KJ Apa on I STILL BELIEVE Performance: ‘Grateful For Everything I’ve Gone Through’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor KJ Apa is opening up about how he held on to his values, even as he experienced massive fame on RIVERDALE.
“Attention and fame almost isn’t even really real at some point because you’re still the same person,” he said while appearing on Andrew Erwin’s “The Storytellers” podcast.
Apa became an overnight sensation after scoring the starring role of Archie Andrews in the CW’s RIVERDALE but committed to remaining true to his moral code, even in hard times.
“The values should remain consistent through the peaks or the valleys,” he explained. “The values that give me self-worth and self-esteem — the father that I am, the friend that I am, the son that I am — those values should remain consistent in the peaks, and they should also stay the same in the valleys.”
Apa and Erwin also talked about the movie they made together, I STILL BELIEVE. Erwin revealed that Apa actually turned the role down a few times.
“I had so much doubt in my ability to play that role — less doubt in my ability but more of just playing a real-life character,” the actor explained.
He also shared why his performance in I STILL BELIEVE still makes him emotional.
“I’ve been through so much since that movie,” Apa said. “I look at that guy, and tears come to my eyes because I’m like, ‘I miss you!’ I miss that guy, and I miss that innocence, but I’m so grateful for everything I’ve gone through, and it makes me a deeper human, but I can’t ever do that kind of performance again.”
The actor spoke about his love for the movie during an appearance on THE VIEW, saying, “This story itself I think is so powerful.”
“I feel like God really anointed this film, and I’ve never been so proud of anything in my entire life,” he continued.
Apa previously spoke about his faith in an Instagram post, writing, “To me Jesus represents Love, Empathy and Acceptance. To me Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light. To me Jesus means redemption. To me Jesus means change. To me Jesus means I’m not perfect! To me, Jesus means I can unlock my truth. To me, Jesus is my answer to evil. And there is evil.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Apa and Erwin’s partnership on I STILL BELIEVE:
In an exclusive interview with Movieguide®, I STILL BELIEVE director Andy Erwin revealed multiple ways God helped and inspired people through the project based on Jeremy Camp’s testimony.
“KJ, obviously is on the hit show RIVERDALE and has millions of millions of fans,” Erwin said. “But on this, he had been praying that God would give him an opportunity to do a product that would allow him to express his faith. … We didn’t know that, we found out secondhand that he was thrilled at the opportunity to do that. Through every part of it, he really pushed and pushed to try to make it authentically Jeremy, and also authentically a real-life faith. He didn’t take the easy way out. I’ve never been more proud of two actors, him and Britt Robertson. They were just amazing in this film and I thought they made the face very believable.”
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