Lili Reinhart Opens Up About Not Giving Up Her Dreams of Acting

Just before Lili Reinhart booked Riverdale and became the only person we could all imagine as Betty Cooper on the series, she had moved back home and was about to give up.

But she didn’t, and speaking with Coveteur, the actress is opening up about why.

“I went back to a sales job that I had and tried to save up as much money as I could, but I was also dealing with incredible depression and social anxiety, so it was really difficult for me to work at the time,” she says. “There came a point where I was like, I need to go back there and try again, because first of all, there’s nothing else I want to do, so it’s kind of the only option.”

“Second of all, if I don’t go back out there and try to make it work, I am going to regret it because this is something I’ve been working toward for my entire life,” Lili added. “I needed to try again, and that was what was necessary because when I went out there the second time, things worked out and clicked.”

Perseverance worked in Lili‘s favor: “I was ready to give up and think about what other career options I could choose. Ones that had a specific path, and that was a steady job where I wouldn’t have to worry about whether I could afford food or groceries, or whether I could have a car or not.”

“Being a TV actor is a blessing because you know that you have a job for a couple months at time. You’re not having to leap from film to film,” Lili says. “So I’m very lucky in that case. I don’t have to worry about money and paying for my car anymore, which is the best feeling in the world as a 21-year-old.”

Lili was one of the lucky ones who didn’t give up on her dreams easily and gave it another shot.

“I have to pinch myself sometimes. But also, it did not fall into my lap, and I don’t want anyone to think that. We all worked our asses off, and it was a nationwide search that took months and months of casting,” she adds. “I was lucky enough to be cast as one of them. I was told no at first, and so was Camila, and so was KJ.”