Lili graces the September cover of Elle Singapore. She looks dazzling. You can check out the cover and photos from the photoshoot in the gallery. Her interview can be read below!

ELLE SINGAPORE – Lili Reinhart runs her buzzy Instagram account seeming to follow a certain subconscious pattern: there are photos of fresh-faced Lili frolicking in nature, smiley Lili coddling her miniature Schnauzer mix doggo Milo, and made-up Lili posing at various photoshoots (accompanied by tongue-in-cheek captions).

If not for her name being a household one, courtesy of the American actress’ breakout role as Betty Cooper on The CW teen soap Riverdale (for the uninitiated, a dark remake of the timeless Archie comic series), Reinhart’s life would really be like any other everyday person’s. And even though she’s decked out in a decadent quilted Miu Miu jumpsuit for this cover shoot in Los Angeles, being “real” and “organic”, especially on social media, where her 29 million-strong fanbase resides, is something she considers to be imperative.

“I am, you know, a real Midwestern girl. I love junk food and sitting around outside with my friends listening to music,” she says, as a small chuckle leaves her glossed lips. “I love playing with my dog Milo, who’s like my best friend. And I just love having people over in my home and having good conversation.”

That’s Lili Reinhart. Unapologetically and undeniably.

In August 2020, four months after a mandatory quarantine introduced the longest break in the actress’ career since signing on to Riverdale, Reinhart went on a solo road trip to Mount Shasta in Northern California — the famed getaway destination for spiritual healing. There, she hiked up the volcano and promptly uploaded picturesque landscape shots to her Instagram. For some mental clarity and healing, the caption to the post reads.

The trip served as more than just a vacation break for Reinhart; she had specifically chosen Mount Shasta in a bid to take a mental health retreat. Indeed, 2020 was a rather traumatic year for the 25-year-old (she’ll blow out the birthday candles come 13 September) — having to deal with the stress of social isolation, Milo’s near-death experience, and a supposedly hush-hush break-up that went very, very viral.

Not one to shy away from broaching the topic of mental health, Reinhart has always been open about depression and anxiety, which she’s battled since the age of 12. The pandemic, however, threw her over the edge a little. “I find that when I’m able to work on a project and have a schedule, I feel more at ease. I have a built-in routine,” she lets on, confiding that the first few months in quarantine were “hard” on her mental health, as acting helps her process her own emotions; she’s able to express her feelings through her characters, acting being both cathartic and therapeutic at the same time. Her struggle through this period, however, revealed something else to Reinhart: that in constantly playing someone else, she’s actually missed out on opportunities to re-centre herself.

“I was looking to heal myself, heal old wounds, work on bettering myself, and practise self-love,” she shares. “And it was an incredibly beautiful experience that got me started on this journey of self-awareness, and spiritual awakening that I’ve been committed to for over a year now.” Reinhart is referring to reiki, a Japanese form of alternative medicine that focuses on energy healing. Shortly after returning from Mount Shasta, she began reiki lessons and quickly got certified in levels one and two. Come fall, she’ll start on her reiki master classes, and is hoping to get certified in that, too.

Reiki emphasises the concept of self-healing. The process is raw, for it turns the spotlight inside. “As far as lessons that I’ve learnt, we are so powerful as human beings and we don’t get that taught or told to us enough,” she adds. “Things like how we can manifest things in our world and heal ourselves. We [tend to] look for outside sources to heal us, but the truth of the matter is that healing very much happens from inside of you.” As an actress, it may be hard to reconcile such energy work through her craft to her audience, but as all other-worldly concepts go, everything’s connected somehow. If looking inside oneself is on the cards, then Reinhart strives to convey that (often) brutal honesty and tender rawness with authenticity. “When I’m playing certain characters and portraying certain emotions, I hope people can see themselves and their emotions reflected in me,” she says. “And maybe that [can] help them become more connected with themselves.”
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W MAGAZINE – For W’s second annual TV Portfolio, we asked 26 of the most sought-after names in television to pay homage to their favorite small-screen characters by stepping into their shoes.

Last year, the actress Lili Reinhart told W magazine that lockdown was a time to reconnect with the people in her life and, most importantly, herself. She passed the time by painting the canyon behind the Southern California Airbnb in which she’d found refuge, writing in her journal while listening to music on Spotify, and taking care of her dog, Milo. She also, like so many, watched TV. Reinhart is known for her role as Betty Cooper on Riverdale—the very popular, very dark interpretation of the Archie comic book universe—but during quarantine, she turned to an even darker series for entertainment. The actress says she loved The Queen’s Gambit, and decided to channel Beth Harmon, the complicated chess prodigy at the center of the Netflix limited series, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Below, Reinhart expounds on her lockdown activities (which included self-help books and a trip to Mount Shasta), and her appearance on Law & Order: SVU.

Why did you pick this character and show?

I’m a sucker for a period piece. And I liked watching a young girl become an adult—have her life completely change in just a few years. I relate to that.

Do you play chess?

I don’t play chess! I don’t think I have the skills to play chess, but I admire it. I am good at some games—my family plays Scattergories, where you have to actually use paper and pens. I’m pretty good at that, but I can’t do chess.

What did you do during lockdown? Any new hobbies?

I read a lot of self-help books and dove into the self-discovery path. I went up to Mount Shasta; I work with a healer there. I deal with a lot of stress, and I found that journaling helped me. At home, I started doing jigsaw puzzles, and I also started to paint, mostly landscapes and flowers. Painting is a great stress reliever. But I did not bake bread. I think that would have made me nervous.

Other than The Queen’s Gambit, did you watch any shows during quarantine?

Besides Queen’s Gambit, I stayed away from dramas. I binge-watched It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It is so funny, and I wanted to laugh.

During lockdown, I was obsessed with Law & Order: SVU. You were the guest star on an episode!

Yes! It was one of the first big shows that I booked. My character was evil and nasty! In general, I have never auditioned for evil and nasty young girls. Betty is definitely the good girl on Riverdale, although she’s getting darker all the time. I need to play more villains.

In real life, are you more like sweet Betty or her opposite, Veronica?

Growing up, I was a Betty. And now, I’m more of a Veronica: spicy rather than sugary.

Lili covers the Summer issue of DuJour magazine. She looks breathtaking! I love this photoshoot. You can read her interview below.

DuJour – These days, when most young Hollywood stars attempt to expand their resumes, it’s usually into areas like pop music, fashion design or podcasts. Lili Reinhart, the 24-year-old Ohio-born actress probably best known for playing the iconic Betty Cooper on the Archie Comics CW hit Riverdale, is doing things a little bit differently.

Last fall, she published her first book of poetry, Swimming Lessons. The poems—some of them only a few lines—tackle Reinhart’s experiences with love, friendship, anxiety and trying to make her way in the world.

“I’m not a masterful poet by any means,” says Reinhart, who adds that sharing Swimming Lessons with her fans was both “vulnerable” and “experimental.” “I’m still not 100 percent confident in who I am as a writer. People tell me they really relate to the poetry, and that’s all I could ask for.”

And during the pandemic, which she has mostly spent in Vancouver on the set of Riverdale, she has started practicing reiki, a kind of energy healing. Now that she has finally found the free time to take private lessons, she is well on her way to becoming a reiki master herself.

“It’s about channeling your intuition, your third eye and your powers,” says Reinhart, who is now able to perform reiki both long-distance and in person. “It’s about clearing the energy that gets stuck in your body.”

Reinhart is aware that some people might see this spiritual practice as New Age woo-woo nonsense, “but I’m not here to convince the nonbelievers about it,” she explains. “If you go into it skeptically, it’s probably not going to work. But it’s a beautiful healing experience, and you’re inherently doing healing on yourself.”

Practicing reiki long-distance has also been a way for Reinhart to stay close with her friends and family during production. Because Riverdale films in Canada, she has mostly had to stay there for the last nine and a half months, due to border controls and COVID-19 protocols. Though she went back to Los Angeles for Christmas, she couldn’t see her family in North Carolina.
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