Lili Reinhart Said She's Working On A Queer Period Piece When "Riverdale" Ends, And I'm Already Adding It To My "What To Watch" List

    “I grew up being so drawn to [period pieces] like Marie Antoinette, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Dangerous Liaisons. I’ve always just loved the drama of period pieces, and adding that queer element is very exciting for me.”

    Lauren Garafano
    by Lauren Garafano

    BuzzFeed Staff

    So you probably know Lili Reinhart from playing girl-next-door-turned-badass Betty Cooper on Riverdale.

    Lilii sitting on a couch next to a man
    Dean Buscher / ©The CW / courtesy Everett Collection

    And you may also know that Riverdale will sadly be ending after seven seasons on The CW, meaning that Lili and her castmates will be free to star in a bunch of new things we haven't even heard of yet.

    Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix

    In a recent interview with BuzzFeed, Lili shared that with the help of her production company Small Victory Productions, she actually has a bunch of new projects lined up.

    One of those projects being a new LGBTQ period drama, starring Lili herself.

    Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images

    Back in 2020, Lili first publicly came out as a "proud bisexual woman" in an Instagram story. Also, during Season 6 of Riverdale, fans began to speculate about Betty being queer when she seemed to crush on another female FBI agent. 

    She said, "In the last year and a half, I've been hard, hard at work developing the projects that I'm going to do after Riverdale. I'm really trying to set up a slate of things for when the show ends, to jump right into because I know I'll be ready to dip my feet into all these different projects. I have so many exciting things on the horizon. I just get so excited to think about them."

    She continued, "I have a very exciting LGBTQ+ period piece that is in the works. That is so exciting for me because I've always been in love with period pieces."

    "I grew up being so drawn to them, like Marie Antoinette, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Dangerous Liaisons. I've always just loved the drama of period pieces, and adding that queer element is very exciting for me. So, that's something that's on the horizon."

    Scene from the three films Lili mentioned
    Sony / Columbia / Warner Bros. / Everett

    She also explained that she's been working on plenty of projects that amplify diverse voices and stories as well. She said, "I don't want a white woman to be the lead role in everything that I do. So, I would like to produce projects that are more diverse and aren't just me as the lead, and tell different stories that I wouldn't necessarily really have room to be in."

    Amy Sussman / Getty Images

    She continued explaining that producing has been very different from acting, but she enjoys it just as much. She said, "That's just fun to be on the producing side and to wear that hat. It's just fulfilling and exciting and fun."

    As for Riverdale's ending, Lili did share that the feeling was a little bittersweet. She said, "I feel very fortunate to be on a show that has lasted this long, where you can really see a character develop and grow. I have such love for her and will really miss playing her when the show ends, but I very much cherish her as a character."

    Kailey Schwerman / ©The CW Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

    So that's all we know so far about Lili's new projects...but I'm very much already adding them to my ever-growing list of things to watch.

    Check out the whole interview with Lili here.