KJ Apa is best known to audiences for his role in teen drama Riverdale, which returns to screens today.
The star, who plays Archie Andrews, hit the big time back in 2017 when the CW drama series kicked off and swiftly became a worldwide phenomenon.
Riverdale, however, wasn’t actually KJ’s first regular role on a primetime show, as he previously starred in popular New Zealand soap Shortland Street.
The Songbird actor portrayed Kane Jenkins in the long-running serial drama, who would feature in many huge storylines over a two year period.
Kane rocked up at the soap’s eponymous hospital in 2013 to visit his mother, and the character soon became a central one, after mainstays Wendy and Murray Cooper (Jacqueline Nairn and Matthew Chamberlain) fostered him.
The teen was at the centre of a hard-hitting attempted to suicide storyline, which KJ described as one of the ‘hardest’ things he had to do as an actor in a chat with New Idea.
He also featured alongside Ed Sheeran during one episode in 2014, after the Shape of You hitmaker requested to appear on the soap.
At the time, Kane had injured his leg and was unable to play rugby, but he was ‘cheered up’ when he encountered Ed at Ferndale’s The IV bar.
‘Kane just started playing that and he sort of, well he didn’t teach Ed Sheeran how to play, but Ed just started playing it and was giving him tips on how to sing,’ KJ told Stuff at the time.
‘Kane is starstruck as well, just as anyone would be. It cheers him up. It does what Ed is trying to do.’
KJ departed Shortland Street in 2015, moving to LA, where he was cast in the leading role in film A Dog’s Purpose.
The following year, he landed the part of Archie in Riverdale, after a four-month worldwide talent search.
KJ also starred in Songbird last year, a film based on the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking about his experiences of moving from Riverdale to Songbird, the 24-year-old told Interview Magazine: ‘I felt so free coming from a show where I feel like I’m in jail a lot of the time.
‘There are so many restrictions on what I can and can’t do.’
Riverdale, which airs on Netflix in the UK, is currently in the middle of its fifth season, which featured a seven-year time jump after the show’s main characters graduated from high school.
Following a five month hiatus, Riverdale returns to The CW in the US tonight, airing Season 5 episode 11. It will be available to watch on Netflix in the UK tomorrow.
Riverdale airs on The CW in the US and on Netflix in the UK.
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