To say the teens were abuzz with emotions after watching Riverdale’s season finale this spring would be a vast understatement, as the episode culminated with Archie Andrews (K.J. Apa) saving Cheryl Blossom from a drowning death by furiously punching a frozen river again and again and again. (And then his dad, Fred, gets shot by an unknown assailant at a diner. Not fun.) That river scene was already pretty terrifying in its own right, yet it became even more heightened after the fact when Apa casually revealed on Twitter that he broke his hand when the filming occurred. He also briefly brought it up during Vulture Festival’s Riverdale panel in May, but still wouldn’t reveal what exactly went down besides the punches (obviously) getting a bit out of hand. That is, until now.
“That was a gnarly day of shooting, I’ll tell you that much,†Apa explained to TVLine in a new interview. “I wasn’t really punching the ice, but I got a little bit too excited. I was punching a foam mat … [that was] sitting on the ice. It was cold, so I didn’t really feel it. It wasn’t until 20 minutes after that I realized I broke my hand. I didn’t tell anyone.†What a gentleman. But nobody would blame him if he wanted to set fire to some foam next time.