KJ Apa

Samoan-Kiwi KJ Apa made his screen debut on Shortland Street, playing high schooler Kane Jenkins. The character was created to explore New Zealand's high rates of youth suicide. After a season on local sci-fi drama The Cul de Sac, Apa got his American break, playing a teen quarterback in Lasse Hallstrom family movie A Dog's Purpose. In the same period, he scored an ongoing lead role as conflicted American teen Archie on Riverdale  — a darker take on the classic Archie comics. After acting in Altar Rock, based on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, he starred as christian singer Jeremy Camp in 2020 movie I Still Believe.

It’s crazy to be constantly seeing these characters that we’re familiar with in the comics. Every day you’re working with these kind of iconic characters and watching them being played in real life is pretty surreal... KJ Apa on acting in TV series Riverdale, Seventeen, 1 August 2018