based on the beloved characters from the archie comics, riverdale is a teen mystery drama series that premiered in january 2017. the show centers around archie andrews as he navigates life in his small town. unlike the early versions of the comics, the show takes on a darker tone, focusing on the mysterious death of cheryl blossom's twin brother. the once fun-loving characters suddenly become suspects, hiding secrets that deeply strain their friendships and relationships with one another. the show, adapted for the cw, received rave reviews and an addicted cult following. season 2, which aired october 11, 2017, promises to be even more chilling as archie further explores the darkness not only within his town, but in himself.
related: 15 embarrassing roles arrowverse actors want you to forget
while some of the actors who play the main characters, such as kj apa (archie) and camila mendes (veronica) are relatively new to acting, many of the supporting cast are well-versed in the business. that is not to say, however, that all of their roles were successful. whether is was a failed movie or tv show that never made it past the first season, these actors signed up for seriously embarrassing stuff. below are some examples of roles these actors wish they could remove from their imdb page.
15 colin lawrence, fixer upper mysteries
as the varsity football coach at riverdale high, lawrence's clayton accurately displays the determination to see his team succeed. he wants the best for his players but isn't afraid to punish those he finds undeserving of the bulldogs title. in season 1, he's forced to cut his son chuck and other members from the team after discovering a "playbook" detailing suggested sexually explicit encounters with female students. he also pits two of his best players, archie and reggie, against each other to see who's more passionate about becoming the team's new captain.
in a lifetime adaptation of the fixer upper mystery book series, lawrence portrayed chief jensen. the plot of framed for murder centers around a renovation contractor whose plans take a drastic turn after a suspicious death. concrete evidence follows the same contractor as she stumbles upon a skeleton lodged in the dumbwaiter of a historic lighthouse mansion.
14 martin cummins, dark angel
cummins plays sheriff keller who's dedicated to maintaining the law in riverdale. he informs the students at the high school about the death of jason blossom and questions cheryl, seeing her as the prime suspect in her twin's murder. as the case deepens, he is forced to interview other residents of the town with blame and suspicion shifting from once person to the next.
in dark angel, cummins plays ames white, a government agent who is tasked with hunting down jessica alba's character max. the 2000 cyberpunk television series centered around a genetically engineered super-solider from 2019 who escapes from a government facility. while the first season received rave reviews and a collection of awards including the people's choice award for favorite new tv drama, the second season suffered greatly due to a change in air time and plot leading to the show's cancellation.
13 peter bryant, dark angel
joining cummins on dark angel is peter bryant. bryant played a physical therapist to max's love interest logan cale. he later becomes cale's security guard, providing him with assistance after being confined to a wheelchair.
on riverdale, bryant plays the stern principal weatherbee. trading his ear piercing for a set of thick-rimmed glasses, bryant's character makes the announcement that despite the recent grisly event, the school will proceed with it's annual pep-rally. he aids sheriff keller in the arrest and questioning of cheryl blossom and the interrogation of archie andrews. very little has been revealed about the character, the audience only getting mere glimpses of his personality. however, fans of the show praise the diverse casting of the character from an overweight white man to a black man.
12 barclay hope, psi factor
playing the cruel, cold-hearted father of cheryl and jason blossom, hope's character was a deeply secretive man. cliff blossom was the owner of his family's maple syrup company, using it as a front for illegal drug trafficking. in a desperate attempt to keep this from being discovered, he (spoiler alert) kills his own son and frames fp jones for the murder. when a video of the murder is released to police, blossom evades capture by hanging himself in the family barn.
on the canadian sci-fi series, hope plays physicist peter axon. the show, which is loosely based on real-life events, showed a team of scientific researchers trying to prove or disprove reports of paranormal phenomenon. narrated by dan aykroyd, the first season of the show took on a documentary-style, featuring on-screen interviews with those who experienced these strange events. despite mixed reviews, the show lasted four seasons from 1996-2000.
