Every creative decision Lili makes matters and she knows that. Playing a character as iconic as Betty, and at this level of exposure, runs the risk of being typecast for the rest of your career. Lili, aware of that possibility is already thinking about life after Riverdale. “I don’t want to play Betty Cooper my whole life,” she adds. “I’m ready to play different characters.”

Photo by: Matthew Sprout | Pendleton Woolen Mills Glacier Stripe Throw, $179. Pendleton-usa.com.

As it is for many actors, fame is as awesome as it is upending: For all the perks, it also comes with a flurry of new realities. Lili doesn’t go to the airport without first worrying about what she should wear in case she’s photographed. She’s tried to keep her relationship with costar Cole Sprouse private, but it’s something she’s pressed about constantly. The two recently went to Paris together, but fans and paparazzi found out about the trip almost instantly. “I wish I had been able to see Europe before being recognizable because our show is so popular there,” she muses. (The CW released Riverdale episodes on international Netflix accounts shortly after they aired stateside.) “I was not able to enjoy Paris because of [the paparazzi], and I really wish I had just gone and done my own thing, explored museums, but I couldn’t. It was too overwhelming.”

In many ways, Cole serves as a port in the storm. A former Disney Channel star, he’s navigated this whole being-famous thing since he was a child. From an outside perspective, the definitive start of their relationship is murky; the two made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2018 Met Gala, but aren’t set on turning themselves into a “thing” any more than they need to. “I keep my relationship private because it’s just between two people, and that’s the way it should be,” Lili explains. "It's not like I'm trying to dangle my relationship in front of people's faces like, 'you don't know anything about us.' It's just, you don't need to know. People feel like they're owed that, and you're absolutely not owed anything by me."

What we do know about the duo is often seen through what they choose to share on their own accounts, which includes photos Cole takes of Lili, whom he has called his muse. “I like to go on adventures with Cole,” she tells me. “Truly, adventures. He takes me to places where I’m like, ‘How did you find this?’ He’s made me see these things that I would have never seen otherwise. It’s escapism, which is so beautiful and wonderful.”

Most of her fans, she notes, are understanding about what privacy means to her, and while she tries not to focus on comments and questions, some slip through the cracks. In September, Lili made headlines when she responded to someone on Twitter who called her “so 2013 Tumblr.” “No, no... I tell him to touch me ~everywhere~ and then we eat Chinese food. Get your facts straight, Emily,” she tweeted.

“It’s like, you wanted attention, here you go.” she remembers now. “I was on set, sitting in my cast chair, read that tweet, and decided to respond. It wasn’t a thoughtful process. It was just like, I’m going to f*cking stand up for myself. I rarely look at my comments, but when I do, it’s like… if only these people knew that I was actually seeing what they were saying.”

She doesn’t try to make a habit of sounding off against haters, but sometimes she just becomes what her best friend calls “the most raw form of herself. She’s not trying to be anyone else.”