Meet America's Newest Sweetheart, Haley Lu Richardson

Haley Lu Richardson may have been bested by Noah Centineo for Breakthrough Efficiency at this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards, although she definitely won in the category of Our Hearts. We routinely knew Haley’s personality was infectious — just watch her explain Riverdale to her Five Feet Apart co-star, Cole Sprouse — although right now, it’s official: From red carpet all of the way through her graceful loss, the actress laughed, smiled, and joked her way into America's Sweetheart status.


Let’s begin with her display on the red carpet. Step-and-repeats can be boring. Most people will walk along a carpet, stopping on each X marked while doing so, allocating up the same few poses in every spot before slipping indoor in the event. That’s not Haley. She walked alongside her fiancé Brett Dier, and she made sure almost every moment of it was unabashedly fun. Haley was captured tonguing Brett’s cheek and picking his nose, showing that she really wasn’t taking the glitz and glamour of the event all that seriously. It was a time for fun, and thus fun she had! (For further proof of a good time, peep the wide smile that literally never abandoned her face.)


Haley wasn’t just attending the show as a nominee, although also had the high honor of serving as a presenter while in the ceremony. And lo and behold, being the Sweetheart that is, whenever she walked onto the stage, there was something immediately relatable about her: her feet. In a truly inspired move, Haley had taken off her heels to avoid slipping on the slick runway, fulfilling the dream of cramped feet everywhere. Her plan panned out: She walked properly and reveled in the success any time once she got to her destination. “I didn’t trip! So that’s a good thing,” she said.


Haley then firmly placed her footwear onto the podium before announcing The ideal Efficiency in a Show — a category that just so happened to be full of badass females, which she deemed “pretty darn cool” — and was genuinely excited to announce Elisabeth Moss’s win. Who doesn’t love a self-assured lady completely capable of celebrating and supporting others?


And speaking of supporting others, back at her seat, Haley continued to let her dogs breathe for the rest of the night, using her shoes to amplify her applause as Noah accepted his Golden Popcorn.


So to recap, Haley Lu Richardson embraces wide smiles, endless fun, silliness, comfort, and, most importantly, her peers. If that's not the making of America's Sweetheart, I don't know what is.


And in case you need more convincing, check out the video below: