The leading ladies of the hit CW show share intimate details about their lives offscreen.
The leading ladies of Riverdale are getting candid on their lives offscreen.
Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes, who portray Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, respectively, on the hit CW series, cover the February issue of Cosmopolitan, rocking sexy cropped tops and high-waisted skirts that show off their enviable abs. In their accompanying interview with the magazine (we can only hope it was done over milkshakes!), the girls share intimate details about love, sex and their biggest insecurities.
On the show, Reinhart's character explores her sexuality for the first time when (SPOILER!) she and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) become an item. In season two, we see Betty become even more open with her sexual side when she takes the stage at a retirement party for her boyfriend's dad, stripping down to lingerie and performing a seductive dance in hopes of being initiated into the Southside Serpents.
"I want to see [Betty] have a good time," Reinhart says of her hopes for her character. "I also want to see her explore her sexuality [more]. She never gets to, she's always stressed! Poor girl."
Reinhart says that in real life, that's where she and Betty differ. "I'm very open sexually," she admits. "I love to talk about [sex]. It’s interesting."
The 21-year-old actress adds that when it comes to sex, there are a lot of misconceptions, the biggest being that sex is going to be the same with everyone.
"That's how I felt when I lost my virginity," she explains. "I was like, 'So this is sex!' And then you have sex with someone else, and you're like, 'Holy s**t, this is so different.' What you want, what feels good to you... it's all going to change with every partner you have."
For Mendes, she says she's "never liked this idea of 'don't give him everything.'"
"Like, you've given someone all of yourself by having sex with them," the 23-year-old actress says. "What's valuable to me is giving you my love and my intimacy. What about you?"
"I want to tell [guys], 'Don't have sex at me -- have sex with me," she adds. "I want them to understand that it's so much better when we're connected."
Despite how confident these two seem to be, they admit there are times when they haven't felt so secure.
"One big insecurity I had to get past was when the person I'm with has had more sexual experiences than I have and has been in love more than I have," Reinhart confesses. "It’s mainly sexual though -- I find myself thinking that they're comparing me to their ex-lovers. I know it's a stupid insecurity, because I can’t control someone's past or dictate who they slept with before me…and besides, they're with me for a reason."
Romance aside, Mendes points out that one of her biggest hurdles was learning the importance of speaking up and being true to yourself.
"If I could go back to before I started Riverdale, I would tell myself to speak up when I felt like something wasn't right," she reveals. "To use my voice and know that it's worth hearing. I think what it really comes down to is giving fewer f**ks."
"It's easy to think you have to fit some kind of mold," she continues. "The darling, the bad b***h, the cool girl. But there's no way to mess up being yourself."
Riverdale airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CW. Watch the video below to hear highlights from the latest, shocking episode!
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