KJ Apa, Cole Sprouse & Rest Of 'Riverdale' Cast Discuss New Show As The CW Releases Fresh Cast Photos

The teen mystery drama "Riverdale" will be kicking off on The CW this January and the cast is expectedly going to busy making the press rounds to talk and promote the new show. The network has also recently released a fresh batch of photos along with information about the characters.

The excitement for the Archie-comics inspired series picks up as the premier date nears. The cast sat down with Empire Online to discuss "Riverdale."

KJ Apa, who leads "Riverdale" as Archie Andrews, admits he was not familiar with the comic series before landing the part on the show. He had to enlist help from his father, who was an avid "Archie" reader in his youth.

Born and raised in New Zealand, KJ Apa also needed to learn and hone his American accent. He also have to maintain Archie's red hair during the six-month shoot for "Riverdale." "I'm probably going to be bald by the end of the series," he told the magazine.

Even the girls on the show, Lili Reinhart and Camila Mendes, who play Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge respectively, were not fans of the "Archie" comic series. Their friends, however, are and have been thrilled to learn that they will be in "Riverdale."

But the characters of Betty and Veronica have been tweaked in the drama series, as much as the other characters and the stories have been. For instance, Veronica's dad is actually incarcerated for embezzlement.

Luke Perry has been one of the first older actors cast in "Riverdale" and he plays Archie's father, Fred. The 50-year-old actor was not a big fan of "Archie" but he did read it as a kid. He didn't think a TV show based on Archie would work out but when he read the script for "Riverdale," he was quite impressed.

Cole Sprouse is not the type of Jughead Jones that "Archie" fans might have in mind, but among the younger cast he's the most familiar with the comic series. "I really like Jughead as a character; I think he's really cool, especially this version of him," he told Empire. He's also the narrator of the show and teased that someone will have a "gunshot wound" by the end of the pilot episode.

Check out the newest cast photos for "Riverdale" in a slideshow from Teen Vogue. The show premieres on The CW on Thursday, Jan. 26.