11 mark consuelos, 1-800-missing
mark consuelos plays hiram lodge; largely unseen in the first season. ceo of lodge industries, hiram is imprisoned on multiple accounts of fraud and embezzlement. it's revealed that his wife, hermione, once had a relationship with fred andrews but was whisked away to new york by hiram, giving birth to veronica. season 2 offers a clearer picture of mr. lodge, further proving how ruthless and intimidating he can be.
consuelos starred alongside vivica a. fox on the second season of the canadian crime drama featuring fbi agents searching for missing persons in washington dc. his character, agent cortez, is guided by reason while his partner is guided by her psychic abilities after being struck by lightning. cortez's limited storyline ended with his supposed death from a car explosion in the series finale. despite its successful three year run, lifetime announced in april 2006 that they would be cancelling the show.
10 marisol nichols, big mama's house 2
as hermione lodge, nichol's character is strong and independent. while being a devoted mother to veronica, she's not so faithful to her husband hiram and has an affair with fred andrews. she does, however, share her husband's mindset when it comes to business and proves to be equally as dishonest. with her husband's release from jail, she hopes to regain her luxurious lifestyle for which the lodge family is well-known.
scoring a measly 6% on rotten tomatoes, big mama's house 2 centers around fbi agent malcom turner dawning his drag persona "big momma" to expose a suspected creator of a deadly computer virus. turner disguises himself as the suspect's family's nanny in an attempt to uncover the lethal technology. little information can be found specifically on nichol's character liliana morales, but regardless, it must be embarrassing to be associated with such a failure of a small franchise.
9 madchen amick, gossip girl
editor and co-owner of the local newspaper, alice cooper is a deeply overprotective and manipulative mother of betty and polly. her high expectations of people often lead her to be extremely judgmental, especially toward the lodge and blossom families. her dedication to her daughters proves overbearing, leading them to act out and her to find ways of covering up their indiscretion.
on the successful drama series, gossip girl, amick played duchess catherine beaton. despite being a married woman, catherine has an affair with the much younger nate archibald and later her stepson marcus beaton. fans of the show hated her character; comments on her character's wikia page range from "she was disgusting" to much more hurtful words. regarded as one of the most hated characters on the show, amick seems to have earned the same reputation for her riverdale character.
8 sarah habel, underemployed
on riverdale, habel plays a much younger version of her comic book character geraldine grundy (she assumes the name after fleeing from her abusive ex-husband.) she is a music teacher at the high school who begins an affair with archie. this affair is exposed by alice cooper and grundy is forced to quit her job and leave town. after relocating to greendale in season 2, she begins another affair with an underage student and is killed by a mysterious, black-hooded figured known as "the angel of death."
in underemployed, a 2012 comedy-drama series that revolves around college graduates who realize their dreams of success aren't guaranteed, habel plays daphne glover. she described her character to mtv as "a modern girl looking for some respect and she has her challenges, things get in the way." similar to grundy, she considers mixing business with pleasure, this time by dating her boss.
7 tiera skovbye, the unauthorized saved by the bell story
skovbye plays polly cooper, older sister of betty and fiancee to the late jason blossom. her life is full of turmoil; suffering from a mental breakdown due to her parents' adamant disapproval of her relationship with jason, who is later revealed to be her third cousin.
in the unauthorized saved by the bell story, she plays elizabeth berkley (jessie sapano). the lifetime movie attempted to expose some of the behind-the-scenes experiences of the actors on the ’90' show, showing their struggle to maintain an innocent exterior while growing up in the public spotlight. her character is credited as trying to substitute the lighthearted nature of the show with real teenager issues leading to one of her most famous moments on the show, her caffeine pill meltdown. the movie teased more scandalous secrets but failed to impress critics, and fans of the original show expressed distain on social media.
6 luke perry, buffy the vampire slayer
perry plays construction business owner and archie's father, fred andrews. he is a devoted father, sharing a strong bond with archie. he is described as a very generous man, putting the needs of others before himself. however, he suffered a troubled separation from his wife mary and began an affair with hermione lodge.
in the 1992 comedy-horror film, buffy the vampire slayer, he plays buffy's friend and eventual love interest oliver pike. he helps buffy change from shallow cheerleader to epic vampire slayer and the two form a strong bond as he aids her in destroying the undead. despite being a major character in the film, he makes no appearance in the television series. the film itself received mixed reviews and was overshadowed by the success and cult-following of the television series from 1997-2003.
