Ottawa-born actress Vanessa Morgan, best known for her work in My Babysitter’s a Vampire and The Shannara Chronicles,‘ will join the cast of the Archie-comics-inspired series Riverdale in its upcoming season.
Morgan, 25, will play Toni Topaz, who first appeared in the Archie comics in 2012. The character has pink hair, rivals Jughead Jones — played by Cole Sprouse — in eating competitions and is often hinted at being bisexual. According to an interview with ET, Toni’s sexuality will be explored throughout the show.
WATCH: Riverdale’ star Cole Sprouse clashes with busker during filming in Vancouver
Toni will attend the same school as Jughead on the show, and is also part of the gang, the Southside Serpents, that Jughead joined in last season’s finale. According to HuffPost, the two characters will develop a close relationship.
The CW hit just finished its first season, and after gaining so much traction, extended its second season to 22 episodes.
Few know that Morgan, who recently tweeted out the ET story along with the words, “So excited!!,” actually auditioned for Riverdale during casting for Season 1. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the show’s executive director, tells ET that he called Morgan to apologize for not being able to bring her on board for the first season.
“I called her after she auditioned and tested and I said, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m not going to be able to bring you aboard this year, but I love you and I promise you’re going to come and be a part of Riverdale next year,'” he told ET.
Morgan is well known for starring in the Teletoon series My Babysitter’s a Vampire in 2010, as well as the film version. Some of her other credits include the Disney Channel movie Geek Charming, Frankie & Alice and Harriet the SPY Blog Wars.
Her other recurring roles include playing Beatrix Castro in the MTV teen drama Finding Carter and starring as Amanda Pierce in the Family channel sitcom The Latest Buzz. This past year, Morgan joined the cast of the Shannara Chronicles on Spike as Lyria.
Season 2 of Riverdale begins October 2.
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