Lili Reinhart explains why she filmed underwear scene on Riverdale even though she 'really didn’t want to'

Actress says: 'I can’t preach body positivity if I don’t practice it'

Lili Reinhart reveals she 'didn't want to' do underwear scene on Riverdale (Getty)

Lili Reinhart has revealed she felt “really insecure” about doing a bra and underwear scene on Riverdale because of body insecurities.

Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, the actress, who plays Betty Cooper on the CW series, said: “I don’t have the CW girl body - tiny waist, nice-shaped legs, skinny, small, tiny. I had to do a bra and underwear scene in this last season and I felt really insecure about it.

“I really, really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t tell anyone this. I wasn’t pressured into doing it. I did it because it was my job. But I felt bad about myself doing it. I really did. And this is where it gets complicated.”

According to Reinhart, she felt that she couldn’t “preach body positivity if I don’t practice it,” so believed it was important to do the scene for her fans, even if she wasn’t feeling confident in her body.

“So even if I’m not feeling amazing about my body, I felt it was important for me to do the scene anyway in my bra and underwear so people could see my body as it was,” she continued. “I did it for the people who feel like they need to look a certain way.”

The actress also acknowledged that the perfect-seeming bodies we often see on social media and in the media are not an accurate portrayal of real life.

“You go on Instagram, and I’m like: ‘Oh, look, all these people with these beautifully toned bodies’ and then go to the beach - does anyone on the beach in the real world look like that? I don’t see anyone looking like this. Instagram and Victoria’s Secret runways are not a portrayal of how people look in real life,” the 23-year-old said.

This is not the first time the Hustlers star has opened up about feeling “insecure” next to her Riverdale co-stars, especially during a scene where she is required to be in a bra and underwear. In February, after a fan criticised the show’s stars for promoting unrealistic body ideals on Twitter, Reinhart said she has felt “intimidated by the physique of my surrounding cast mates”.

After arguing that not everyone on the show is “perfectly chiselled,” the actress said: “And even I feel intimidated by the physique of my surrounding cast mates sometimes when I have to do bra/underwear scenes.

“I’ve felt very insecure due to the expectation that people have for women on TV, what they should look like.”

At the time, Reinhart said she has “come to terms” with her body, adding that she has “bigger boobs, I have cellulite on my thighs/butt, and my stomach sticks out rather than curves in.”

“I want other young women to see my body on TV and feel comfort in the fact that I’m not a size 0. And I’m not a perfect hourglass shape,” she said.

While many praised the star for the transparency, others attempted to invalidate Reinhart’s insecurities on the basis that she is “white and thin” and that her body type is “societally accepted”.

The negative comments prompted the actress to respond on Twitter, where she said it was “sad” that “people have the audacity to tell me that my feelings aren’t valid.”

“How sad is it that I come forward about my insecurities and people have the audacity to tell me that my feelings aren’t valid,” she wrote while sharing a sampling of the comments she’d received. “People like this, the ones who leave these ignorant comments, are the reason why people don’t speak out and end up struggling alone. Shame on you.”