5 madelaine petsh, the curse of sleeping beauty
self-proclaimed "queen bee" of riverdale high, cheryl blossom is the definition of a "mean girl." thriving off of intimidation, it's clear she's not the most well-liked person. she later suffers a mental breakdown after her family's secrets are revealed and begins to take on a darker persona.
while petsh is very new to acting, one of her most recognized roles is eliza in the 2016 fantasy-horror film the curse of sleeping beauty. loosely based on the grimm tale, the 89 minute film tells the story of a young man who inherits a cursed mansion.he foolishly believes waking briar rose will end the curse but comes to realize she will fulfill it by ushering in the apocalypse. petsch's character is nowhere to be mentioned in the plot and a critic for the hollywood reporter stated the film to be a "cheesy horror film... enough to put anyone to sleep.”
4 ross butler, k.c. undercover
butler plays stereotypical jock reggie on riverdale; his only concern being his football status as team captain. he's also a bully, heckling archie and jughead and making sexual remarks toward some of the female students. butler's conflicting schedule - he stars on the controversial 13 reasons why - caused his character to be recast for season 2. he fully endorsed the decision, praising charles melton as the new reggie.
aside from starring on the netflix drama that's received a lot of backlash over its highly sensitive content, butler also stared on the disney channel series k.c. undercover. the show stars zendaya as a high-schooler who's recruited by her undercover spy parents to put an end to the other side's evil deeds. butler's character, bret willis, is k.c.'s ex-boyfriend and former mission partner. while the show started off with 3.5 million viewers, as the seasons progressed, viewership decreased to a measly 1 million.
3 skeet ulrich, scream
leader of the notorious southside serpents and father of jughead jones, ulrich's fp jones leads a very troubled life despite his best intentions. he is arrested after being framed as jason's killer but it is later revealed he was only an accomplice.
in the 1996 slasher film scream, ulrich plays one of the most disturbing serial killers in a horror franchise. as billy loomis, he convinces his best friend to help him conduct a murder spree. what's unique about his character was that while he was so obviously the killer, the introduction of a "red herring" caused most of the suspicion to be placed on someone else, causing his reveal to be quite dramatic. the film, while receiving rave reviews for being a clever take on the classic horror genre, also became the center of controversy. it was suggested that the film inspired violent acts in 1998-99.
2 lochlyn munroe, scary movie
speaking of the scream franchise, the films also inspired a series of parodies by the wayans brothers called scary movie. in the first film, based on scream and i know what you did last summer, monroe plays a dumb jock easily prone to anger. he is also made fun of due to his “disability" — he has a micropenis. while the five film franchise grossed over $895 million at the box-office worldwide, the individual films suffered from varying degrees of popularity.
on riverdale, munroe plays betty's father and owns the local newspaper with his wife alice. he has an extreme hatred for the blossom family and is often bullied by his wife, forced to be a submissive spouse. it is revealed in their early adult life that hal pushed alice to have an abortion but she refused, secretly putting the child up for adoption.
1 cole sprouse, big daddy
close friend of archie and boyfriend to betty, jughead is the narrator of the show, writing about jason's mysterious death. considered an outsider, his personality can often switch between apathetic to angry. while he starts off quite detached from everyone, later in the season he becomes accepted by archie and betty's friends and is even invited to be a member of the southside serpents.
while sprouse is probably best recognized alongside his twin in the disney channel series suite life of zack and cody, both of them starred in the adam sandler comedy big daddy as his adopted son julian. one of the most iconic scenes from the film is when sandler's character teaches julian how to pee against the side of a building. the film received mixed reviews, one critic saying sandler's charm "isn't enough to make up for big daddy's jarring shifts between crude humor and mawkish sentimentality."
which other pre-riverdale actors have you seen in dubious roles? let us know in the comments!