Last night’s episode of Riverdale took a pretty heavy turn, when Madelaine Petsch’s character Cheryl was nearly raped by Nick St. Clair.
Thankfully, Veronica and the Pussycats got to her before anything bad could happen.
Now, Madelaine is shedding more light on the issue with a PSA:
“[When I was] reading it, I felt like it was just another thing for Cheryl to deal with, and this is a huge thing,” Madelaine said to ET. “It makes sense for us to be bringing these [issues] to light and I think it’s very rare for TV shows to be doing that — especially ones that are more geared towards younger fans.”
She added, “I think it’s important to kind of let them let [Riverdale’s young audience] know what’s going on in the world and all that kinds of stuff, but at the same time, it’s just hard.
And it wasn’t easy for her to film it either.
“I’ll be honest, I cried,” Madelaine confessed to the publication. “I cried and I called my mum. I didn’t tell her what happened, obviously, but I was like, ‘This is a really heavy episode.’”
She added, “This is a huge topic, especially right now with what’s going on in the world, and it’s so close to home and it’s so important to portray it properly.
“I felt a huge responsibility to make it real, but then also there was a part of me where my heart was breaking,” Madelaine shared. “So it was a very interesting moment for me to get that [script] and there was no warning coming.”
After the incident, Cheryl wants to press charges against Nick, and hopefully, that’s what she does in coming episodes.
Ya know… if the killer doesn’t get him first (all thank to Betty!)
If you, or someone you know, has experienced sexual harassment in any way, speak confidentially to a trained counsellor 24 hours a day:
Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
Lifeline on 13 11 14.