Charles Melton Talks Beef and Singing Beyoncé to His Daughter

In the near decade since Charles Melton cemented his mainstream heartthrob status as Reggie Mantle on Riverdale, the 35-year-old actor has steadily gravitated more toward arthouse fare. First came his turn as a young father opposite Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes’s May December; now Melton stars in the second installment of Lee Sung Jin’s Beef as an aspiring physical therapist swept into the pressure-cooker class dynamics of an ultraexclusive country club. The role allowed Melton to tap into both his past as a college athlete and the easy charisma that has made him such a magnetic screen presence. For W’s annual TV portfolio, Melton spoke with W Editor at Large Lynn Hirschberg about how the Netflix series entered his life, his experience of new fatherhood, and his unwavering devotion to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Did you watch season 1 of Beef?

I did. I dreamt of being in season 2. I'm a huge fan of Steven Yeun. I knew that Lee Sung Jin, the creator of the series, had a mood board with me on it for season 2 of the show. We were at dinner, and he showed me a picture of myself and said, “This is our writers room. We’re writing it for you!” I was pinching myself because I didn’t want to be overly excited. I told him “Yes!” immediately.

How familiar were you with the whole country club experience?

I was not familiar with the world of country clubs. There's, like, an initiation fee, which Lee Sung Jin said was, I think, $300,000 per year. That’s a lot of money.

You got to go back to Korea while filming.

I did. It was amazing. My whole family got to see me. We were there for, like, a month. So much skincare. Best skincare in the world.

Do you get starstruck?

I was at some sort of party. I was really starstruck when I saw LeBron James walk in, and behind him was Jalen Hurts, the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was wearing a white suit. I went up to him and said, “Mr. Jalen Hurts, my name is Charles Melton.” He dabbed me up and was like, “I know who you are.” My head exploded. I was so over the moon.

Are you a big football fan?

I’m a huge American football fan—Philadelphia Eagles, go Birds! I played at Kansas State University. I was good in high school, but I only played on special teams in college. I was pretty fast—I could run a 100-meter dash in 10.9 seconds.

That’s very fast! Can you still do that?

The last time I tried to run fast was when we were filming episode 8 of Beef in Korea, and I pulled my hamstring. It was bad, but I kept working.

Do you have any good scars?

I have a scar on my elbow from having MRSA—it’s kind of a gross thing to talk about. When I was 15, there was a lot of pain in my right elbow, and it was turning black. There’s only one cure for this flesh-eating disease. I had two surgeries, and they removed the part of the elbow called the weenus. I don’t have a weenus on my right elbow.

Do you have any favorite reality shows?

There’s this show where people date and they don’t know each other’s ages. Age of Attraction, on Netflix. I saw, like, half an episode. I think my reality TV is sports games.

What’s your zodiac sign?

I’m a Capricorn. I was born at 4:20 on January 4. Capricorns are stubborn, hardworking, very specific. My moon’s in Virgo, and I have some Gemini in there.

Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

“Halo,” by Beyoncé. I’m a dad now, and I sing it to my daughter all the time. I sing it very, very calmly, and by the end there are tears running down my face.