Lili Reinhart Opens Up About Breaking Free From 'Riverdale' With Indie Hit 'Hal & Harper'

After seven seasons of high-octane teen drama on Riverdale, Lili Reinhart knew she needed a radical departure. The CW series, a global phenomenon, had defined her career and typecast her in the minds of many viewers. So when the script for Hal & Harper landed in her inbox, she saw it as a lifeline—a chance to finally flex her acting muscles in a quieter, more emotionally raw world.

The Perfect Post-Riverdale Project

"I was in a position at that point where I wasn't really getting opportunities like that," Reinhart told TheWrap, referencing the indie series created by Cooper Raiff. She described the script as "the best she had ever read" and exactly the type of role she craved after wrapping the final season of Riverdale. The series, which premiered at Sundance and was quickly acquired by Mubi, follows codependent siblings Hal (Raiff) and Harper (Reinhart) as they stumble through early adulthood while grappling with a traumatic past involving their aloof father, played by Mark Ruffalo.

Reinhart was acutely aware of the label Riverdale had placed on her. "Most people know me from Riverdale and put a little bit of a label on me, as far as what my wheelhouse is as an actor," she admitted. Hal & Harper offered a chance to show a completely different side—a flawed, emotionally complex woman navigating loss and codependency.

Embracing Silence and Raw Emotion

One of the most striking aspects of Hal & Harper is its deliberate pacing and use of silence—a stark contrast to the relentless dialogue of Riverdale. Reinhart noted that this was something she "loved and craving" after years of non-stop chatter. "Cooper really lets the silence speak for itself," she said, recalling a Letterboxd review that quipped half the series showed Harper taking a bath. "You're not wrong," she laughed.

She explained that the type of content she personally gravitates toward is "more quiet and slow" because it allows audiences to watch humans process emotions in real time. "That's often a very silent thing," she added. This approach required Reinhart to be entirely present in her body—a technique Raiff encouraged by using a hand gesture pointing to his chest during takes, signaling her to feel the moment deeply. "That's something I really appreciate and have taken with me into other jobs," she said.

Preparation and Trust with Cooper Raiff

Before production, Reinhart had nearly a year to prepare for the role. She read Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss to better understand the character's emotional void and spent time building a sibling-like rapport with Raiff. "He and I just naturally had very sibling energy," she said. "I don't have a brother—I have two sisters, and he feels like a spiritual brother to me." This deep trust allowed Reinhart to fully surrender to Raiff's vision. "I knew what he wanted this to be, and the love he had for each character. I just really trusted how he wanted Harper to be seen."

The Bold Flashback Device

One of the most audacious choices in the series is using the adult actors to play younger versions of their characters in elementary school settings, surrounded by actual children. Raiff kept this a secret from Reinhart until the last moment. "I was like, oh okay, we're doing this," she recalled. She admitted feeling "uncomfortable around children" but used that genuine awkwardness to inform a younger, emotionally stunted Harper. "My environment really helped me create the narrative of being uncomfortable in my own skin," she said. The device, reminiscent of Pen15, adds a layer of surrealism and emotional truth, leaving ambiguity about whether these flashbacks are real or distorted memories.

Mark Ruffalo's Dedication

Working opposite Mark Ruffalo was a career highlight for Reinhart. "Someone at his level doesn't have to show up as hard as he did for an independent television show," she said, noting that none of the cast were in it for the money. "We felt like his children, and we really deeply cared about him." Their shared scenes captured the "loving, yet slightly stunted relationship" between the siblings and their father, rooted in the trauma of the mother's death.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do—Even on Screen

Harper's relationship with her girlfriend Jesse (Alyah Chanelle Scott) adds another layer of emotional complexity. The couple, who met in college, must decide if their future lies together or apart. Reinhart believes the storyline resonates with viewers navigating breakups in their 20s. "When you're with someone through any part of your twenties, you're still getting your sea legs in life," she explained. "It's so hard to leave a relationship because you've outgrown it... A breakup is so painful when it's mutual love and choosing to separate because you just don't fit in each other's lives anymore."

A New Chapter in Her Career

Reinhart views Hal & Harper as "the beginning of the next chapter in my career." Since finishing the show, she has filmed three drastically different projects: the horror film Forbidden Fruits, the romance adaptation The Love Hypothesis, and the comedic thriller The Very Best People. "This whole project to me was such... I feel so lucky, because it's exactly what I want to do forever—I want to do a little bit of everything," she said. The indie series, which is now streaming on Mubi, represents a bold stylistic pivot and a testament to her determination to avoid being pigeonholed.

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