Lili Reinhart has discussed her new queer role in the comedy-drama series Hal & Harper, describing her as the “caretaker.”
The Riverdale actress, who came out as bisexual in 2020, stars in the new series as Harper, alongside Cooper Raiff’s Hal and Mark Ruffalo as the pair’s father.
A synopsis for the limited series reads: “Hal and Harper have built their adult lives side by side in Los Angeles, bound by a lifetime of inside jokes and shared pain. When Dad announces he’s having a baby with his girlfriend, the siblings must reexamine their past and reckon with the versions of themselves they’ve carried into adulthood.”
Speaking to PinkNews about approaching the character’s queerness and how that related to playing the bisexual Betty in Riverdale, Reinhart states that the two are “completely different.” Whereas Betty’s bisexuality was “thrown in there at the end,” Harper has “always been gay,” says the actress.
“In her life, in the show, [she’s] in a very codependent six-year relationship with her girlfriend [Jesse, played by Alyah Chanelle Scott] where Harper feels like she’s the caretaker and has outgrown that role.”
The Riverdale actress also explains the “resentment” Harper feels towards Jesse comes from “having to take care of her and be the person who puts the plan together.” This, Reinhart shares, is something the character has done for her brother and father before.
“So, when Harper’s 24, she’s at this point where she’s like, ‘Wait, can I be taken care of?’ And we find out that she has a coworker who she’s really drawn to romantically because this woman is a mother and she’s a caretaker,” Reinhart went on to say.
“Harper’s really intrigued at that dynamic of what’s it like to be now taken care of instead of the other way around,” she continued. “And so she’s drawn into what that feels like. And that feels good to her as someone who hasn’t been in that dynamic before.
“So, she sort of gets pulled away from her current relationship into a new one where she can experience something different.”
Hal & Harper also stars Betty Gilpin, Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, and Havana Rose Liu.
The series is streaming on Mubi now.
The post Lili Reinhart says new queer role ‘completely different’ to Riverdale’s Betty appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.
