Zoé De Grand’Maison is the latest star of the popular CW show Riverdale to beg viewers to be kind — and stop confusing the actors with the characters they play on screen.
The 24-year-old Canadian posted a story on Instagram this week after she began receiving waves of abuse on the social media platform from fans who were saying nasty things about her character, Evelyn Evernever.
‘Actors play characters,’ she wrote on her story, ‘I don’t understand how so many people are incapable of grasping that concept.’
Hitting back: Riverdale star Zoé De Grand’Maison took to Instagram to remind fans of the show who were leaving nasty comments on her page that she plays a character in the TV show
In character: She began receiving nasty comments on her Instagram about her character, Evelyn Evernever (L) as seen with co-star Lili Reinhart (R), who plays Betty Cooper
Plot: It was originally thought that Evelyn (R) was the daughter of The Farm cult leader Edgar Evernever, however, Betty (L) recently found out she is in face his 26-year-old wife
‘I am not Evelyn in real life please stop sending hateful farm-related messages ty,’ she added to her story, which was later re-shared by fellow co-star Lili Reinhart.
The comments began filtering onto her photos regarding a surprise twist about her character, who was originally thought the 17-year-old daughter of The Farm leader Edgar Evernever.
However, it was revealed recently that she is in fact his 26-year-old wife.
Nasty: Evelyn had been pretending to be a student in order to lure others to The Farm, and since it was revealed, fans of the show have been harshly criticizing Zoé online
The Farm, which was originally thought to be a peaceful ‘retreat’ area upstate, is in fact a place solely dedicated to harvesting human organs.
Evelyn has sneakily been pretending to be a student in order to lure young, naive high school students to join the bizarre cult.
And since Evelyn’s conniving ways were discovered by Betty Cooper, who is played by Lili Reinhart, people have been bashing Zoé on social media.
Several of her recent posts have seen earned comments from viewers about both Evelyn herself and The Farm.
One Instagram user said: ‘Did the farm make you do it?’ while another said: ‘Please burn the farm.’
Another commented on a photo of Zoé looking cozy with boyfriend Alex Nunes, saying: ‘You’d be kicked out of the farm if Edgar finds out about this Evelyn. And Betty will definitely know about this.’
‘Go back to the farm,’ another Instagram user said, while a fourth fan commented: ‘I do not like your character in riverdale but I like how Betty pushed you in to the lockers and said she was going to kill you.’
Harsh: Dozens of Riverdale fans have been leaving nasty comments on the actor’s Instagram photos, as they make reference to her character and ‘The Farm’
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Zoé said she didn’t mind the comments at first; however, she admitted they have become ‘annoying’.
She said: ‘At first, I was kind of just laughing it off. But I was getting a lot of DMs and some comments on photos that were clearly meant for Evelyn.’
Hurtful: Zoé admitted that at first, she was laughing off the comments, however, she said after a while ‘it gets annoying and can kind of upset you a little bit’
Zoé said some of the comments she’s received included ‘Leave Betty alone,’ ‘I hate you’ and ‘You’re stupid.’
She continued: ‘I obviously didn’t take it to heart, because these are people who obviously have no idea who I am as a person.
‘But after a while, it gets annoying and can kind of upset you a little bit. So I just wanted to put that message out there and also help any other actors who may be going through something similar.
‘You’re allowed to not like my character. It’s so cool that you’re this invested in the show, but don’t send hateful messages to the actors portraying them, because they’re just doing their jobs,’ she added.
Many of the actor’s fans have stepped in to defend Zoé after she became inundated with the comments. One user said: ‘You’re an amazing actress you don’t deserve this hate.’
Another, who reiterated the fact that Zoé and her character are not the same person, said: ‘People who can’t distinguish an actor from their character shouldn’t be on social media in the first place. We love you baby.’
‘Zoe must get so annoyed by the farm-related comments oh lord,’ another added.
Support: Despite the negative comments, many of the star’s fans have shown support for her as they leave sweet comments, including one that read: ‘I’m sorry people are hating you’
And it isn’t the only time members of the Riverdale cast have had to step in and intervene with fans who took their comments about the show’s characters too far.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Madelaine Petsch said that she created her own YouTube channel just to show fans that she is different from her character, Cheryl. But even she has had to get used to rude comments.
‘I still get comments on my stuff when I do something stupid on the show. Like, “F*** you!” and I’m like, Okay….’ she said.
Backlash: Last year Shannon Purser (pictured), who plays the role of Ethel Muggs, hit back at online trolls after she faced backlash following a kiss with co-star Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead Jones
‘The best thing you can do is ignore it. It bums me out when people are rude to our cast members, ’cause they’re my friends. I wish people could get that the writers are writing this and it’s a TV show. But they don’t.’
And back in October 2018, Shannon Purser, who plays the role of Ethel Muggs, hit back at online trolls after she faced backlash following a kiss with co-star Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead Jones.
According to Popbuzz, she began receiving comments from people who called her ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’.
The publication reported that she later took to Twitter, where she said: ‘I’m not stressed about it, trust me.
‘I just wonder what these people will think in like 10 yrs when they remember their twitter and realize they insulted and attacked real human beings for their character on a tv show.’
A fan account for the show then posted a tweet that read: ‘Your daily reminder that bullying a cast member over a FICTIONAL ship is never ok. Please get a grip on reality.’
Her co-star Lili Reinhart stepped in to support the actor, as she wrote: ‘Adding to that. Shannon is my friend, and it is embarrassing that people felt the need to attack her personally for something that happened on a SHOW. Written by WRITERS.
‘You are not a fan of mine if you treat my friend like this,’ she added.