Lili Reinhart is stepping back into romantic comedy territory — and the challenge she says worries her most isn’t the love scenes or the chemistry with a co-star. It’s the fans who already have a very specific vision of who her character should be.
The actress, best known for her seven-season run as Betty Cooper on Riverdale, is attached to star in an adaptation of The Love Hypothesis, a novel that grew directly out of Star Wars fan fiction centered on the beloved “Reylo” ship — the pairing of Rey and Kylo Ren. The book has a passionate, deeply invested readership, and Reinhart has been candid about the weight that comes with that territory.
Since Riverdale wrapped in 2023, Reinhart has been deliberately selective about her next moves, building a portfolio that spans genres and tones. That careful approach makes her commitment to The Love Hypothesis all the more telling — and her honesty about its challenges all the more refreshing.
Why The Love Hypothesis Comes With Unusual Pressure
Most romantic comedies arrive with general audience expectations: likable leads, satisfying tension, a happy ending. The Love Hypothesis arrives with something far more specific — a fandom that has already lived with these characters for years, first as Rey and Kylo Ren in the Star Wars universe, then as the thinly veiled versions that appear in Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling novel.
That origin story is both the project’s greatest asset and its most complicated variable. Readers don’t just want a good film. Many of them want a faithful translation of something they’ve already deeply emotionally invested in. Reinhart has acknowledged that meeting those expectations — or at least not betraying them — is the biggest challenge she’s navigating as she prepares for the role.
The character she’s playing is also, by her own account, quite different from Betty Cooper. After years of playing one of television’s most recognizable good girls, Reinhart appears eager to stretch into something new. That creative distance from her most famous role is clearly part of the appeal, even as it adds another layer of complexity to the performance.
Where Reinhart Stands in Her Career Right Now
The years since Riverdale ended have been productive ones for Reinhart. Rather than rushing back onto screens in the first available project, she’s been building something more intentional — a body of work that reflects genuine range.
Most recently, she appeared alongside Cooper Raiff, Mark Ruffalo, and Betty Gilpin in Raiff’s comedy drama Hal & Harper, a nine-episode series that earned strong critical notices during its run on Mubi. The project demonstrated her comfort in more grounded, character-driven material — a significant departure from the heightened melodrama of Riverdale.
Up next, she’s set to appear in Forbidden Fruits, a comedy horror film directed by Meredith Alloway, alongside an ensemble that includes Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp. That’s a notably strong cast, and the genre blend signals that Reinhart continues to seek out projects that don’t fit neatly into a single box.
A Snapshot of Reinhart’s Post-Riverdale Projects
| Project | Genre | Co-Stars / Key Names | Platform / Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hal & Harper | Comedy Drama | Cooper Raiff, Mark Ruffalo, Betty Gilpin | Mubi — completed, critically praised |
| Forbidden Fruits | Comedy Horror | Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, Alexandra Shipp | Upcoming — directed by Meredith Alloway |
| The Love Hypothesis | Romantic Comedy | TBD | In development |
The Reylo Connection — What New Viewers Need to Know
If you’re not deep in either the Star Wars fandom or the romance novel world, the phrase “Reylo-inspired” might need some context. Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis began as fan fiction exploring the dynamic between Rey and Kylo Ren — a push-pull relationship between characters on opposite sides of a moral divide, bound together by undeniable tension.
When it was published as an original novel, the fan fiction roots were an open secret, and the book’s audience largely came from that same passionate community. The result is a readership that is unusually knowledgeable, unusually attached, and unusually vocal about what they want from any screen adaptation.
For Reinhart, that means walking into a project where the audience has pre-existing emotional ownership. It’s a different kind of pressure than adapting a beloved classic — it’s more personal, more community-driven, and in some ways harder to satisfy because the expectations aren’t always written down anywhere. They live in fan threads, in years of shared enthusiasm, in a collective sense of what these characters should feel like.
What This Role Signals About Where Reinhart Is Headed
The fact that Reinhart is taking on a project with this level of built-in scrutiny says something deliberate about her career strategy. She isn’t retreating to safe ground after Riverdale. She’s choosing projects that carry real creative and audience risk — a horror-comedy with a sharp ensemble, a fandom-adjacent rom-com, a prestige drama on a platform known for discerning taste.
The throughline isn’t genre. It’s ambition. Each project seems chosen to push her into territory where Betty Cooper can’t follow, where the expectations are different and the creative demands are higher. The Love Hypothesis fits that pattern — it’s a romantic comedy on the surface, but underneath it’s a test of whether she can inhabit a character that millions of readers have already decided they know.
Whether she clears that bar remains to be seen. But the fact that she’s talking openly about the challenge — rather than projecting easy confidence — suggests she’s taking it seriously in exactly the right way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Love Hypothesis about?
It is a romantic comedy based on Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling novel, which itself originated as Star Wars fan fiction centered on the “Reylo” pairing of Rey and Kylo Ren.
What is Lili Reinhart’s biggest concern about the role?
Reinhart has identified meeting the expectations of the existing passionate fandom as the biggest challenge, alongside playing a character that is very different from her most famous role, Betty Cooper on Riverdale.
What has Lili Reinhart done since Riverdale ended in 2023?
She appeared in the comedy drama Hal & Harper alongside Cooper Raiff, Mark Ruffalo, and Betty Gilpin on Mubi, and is set to appear in the upcoming comedy horror film Forbidden Fruits.
Who else is in the cast of Forbidden Fruits?
The ensemble includes Lola Tung, Victoria Pedretti, and Alexandra Shipp, with the film directed by Meredith Alloway.
Has The Love Hypothesis film been given a release date?
This has not yet been confirmed based on currently available information.
Where can you watch Hal & Harper?
The nine-episode comedy drama series is available on Mubi, where it earned considerable critical praise during its run.
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