't have time. Like it was sort of like the pilots shooting next week and we need to cast people. Yeah. Was there a sense of how big it was going to become? Because I mean, you know, having been a part of a few of these kinds of things myself, I

know how that works and I know how that feeling can be there. But then I remember hearing about this and being interested in being like the Archie Bunker comics? Like that's a that becomes real and dark and sexy I was like that is a of all

concepts. Is this the thing? And you know I mean clearly there was a buzz around it so I'm curious how like just what perception was of that before it had hit the streets you know I mean I'm just curious everybody was talking about that. No it was I mean I didn't know Archie Comics. Like, I wasn't familiar with the Betty and Veronica of it

all. And it was sort of like no one was even talking about Archie. They were just like, who's the Betty and Veronica? And I got so many comics and read all of them. And I thought ignorantly, when I was sent the pilot, when it said based off the famous comic books, Archie Comics, I was like, oh, it's about superheroes. Because for me, comic books meant superheroes and I remember reading the pilot and going these people don't have superpowers and then weirdly surely they're going to become mutants at some point right

well in season five we do have superpowers but so it did happen eventually but no it was kind of it was kind of beautiful in the way that it happened we shot the pilot and then you go home and cross your fingers and hope it gets picked up and we did and then we moved to Vancouver

and we shot the first season was 13 episodes and it was kind of beautiful and nice because it It was, we shot it all without any outside perception. We were able to shoot all 13 episodes with none of them airing at the same time. So it really felt like we had no idea we were just having the time of our lives, or I was at least. I was a working actor, and I was loving the show, and I loved the character, and I loved my co-stars, and it felt like a dream. And it was sort of just this crazy experience.

We shot all 13 episodes, none of them were airing. And then I think we waited, I don't know, a couple months until the show came out. And then we kind of just had to see. And then I think we were picked up relatively quickly for a season two. But I think we, and I've had experiences where you're shooting something and people go, I think this is really special. But then I think everyone says that. Or at least I've learned that a lot of people say that.

And sometimes it's just really not true at all. But I think when I was 19, turning 20, shooting the show, I did believe it. I felt like this was a really fun show that I think people will be able to just binge, which I don't even know if we were using that word at the time. Yeah, I can't remember. I think we were. Was this going to air on, did this ever, was this always streaming? Or was it ever on... This was still on the CW weekly.

It was, okay. Yeah, it aired weekly on the CW. And then after... And then it would air weekly on, like, Netflix, France or something. But then the whole season, it would go... Right, that was when they were still in that transition phase. The show really didn't take off until it went on American Netflix, which was a week after our season one finale aired.

And then when that happened, it was, I think, sort of the big shift in our lives. Like, we weren't getting recognized. everywhere we went but we started to feel the impact of being on just like a culturally talked about television show yeah yeah wow lily obviously the show ran for seven seasons i'm curious if you have a favorite storyline one that stands out to you that was really fun to act and if you can share a behind-the-scenes memory that's still like really precious to you um i mean a favorite i think I think, like, I haven't watched the show since it would be weird if I had, I think. Just watch it every week.

I watch it all the time. No, I mean, I think, like, the beginning seasons are very precious to me. One, because I think we look like babies to me. That was 10 years ago. I think the season one feels like this, like, little perfect thing. And so I think whatever happened in season one feels very close and near and dear to my heart because it was all done without outside perception. We were so baby-eyed and like taking all of it in and we weren't knowing who we were. And we didn't have any pressure really.

And so it felt really special in that sense. So it's not really a particular storyline. I think it's just more the energy that I felt shooting season one. felt just really, really special. And like it doesn't really ever feel like a season one again once you go past that. That makes sense. And then I think just, I have memories of having lunches in my trailer with my co-stars. I think we were all picked up out of our lives. None of us lived in Vancouver, the, you know, the series regs. And we, we moved there and had to sort of rely on each other. And I became really close with Machenamek, who played my mom in the show. And during

COVID, when we had to go back to shoot and we had to quarantine for two weeks and then we couldn't leave the country while we were shooting, she and I just would have these dinners and movie nights together at her apartment or mine. And that felt really special. It was sort of like the circumstances of the show being in Canada, none of us were from Canada. And And then also shooting during COVID at some points where you couldn't leave sort of- What season was COVID? Five. Okay.

