Casting alert! The recently announced in-development Archie Comics-inspired TV pilot, Riverdale, has cast its stars. After a four-month worldwide talent search, 18-year-old New Zealand-born actor KJ Apa has been cast as Archie Andrews in Riverdale, the CW pilot from producer Greg Berlanti. Lili Reinhart will play Betty Cooper, while Cole Sprouse will portray Jughead Jones with Camila Mendes landing the part of Veronica. Also cast in the pilot, based on the Archie Comics characters, is Ashleigh Murray as Josie of Josie and the Pussycats fame.

Set in present time, Riverdale is a subversive take on Archie (Apa), Betty (Lili Reinhart), Veronica (Camila Mendes) and their friends, exploring the surrealism of small-town life — the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade.

Apa’s Archie Andrews is an intense, conflicted teen, a boyish high school sophomore who got pumped up over the summer working construction and is now juggling the interest of several girls, as well as trying to balance his passion for writing and performing music — against the wishes of his father and his football coach.

Murray’s Josie is a gorgeous, snooty and ambitious girl who is the lead singer for popular band Josie and the Pussycats. She has zero interest in recording any songs written by fellow teen Archie.

Mendes’ intelligent and confident Veronica Lodge is a silver-tongued high school sophomore who returns to Riverdale from New York, eager to reinvent herself after a scandal involving her father.

Reinhart has previously been seen in The Kings Of Summer and Surviving Jack. Her version of the comic book character Betty has been described as “sweet, studious, eager-to-please and wholesome, with a huge crush on her long-time best friend, Archie. Tired of being the perfect daughter, student, sister, etc., she turns to her new friend, Veronica, for life advice — much to the consternation of her emotionally brittle mother.”

Sprouse is a Disney Channel regular, best known for playing the eponymous Cody in The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody. Years back, he was also Julian ‘Frankenstein’ McGrath in the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. His Jughead has been dubbed a “heartthrob with a philosophical bent and former best friend of Archie Andrews. He is still smarting from the rift that took place between the two.”

Also cast in the pilot are Luke Perry who will play Archie’s dad Fred Andrews.

While the search for a young actor to play Archie went on for months, I hear Apa only auditioned on Friday, landing the role just days later. He just wrapped A Dog’s Purpose, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and produced by Steven Spielberg.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, chief creative officer of Archie Comics, wrote Riverdale and is executive producing with Berlanti Prods.’ Berlanti and Sarah Schechter as well as Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater for Warner Bros TV and studio-based Berlanti Productions.

Via Deadline