2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards - Red Carpet
Riverdale star, Lili Reinhart, recently graced the cover of Glamour UK’s November issue and decided to use that opportunity to comment on societal issues that concern her.
The 23-year-old revealed that for years she has battled with depression, body dysmorphia, and crippling anxiety.
"Depression has affected me in so many ways," she says. "It's something that never goes away."
The actress, who portrays Betty Cooper on the hit Netflix series, says that she has found the best way to deal with these issues has been to talk about it.
"I have spells of time where I feel completely unmotivated, I don't want to do anything and I question myself," she discloses. "I don't know how to handle stress very well. I find that talking about it and sharing my experience with other people, and reminding myself that I’m not alone has been incredibly therapeutic."
The hot topic for the last two years has been Lili’s relationship with Riverdale co-star, Cole Sprouse. Reports circulated that the two had decided to part ways, but were seemingly shut down after the pair posed for the cover of W Magazine. However, for that same interview, the two chose to have separate interviews, leading the W Magazine interviewer, David Amsden to speculate on the strength of the pairs bond. Sprouse originally cited the decision to have separate interviews as a need for both he and Reinhart to keep their individuality in tact.
“Lili is an incredibly talented individual who speaks for herself and deserves her own voice box in every single way,” he said. “That alone is justification enough for me to do it like this. I don’t think we’re weaving two different narratives here.”
During her interview with W Magazine, Lili added her own take on the decision to be interviewed alone.
“We’re acknowledging that we’re in a relationship, but it’s a small part of who we are as people. We want our own separate identities.”
A similar sentiment was boasted in her most recent interview with Glamour UK.
"I was from a small town in Ohio, from a middle-class family, I knew no one in the acting business," she says. "I didn't have a baton passed down to me from an actor in my family. I did it on my own from sheer passion and knowing that this is what I was good at, and this is what I wanted to do. There truly is a lot of power in struggle and survival, and that's what makes you a strong person."
Still, Reinhart has felt defeated at times over her negative feelings of body dysmorphia.
"Even today, I see myself in the mirror and think, this doesn't look the way the world tells me it should," she stated. "I don't have a cinched, minuscule waist. I do have curves, I have cellulite, my arms aren't stick thin. This is my body and we’re told that it should fit certain proportions. There's such a disgusting problem right now with people photoshopping their bodies. Obviously, there's a reason why people do it, they're insecure, they feel like they're not good enough, and that's incredibly sad."
"It's this weird thing where people think that it's unnatural or a symbol of being fat," she explains. "It’s so f**ked up because cellulite is just a part of the human body. It's just genetic, it's like having freckles on your face. It’s something that is there, you're born with it, and it's become this disgusting thing. We're told: 'We need to laser this away, no one wants to see that.' There's nothing more beautiful than when I see stretch marks, or cellulite, and people's real skin."
Reinhart also advocated for personal therapy and how each session has allowed her to understand herself more and know that counseling does not equate to "crazy".
"Seeing the therapist allowed me to be understood," she said. "The goal for me has been to always leave therapy feeling a couple of inches taller. Feeling like I've alleviated myself of a problem by learning how to solve it. Not everything has a straight answer -- it's not just going to take one session -- but I start to think, 'I've grown, I've done this, I've figured this out, now I can go off into the world and try to put what I’ve learned into action.' That's how I look at therapy. I am not crazy, and I am not problematic. I am just a human who's feeling something in a different way than some other people would."