Okay. I think. Yeah. So we were really deep in there. But that's when I feel like we all just really had to like band together. And there was no flying home for a long, for a long weekend. It was this is where you are until you go home for Christmas break. And then every time I would go home for something, I would get COVID and not be able to leave my house.

So my leg breaks at home in L.A. were just me being incredibly ill, which was kind of ironic and story of my life a little bit. Stick around. We'll be right back. Well, hi, everybody. It's Julia Louis Dreyfus from the Wiser Than Me podcast. And I'm not going to talk about food waste this time. I'm going to talk about food resources. All that uneaten food rotting in the landfill, it could be enriching our soil or feeding our chickens because it's still food. And the easiest and frankly, way coolest way to put all its nutrients to work is with the mill food recycler. It looks like an art house garbage can.

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enter code podcrush to get 60% off your first box. A BetterHelp ad. Life can get a little tough and even hectic during the holidays. This November, BetterHelp is encouraging everyone to reach out, to check in on your people, grab lunch with a friend you haven't seen in a while, or make that call to grandma. Reaching out to anyone can feel difficult, especially when we get used to relying on ourselves. And the same goes with reaching out to a therapist, but BetterHelp makes it easy with its therapist match commitment and over 12 years of experience in online therapy. In fact, BetterHelp meets

over 90% of client preferences when matching its members with licensed professionals. And like that lunch with an old friend, when you finally do reach out and connect with someone, you often ask yourself, why didn't I do this sooner? Start now at BetterHelp.com for 10% off your first month. We're going to talk about other projects, but I want to ask you. about Halen Harper, I wonder, I know for me, when I'm working on a project that is, maybe it's just a film or maybe it's a particular kind of show where, you know, those technical aspects, they start to melt away because there's a different environment on set because, you know, the work is so engaging and intimate and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and,

personal I have a feeling that the juxtaposition of say, you know, a different director for people who aren't aware about how the whole behind the scenes works, you know, you usually have a different director on every episode of a television show. These days in streaming, it's a bit different, maybe they'll, but more or less directors come and go, you know,

and it can feel very technical, utilitarian. You, in Helen Harper, this is, what, eight, eight episodes? Eight episodes, yeah. Eight episodes, created, written, and directed by one guy who plays your brother. His name in real life is Cooper Rafe. Is it Rafe? Rife, yeah. Rife.

So he plays Hal, you play Harper. It seems like it's really meaningful to you. Yeah. And I just want to say that having made a lot of television over the course of my career, watching, I was able to watch three episodes. I wish to been able to watch more because I really loved. of it. Thank you.

I just kept thinking to myself in the best way possible. I was like, how did they get this made? This is not like a television show. This is really not like a television show. Yeah. And again, I couldn't mean that. And that's the best compliment coming from me.

Yeah. I was like, how? Like, I get that you had, you know, once you get it made, okay, it's tough to find a distributor, fine. But I literally was like, how did they even get this made? How did anybody pay for this? This does not feel like a TV show. It feels like a series length.

independent film from like 2004, which was a real golden age of independent films. So please, as much as you're willing to go into it, I would really love to hear how you came on to it and what the whole experience was like. Yeah, I was, I was sent it in 2022. So this was before I was about to film the last season of Riverdale. And I met with Cooper. And he was kind of secretive about it a little bit, keeping his cards close to his chest in a way because it was such an important project to him.

And also, it's a 300-page document. So I think it's a bit daunting to ask someone to, because no one even reads a six-page short story, let alone a 300-page script. But I had watched Chacha Real Smooth, his other film at Apple, and I really loved it, and I loved his style of his tone of filmmaking. So, I mean, I read it kind of instantly, and because I loved it so much, and I've said it 100 times, it was the best thing I'd ever read. And at that time, there wasn't really a talk of, I mean, Cooper was extremely optimistic and was saying, you know, we're going to find an independent financier to help us shoot this show. And no one makes television this way. Like there's no independent television where you shoot an entire series and then hope it gets sold. But, you know, I was on board. Mark Ruffalo was on board. And so Lionsgate TV, we had a few.

people read it and a few offers, which is insane. And then we went with the Lionsgate TV, and so we shot it independently in L.A. I think it was over the course of two and a half months. So we shot it two years ago. So it kind of feels, I mean, because it took forever to sell it, which is why it was sort of a really heartbreaking devastation.

