Mark Consuelos Joins the Cast of 'Riverdale'

Hamptonite Mark Consuelos has been cast as the dastardly Hiram Lodge on The CW’s hit teen drama Riverdale. The actor, known for his work on All My Children and various primetime shows (as well as being married to one Kelly Ripa…), is reportedly joining the show as a series regular in Season Two—if his current gig, Pitch, doesn’t get renewed. There’s no word on what will happen if Pitch, which suffered from low ratings, gets the green light for a second season on Fox.

Riverdale is a modern, dark retelling of the beloved Archie Comics in which the squeaky clean characters—Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and many more—are reimagined as teens in a small town that recalls Twin Peaks in its peculiarity. When teenage Jason Blossom turns up dead, everyone’s a suspect. The ongoing mystery also includes the oft-discussed but never seen Hiram Lodge, a Bernie Madoff-like character who is pulling the strings on a major financial scheme from prison. While his daughter, Veronica, loves and trusts him, she has been forced to compromise her own morals and beliefs as she realizes that Hiram may be guilty of the white collar crimes he’s accused of. Meanwhile, Hiram’s wife, Hermione, finds herself doing his dirty work and sacrificing her own happiness for him.

While Riverdale is largely about the teens, the show boasts a talented cast of familiar faces as the kids’ parents. Consuelos will fit right in with the sultry adult cast, which includes a ruggedly sexy Luke Perry (Fred Andrews), a biting but beautiful Mädchen Amick (Alice Cooper), a glam Marisol Nichols (Hermione Lodge), a tall-dark-and-handsome Skeet Ulrich (FP Jones) and a radiant Molly Ringwald (Mary Andrews).

Archie Comics has several East End connections. Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit has a home in East Hampton, and the late Hamptonite Stan Goldberg wrote and drew many Archie stories through the years.