Two new shows that took everyone but surprise and for sure surpassed all the hype surrounding them are 13 Reasons Why and Riverdale. While they are two very different shows, there is some overlap when it comes to the fandoms: both fanbases are very passionate, obsessed with the actors' real-life friendships with each other and they even shared an actor in their first seasons, the one and only Ross Butler. While they aren't actually related to one another in any way, there are a few connections.
Ross Butler left Riverdale for his role in 13 Reasons Why.
Ross was cast as Reggie Mantle in The CW's Riverdale and appeared in the first season in only a handful of episodes. For season two though, his character was bumped up so to speak and have bigger storylines.
Ross also played the role of Zach Dempsey in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and both shows ended up getting picked up for a second season after their massive successes. But then came the tough choice of which role Ross was going to stick with since the filming schedules for each show ended up conflicting, especially since Ross was going to be needed more on the Riverdale set this time around. Ultimately, Ross chose to stay with 13 Reasons Why and it wasn't an easy choice in the slightest, as he said. But actor Charles Melton will be taking over the role of Reggie and this whole situation was hard for everyone involved, something the creator of Riverdale, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa spoke about at the show's Comic-Con panel, which J-14 was in the audience of.
"You know, when we were first casting Reggie for season one, it took us forever to find the guy who kind of embodied that, and that was Ross Butler. And then when Ross had to leave, we had to make a really tough decision. Do we retire the character, or do we try to replace this great actor? For me, and I think for the producers and for the cast, Reggie's such an important part of the show, and he's such a big element, he's Archie's kind of day-to-day rival, that I said, 'Listen, if we can find the right actor we'll do it, if we can't we'll retire Reggie,'" Roberto explained. "And Charles was one of the first actors who came in, and he had it tough because since we had had everyone else cast, we made him read with KJ, we made him read with Cole, we made him read with Ashleigh for various reasons, because he has stories with all three of them. And the chemistry was kind of instantaneous."
So good to know the role is now in good hands.
Both shows are based on already beloved stories.
As you're most likely already aware, Riverdale is based on the beloved Archie Comics characters, setting them all in a modern-day retelling, giving the characters a whole new twist. 13 Reasons Why is based on the Young Adult novel of the same name by Jay Asher and producer Selena Gomez, along with her mom Mandy Teefey, snagged the rights to the book when they discovered it back in 2009, although it was published in 2007.
Riverdale king KJ Apa is a huge 13 Reasons Why fan.
Like any good friend, KJ was pumped when 13 RW was released, since his dear pal Ross as starring in it. He not only supported Ross by attending the show's official premiere, but KJ instantly became obsessed with the show just like the rest of us fans. He even said it was the show he was totally binge-watching, which his BFF and co-star Cole Sprouse guessed was KJ's current fave in a game they played.
So Archie himself is a huge fan of 13 Reasons Why, adding another shared layer to these two shows. Precious, really.
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