I say that. I don't, I mean, it sounds dramatic, but it was a really incredible time, incredibly hard time for me last year and Cooper, where we thought, you know, this show that we felt is extremely special and emotional. And what people want, like, maybe they don't know that they want it, but they want a show that they can connect to emotionally that maybe reflects things to them. rather than something that can't actually happen? Correct.

And I think it felt so special and we felt so proud of it. And we had this one point we're trying to sell it and we sent it to everyone and they would watch it and go, this is incredible. Not for our platform. Which is why we can't have it. Yeah. So I think it's more of just this weird. perception that a lot of studios or streamers have that people don't want to take their time with things. And I understand TV and movies are made today with the understanding that people are

also going to be on their phones when they're watching it. That's just sort of a general understanding, I think, that now people have, which is unfortunate and I can't even complain about it because I do it too. But this show is just like not one to watch. while you're on your phone. And I think that scares people. And so it took a very filmmaker-driven streamer-like movie to buy the show. And, you know, even being on a, and we were offered to be on another streamer, but they basically said, we'll put you on our streamer.

We just won't promote it or give you any money or do anything with it. And we were like, okay, we're going to. and keep looking um but even you know being on a streamer it's still incredibly hard to get people to watch independent television one because they don't know what it is and two because they don't really know it exists because we don't have the money with which to mass promote it um and it's been sort of we've gotten you know we're thankful to be on a streamer but truly last year i almost I mean, I wanted to quit. I really didn't want to do this anymore.

I think, like, the industry, and I have a production company. Like, I, this is, I do this, and I act, and I produce, and I EP, and I develop for years. Things that I care about, and it seems like the things that I always care about the most are the things that, one, never get made or two, take six years. And then one person at the top goes, nah, not our main. mandate anymore, not what we're looking for anymore. And same with Helen Harper. I think it's an incredibly emotional, beautiful show. And, you know, I usually don't do this, but I do look at, you know, the letterbox reviews. And I see how touched people are by it because they see their lives and their relationships reflected back to them. And I think, wow, if only

streamers gave shows like this a chance to live and survive. I think it's kind of sad to have, you know, for everyone, a show, a movie comes out and the whole world goes, oh my God, this was atrocious, this was terrible, the writing was AI, the acting was bad, and it's like, well, but you, I mean, you watched it, you gave them your view, and you went and you bought the ticket or whatever. guess what? They're going to keep doing exactly that. And they're not going to think that they need to support independent TV and film. But this show was really a miracle that it's even exists. And it's a miracle that it's on a streamer. And it's a miracle when someone watches it

because of how small it is. And but I'm thankful it's out there whether anything happens to it or not. And I actually, a year ago, emailed Richard Gad, who did Baby Rain Deer. And I said, I got his email, which was kind of creepy of me, and I never do that. But I was like, I just want to say, and this was in the heart of us trying to sell our show. I said, I just want to say, I'm really so astounded and inspired by the fact that you were able to tell your story. Because I think it's really it's not you know trying to sell that show in an american market i don't think ever would have maybe like maybe not never but would have been very hard to sell but but he did it he did it outside of the u.s but i just really wanted to thank him from one just artist or producer

someone who's trying to live in this industry one to another say really an awe of how you were able you were able to make your show. And I hope that we get to, you know, that we get to do the same and we get kind of the same, um, appreciation for it that, that you're getting for baby reindeer. You know, as a, oh, I just say, I watched the finale this morning, actually, and, um, I kept thinking this doesn't feel American, like, which is sad, because I, because what I was really thinking is like, this feels too smart to be an American show. Like, it's, it's too soft and it feels more like cinema vera. And the performance. are so authentic.

Like, it's just not stuff that I'm used to seeing on TV. I only have seen it in independent films and stuff outside the U.S. So, yeah, everything you're saying, like, really, you can feel it as you watch it, that it's different

and it's special, and it's not what we think American audiences want. Everybody just was there for the art of it all, and I think that's why Indie is so special, usually, because you're not there for the money,

and you're there because you want to make art. So we were all just very tapped in. I think we all had this, same goal, which was we're here to bring this script to life that we really care about and we're here to, everyone was just very tapped in. It wasn't, it wasn't, no one was just dilly dally like it says. There's a stupid word, but like we were all just there. No one was, we didn't have trailers. Like no one was going off to a trailer, which I think adds so much time to a work day, by the way. When you have to wait for people to come back and forth from a trailer,

