Riverdale: KJ Apa really did break his hand punching the ice
It turns out that Riverdale's own Archie, aka KJ Apa, broke his hand badly during that frantic rescue scene...
| | Many fans of The CW’s hit show Riverdale found the scene at the end of the first season where Archie punches through the ice to rescue Cheryl from an untimely demise very hard to watch. As the red-haired protagonist hammers his fist into the frozen lake over and over in attempt to break through to the trapped Blossom, his blood is seen in stark contrast to the white of the precarious ground.
Visually, it was one of Riverdale‘s stand-out moments, and – although gruesome – it was hard to look away. It may be even harder for you to re-watch, though, after the revelation that actor KJ Apa really did break his hand during filming – but he didn’t tell anyone.
“That was a gnarly day of shooting, I’ll tell you that much,” he confessed to TV Line. “I wasn’t really punching the ice, but I got a little bit too excited. I was punching a foam mat … [that was] sitting on the ice. … It was cold, so I didn’t really feel it. It wasn’t until 20 minutes after that I realised I broke my hand. I didn’t tell anyone.”
It appears that Apa had indeed let the cat out of the bag back in April, but only afterward did people start to put two and two together:
So was the cast seen on his arm in later scenes the real McCoy? One presumes so.
The star was also recently at MCM London, where he revealed that season one might not have always ended with the cliffhanger we got…
“We actually had a completely different ending while we were shooting,” he admitted, before adding “actually, only me and Luke [Perry] got sent the ending the night before we actually shot that scene. Me and Luke sat down, we had a chat about it and we spoke to the writers and kind of just got it done. No one else actually knew about it except us at that time.”
As for that alternate ending, Apa refused to budge on the details, but he did tease that “it had something to do with the Blossoms.”
Reasons for having a different ending in place could range from limiting leaks, to uncertainty about renewal during filming – writers will occasionally set out a final episode that ties up the plot, rather than dropping a major cliffhanger at the end of a season, which can frustrate upset fans even further.
You can watch the whole interview with Apa below…
More news as it arrives.
Riverdale synopsis
Here’s a ruddy massive synopsis for the new Archie comics series, courtesy of CBR…
As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the recent, tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom, and nothing feels the same. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is still the all-American teen, but the summer’s events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music — not follow in his dad’s footsteps–despite the sudden end of his forbidden relationship with Riverdale’s young music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel). Which means Archie doesn’t have anyone who will mentor him — certainly not singer Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), who is only focused on her band, the soon-to-be-world-famous Pussycats. It’s all weighing heavily on Archie’s mind — as is his fractured friendship with budding writer and fellow classmate Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse). Meanwhile, girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) is anxious to see her crush Archie after being away all summer, but she’s not quite ready to reveal her true feelings to him. And Betty’s nerves — which are hardly soothed by her overbearing mother Alice (Mädchen Amick) aren’t the only thing holding her back. When a new student, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), arrives in town from New York with her mother Hermione (Marisol Nichols), there’s an undeniable spark between her and Archie, even though Veronica doesn’t want to risk her new friendship with Betty by making a play for Archie. And then there’s Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch)… Riverdale’s Queen Bee is happy to stir up trouble amongst Archie, Betty, and Veronica, but Cheryl is keeping secrets of her own. What, exactly, is she hiding about the mysterious death of her twin brother, Jason? Riverdale may look like a quiet, sleepy town, but there are dangers in the shadows… Based on the characters from Archie Comics, RIVERDALE is from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions, with executive producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (“Supergirl,” “Glee”), Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”), Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”) and Jon Goldwater (Archie Comics).