It’s back to basics as Lili gets emotional
Lili Reinhart drew on her own struggles with anxiety and self-doubt when playing an emotionally damaged student in her latest film, Chemical Hearts. ‘i stopped working out and intentionally let myself get depressed,’ the 23-yearold told me when i asked how she’d prepared for the part of Grace Town, an enigmatic teen who’s reticent about why she has transferred to a new high school.
Grace wraps her past in oversized boy’s clothes, uses a cane, quotes Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and is guarded about where she lives. Those familiar with Krystal Sutherland’s novel Our Chemical Hearts will know all the answers. Those who haven’t can uncover Grace’s secrets when director Richard Tanne’s engaging movie runs on Amazon Prime from August 21.
Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper in TV series Riverdale, the dark update of the Archie Comics, was adamant that Grace not come across as a ‘glamourpuss’ in Chemical Hearts. She and her co-star Austin Abrams play co-editors of the school magazine in the film.
When she screened the picture for her mother recently, she exclaimed: ’You look exactly like you do in real life!’ Reinhart laughed. ‘i was like: “You think i look like s*** all the time?!” No make-up, hair in a bun. i didn’t want to look beautiful. Grace is grieving.
She said she also used the loss of her golden retriever Delilah, to inform her character. ‘That added to the level of grief and brought some real emotions,’ she told me.
She read sad poems, too. Her own book of poetry, called Swimming lessons, will be published in September, though she warns her 24 million social media followers that ‘if you’re trying to get personal information through my book, you’re wasting your time’. After filming Chemical Hearts, Reinhart went back to the Riverdale set to shoot the memorial episode for luke Perry, who played Fred Andrews, Archie’s dad, and who died in March of last year.
One of the reasons she enjoyed filming Chemical Hearts, self-inflicted depression notwithstanding, was that she could ‘breathe and take my time’. Work on Riverdale is all ‘fast-fast-fast and go-gogo’. So the film offered a welcome change of pace.
Plus she and director Tanne wanted to make a love story that wasn’t ‘super polished’. ‘We wanted it to feel grounded, not cheesy.’
One of the best moments is a scene where we see Grace, in a simple wedding gown and with flowers in her hair, standing shivering in a pool of water in an abandoned factory. The shot seems to embody her grief. ‘it was cold in the water, which helped,’ the actress told me from her new, barely furnished home in los Angeles. (‘Never move just before a pandemic,’ she advised me.)
As executive producer of Chemical Hearts, as well as its star, she was keen to address the topic of body image. Reinhart said she’s angered by people who ‘change the s*** out of their bodies to achieve a certain look that’s physically impossible’.
‘That kind of surgery is very damaging to young women, who are looking online for inspiration. They go: “i want a body like that!” But it’s not real. They have to pay to look like that.
‘Some people are blessed with beautiful bodies. Good for you. But let’s not worship that.’
She exercises to keep in shape, but not slavishly. A while back, she turned up at an event wearing a dress which clung to her curves — including her tummy — and some folks assumed she was pregnant (she was not). ‘i have a normal f***ing body!’ she fumed, still clearly enraged. ‘it was ridiculous.’
During quarantine, Reinhart has been writing more poetry, which may result in a second book. She’s also been looking after Milo, her miniature Schnauzer-mix, who was attacked by a much bigger dog four months ago and had to have surgery for a neck injury. ‘He’s a little skittish and barks a lot, but he’s much better,’ she said.
The only time her sunny mood darkened was when i mentioned her Riverdale co-star Cole Sprouse (who plays Jughead Jones). i wanted to check whether they were still together. ‘No, i’m not in a relationship any more,’ she answered.
She was more cheerful about the news that her new mattress was due to be delivered any moment. No more sleeping on the sofa! ‘i’m so excited about it,’ she said, with relief.