there wasn't that in this. We were literally, if we're shooting in a house, Aaliyah, who plays Jesse, my girlfriend in the show, she and I were sitting in a bedroom together, either talking or having our headphones in getting ready to cry because that's like all we do in the show, which is great. But like we were just right there. It was kind of immediate access to your actors. And even when Mark and I are in a scene together, Betty, Betty's like 10 feet away, like just there, ready to reset and to re-jump in. It was, it just felt very, um, people who were very present for the project and I think that's what that's what helped in terms of actually getting it getting through the shoot because you had no time and no money so it just took

a lot of dedication from every single person but we were but we were there and willing to do it even though it was incredibly challenging. Lily you are you know you have this like incredible experience your performance is stunning just want to congratulate you on that doing this like Thanks. Small indie, don't know if it's going to get sold. And now with your production company, you landed one of the hottest pieces of IP I can think of with the love hypothesis. It's so highly anticipated.

And I'm curious, does that introduce its own kind of anxiety to, like, bring to life something that has, like, such a dedicated fan base? Sort of what, how was the experience on set? Was that ever on your mind? Did you have to, like, cast that aside? How did you land it? Just anything you can share? I guess I kind of realized.

at a certain point, I was like, oh, I literally have done this with an even bigger IP, which is Archie Comic. Yeah, that's true. At this point in my life, I really try to not listen to the background noise of people's opinions. And I didn't used to be that way. But I, you know, if I see something about myself, I'm the first person to scroll. Sometimes if it's funny, I'll, like, comment or, like, joke around with someone in a comment. But usually if it's, you know, someone's opinion, when the casting announcement came out, some people really did not like that I was playing Olive, who's the lead character in the book. And that's fine.

And I knew that that was going to happen, obviously. But I don't seek out that to people talking about me. I don't want to see it. And I think it's not necessarily, I think if I, you know, I have my idea of who the character is and other people are going to have a different idea of who she is when they read the book. But it's my job. Like I can't. There's so many opinions and so many people who want.

a very specific thing from a character that's like from IP and no one's ever going to get exactly what they want and so if I'm happy and the director's happy and my and you know that's what matters and I don't I don't think I make movies for the general public's approval I think I make films because I want to be a part of it and it's I think the only thing I can really do with my life, so that's why I'm doing it. But also, I have to care about the character, so I want to play her in a way that I want to play her. And some people won't like it. And that's fine. But I stand behind it, and I think, yeah, I was also kind of taken it back, having done something with IP before and seeing how, you know, the scale of Riverdale, but like this almost kind of

blew me away. I didn't realize how many fans of the Love Hypothesis there were. But there are. And I'm sure they will be very opinionated when the movie comes out. But again, I'm just not looking for it. I'm like, fine. Say what I don't care. Say what you're going to say then. Because guess what? The movie's already made. Not going to go back and read it. I can't wait. I'm excited to see it. And also, yeah. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate. I am. I I read the book, and I was really excited when I heard you were cast. I was like, oh, she's going to elevate it. I was very excited to hear that.

Yeah, thanks. It sounds like a lot of what you're doing now is you're in an exciting new phase. I don't even want to say chapter, because chapters sound kind of small. I feel like you've really shifted towards, you're looking towards the future. You have a lot of things that you're developing, producing during the pipeline to be released. Not only do you have forbidden fruits, but you know, you have with your production company, Well, I'm not sure which is yours and which are just things you're working on, but, I mean, it sounds like you have...

It's confusing. Right, but it's cool because what you have is you have a number of things that are like about to come out in the next year. It sounds like, right? You have the very best people. Yes. You have forbidden fruits and you have fake wedding. I mean, take your pick.

Take your pick to talk about whatever you really like that is going to come out. Well, forbidden fruits also just have to shout out. Victoria Padretti is a friend of the pod, friend of friends. That's right. That's right. Yeah. I know literally nothing about it. I don't know a single thing about it. So you could maybe, why don't you introduce that concept to us? Well, we're that's scheduled, I think, to come out. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this. We'll just say 2026. We'll say 2026. It's coming out. And that we shot this year in March in Toronto. And yeah, I shot with Victoria. And it was lovely. And Lola Tong from Summer I turned pretty and Alexandra's ship. And directed by Meredith Alloway. And it is a project that I was attached to for two years before we shot. And again, Again, it's like, you know, one of my favorite things that I was so stoked to shoot, I had to wait two years to shoot it, which is like, you know, whatever. Thank God it got made. I just am happy when things get made that deserve to get made. How do I explain it? It is about it all takes place in a mall. And it's about a group of girls who work at a shop in the mall and they have sort of a witchy cult that they've formed there. And it's very,

