A few steps from the Beachwood Canyon studio apartment that would serve as the location for Who What Wear’s October cover shoot, under a giant bougainvillea covered in magenta leaves, I set up two wooden chairs facing each other. The stage was set. This would be the perfect spot for my interview with Lili Reinhart: quiet, charming, and nestled away from the scorching late-June sun.

I walk Reinhart over, proud to show off the scenic arrangement I put together, we take our seats, and just as the first question rolls off my tongue, a truck pulls up. The driver peeks his head out the window to tell us we're in his parking space. My perfect meeting spot, it turns out, is a bust. While our unexpected visitor has me flustered and racking my brain for a suitable backup option, Reinhart remains cool and calm. Collecting our chairs, we walk to another, less picturesque part of the apartment complex. It’s hardly a noteworthy setting for this story, but we get 49 uninterrupted minutes of conversation—which is ages, all things considered.

Uninterrupted time, especially in public, is not a luxury Reinhart comes by often. Being approached by adoring fans while out and about is commonplace for the 21-year-old, who shot to mega-stardom as Riverdale’s girl next door, Betty Cooper. To put that rapid (almost overnight) rise into context, when the CW series first premiered in 2016, Reinhart had little more than 5000 Instagram followers; today, at press time, she has 12 million. While this level of fame might have you thinking Reinhart is at the height of her career, rest assured this is merely her first act.