While Charles Melton is most frequently recognized as Veronica’s right-hand man Reggie on Riverdale, it’s his new role as Daniel Bae that the actor resonates with even more.
“He’s a hopeless romantic. He’s a writer. He’s a poet,” Melton, 28, says in the latest issue of Us Weekly. “I’ve always dabbled in writing, always worn my heat on my sleeve, very sensitive and I connect with a lot of those things with Daniel. We saw that sensitive side of Reggie in season 2 but I 100 percent feel more connected with Daniel than I do with Reggie. However, I love them both equally the same!”
The new film, based on Nicola Yoon’s novel of the same name, followed Melton’s Daniel and Yara Shahidi’s Natasha as two young New Yorkers who find love just hours before her family may be deported. Overall, the film has multiple strong messages.
“There are so many timely things about this film that are universal and the one thing we see is this pure romance, especially this love story – putting it all on the table and seizing the day. I really love how it hits so many different notes,” the Bad Boys for Life actor says. “Daniel struggles with two identities; he’s trying to [figure out] how much he’s willing to compromise to accomplish what his parents want for him. Aside for following his passion of being a poet and a writer, he’s a Korean American. Then he meets Natasha, and she could be deported. There are so many universal themes that I think are very unique.”
While filming the movie, Melton stayed in character, even when the cameras stopped. “There really was no disconnecting for me, I just stayed present. My life organically kind of changed, like, my habits,” he says. “I was writing more, I was listening to a lot of Nirvana, a lot of Prince, a lot of Tupac. I was essentially, kind of, so to speak, living in Daniels’s shoes.”
For more from Melton, pick up Us Weekly, on stands now.
A Sun Is Also a Star is in theaters Friday, May 17.