Diablo Cody is a producer on it. So if you want to think of, like, in the vein of a Jennifer's body type of humor, that's what it is. Like, it's a, it's a horror comedy, but Meredith has been saying, you know, as we've been screening it and testing it, it's, it's coming off as very funny and, like, in a great way. It means, like, the humor that we're using is, like, really hitting with the audience, which is great. But I think we didn't know how funny it was going to be until we were there doing it. I haven't seen it yet, so I guess there's not that much more I can say about it. But yeah, and then I did the very best people, which is sort of a political thriller comedy, which is kind of her too.

That last genre, that surprised me. You said political thriller. I thought, I get it. Comedy? Huh? Yeah. That's cool. Think like Cohen Brothers.

Okay, okay. Okay, that helps. So that was sort of like a comp. And I play, this year I went from like the craziest one 80s of characters I've ever done. But I love that. And that's what I want to keep doing. I really, I think people will be very surprised seeing forbidden fruits and then seeing the very best people. And then seeing the love hypothesis.

I shot all three of those back to back this year. And they were complete turns from one character to the next. And I think that's what's fun about it. And I did the very best people because. it scared the shit out of me in terms of the character being so outrageously different from me and having an accent and like that's intimidating and but that shot in New York which was great I never really get to I hadn't shot in New York since hustlers so yeah I mean I think at this point and I do call it a chapter but like it really you know when Riverdale ended I was like

okay I'm really entering a new phase of my career where I finally get to sort of support and pursue indie film because I love indies and I and I it's usually what I am drawn to as a viewer. So to be able to like put a lot of my time and actually being in one was really exciting for me. But I think I just hope to continue doing that. I really some, you know, you have to think of it as a how can I keep my career alive and, you know, stay in the zeitgeist of things and keep the needle moving in my career, but also I would like to have fun. And I think that's really important. Sometimes people forget that. It's like, it's easy to say yes to a project because it pays well or whatever, but I'm the one who has to go shoot it for two months of my life

and dedicate, you know, move my life and be away from my partner and not be at my house. And I think I really look at things through the lens of, am I going to have a good time on? And I think that is something that right now I feel like I have the privilege of being picky because I want to enjoy myself. Penn, should we go to our finale question? I think so. I think so. Hard left turn back to 12 years old. If you could go back to 12 year old, Lily, what would you say or do, if anything? Well, I think I would probably validate the worry that I had and that I lived with constantly, like from

that age on, I think I have lived in a state of worry big time about how it's going to happen, how it's going to work, what do I need to do, and kind of this constant hustle and ambition. And I think I'd probably, like, envisioning what I looked like when I was 12. Okay, okay, I got her. I'm like, it will work out. And you can enjoy being a kid along the way because I think I genuinely really sacrificed a lot of just child. like, I don't want to say wonder, but like being carefree as a kid, I grew up very quickly. And not that because anyone told me to, but because I kind of took it upon myself of, oh, I need to be a

grown up to make my dreams come true. And I think I sacrificed a lot of, like, innocence and just being a kid because I was so ambitious and goal-oriented at such a young age. And I think I just sort of said. I mean, it's kind of like stereotypical, but just like, be a freaking kid, go be 12 for a second. And don't worry about it. You know, we don't get that answer often, actually. So that's really refreshing. Well, that's good. Yeah, I think that's, that's definitely, that's what I would say. You can catch Lily Reinhardt in Riverdale or Helen Harper out now on Mooby. And you can follow her online at Lily Reinhardt. Pod Fresh is hosted by Penn Badgley, Navacavalin, and Sophie Ansari.

Our senior producer is David Ansari, and our editing is done by Clips Agency. If you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now's the perfect time, because guess what? You can listen completely ad-free. Plus, you'll unlock exclusive bonus content. Like the time we talked to Luca Bravo about the profound effect that the film Into the Wild had on him, the conversation was so moving, and you are not going to hear it anywhere else. Just tap the subscribe button on Apple Podcast. podcasts or head to Lemonada Premium.com to subscribe on any other app.

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