KJ Apa Is Immune To His Own Charm

KJ Apa beelines for the coffee once he walks into our interview room at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. Minutes before, someone came into the room to create ensure there was coffee in the pot; minutes right after, Apa is spilling milk and apologizing profusely. He just landed in Los Angeles from Vancouver, Canada, where Riverdale films nearly year-round. (Of course, this meetup is happening a week prior to the CW pausing production over COVID-19 concerns.)


“Great begin to the day, isn't it?” He jokes. It’s actually 12:30 in the afternoon, however you know how weird time can feel on travel days. Apa can be clumsy and his timing can be wonky; these quirks only add to his charm.


Any fan of the actor is familiar with his brand of charisma, rather visible in his portrayal of Archie Andrews, the amateur vigilante routinely attempting to create his community better. It’s an earnest, do-good appeal, where some days he makes mistakes, yet his heart is usually in the correct place. Apa has perfected the persona, even if he insists he can’t visualize it. He is “extremely critical” of himself, as several actors are. “It's not like I'm sitting there watching, going, man, I'm charming,” Apa tells MTV News.


KJ Apa and Britt Robertson as Jeremy Camp and Melissa Henning.


It makes brilliant sense — we are all our own worst critics — however at the same time, it is a little bit hard to understand how anyone, Apa included, can avoid staring at the screen, mesmerized by his sweet sincerity. This is apparent in his latest movie, I Still Believe. In the tragic love story, Apa stars as singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp opposite Britt Robertson’s Melissa Henning, who is diagnosed with ovarian cancer shortly immediately after their courtship starts. It's based on the true story of the Grammy-nominated artist and his late first partner, who, on screen, streams her faith to guide her by means of the crisis, inspiring Jeremy to do the same.


“There were moments where I saw that situation and I asked myself, damn, what would I do in that situation? How would I react?” Apa says. “Jeremy is just... He truly is an one-of-a-kind human being. As soon as you meet him, you understand it.”


Yet he aspires to love intensely and unconditionally, the way his character does during the film — “The purest form of love is giving yourself to someone or something and not expecting anything in return,” he says — Apa still has trouble seeing it in himself. He initially turned down the role. It took some coaxing to build his confidence.


His hesitation cropped up in a couple of places. He worried about the responsibility of telling a true story, and telling it well. “I didn't wish to be the guy at the end of the day, if it all turned bad, then I'm the guy. It's my face all over it,” he says. And then there was the musicality of the role.


KJ Apa takes the stage as Jeremy Camp.


I know what you’re thinking, because I had the same thought: Apa is a musician — what does he have to be afraid of? He grew up playing the guitar, and he’s been showcasing his talent on Riverdale since Season 1.


“Riverdale is a brilliant example of 'I'm a musician,'” Apa says. “But am I particularly enjoying the musical characteristic of the project that I'm doing? Not really. I have to do it.”


Apa hadn’t dug into Camp’s discography up until soon after he read the script, however right now, he’s a fan. As a songwriter and an artist, he calls Camp “amazing,” so in this case, fashion was much less of an allocate. Apa just isn’t a singer — certainly not publicly, and not privately, either. “People just … keep forcing me to sing in all these projects.” He’d really rather just play his guitar.


Shania Twain, music legend who plays mom to Apa’s Camp, begs to differ. “He has an organic communication to the audience, to the guitar, so I thought he was amazing,” she told MTV News. And Twain has numerous Diamond-certified albums, dozens of BMI Awards, 5 Grammys, along with a slew of other accolades, so that is very high praise.


Still, despite the fact that he’s been acting since he was a teen, stars in the largest show on the CW, and leads a film of his own, Apa moves to put air quotes around the word “success” as soon as he speaks it, changing course midway through his sentence to alternatively call them “achievements.”


Shania Twain and KJ Apa share a mother-son moment.


He doesn’t take any of it also seriously. Some days he comprises of answers on the spot while in interviews, especially those rapid-fire questions. However, he assures me, he never exaggerates if he talks about the significance of moisturizing.) He feels his best as soon as he’s just acting like a common person: consuming food healthy, exercising, playing music, and looking right after his companions. He holds a certain disdain for the highlight reel that Instagram has become and the comparisons it often encourages. “That’s not the shit that I care about,” he says. And although he very much would be one of these people with the ultimate highlight reel, he’s not interested. “At the end of the day, to me, I'm living my life. You're living your life. We're all living our lives. We're all humans.”


Apa surrounds himself with people who feel the same way. It cooperates with the him stay grounded, and assists the him to genuinely like life — and more specifically, his life.


“The real world is right in front of me now, with you, now. Present,” he emphasizes. “The real world isn't on our phone. It's what's going on right in front of you.”


the love with which he says this — while sustaining brilliant eye contact, no much less — is exactly what makes Apa so damn charming. “I think it’s the truth,” he says. Then, immediately after a brief pause, “But yeah,” he adds, mockingly swapping his native New Zealand accent for a American one. “I guess it's charming.”