Josie McCoy. Josie is trying to carve her identity as a musician. Her signature cat ears headband is one way that she and her band (the Pussycats) can be distinctive. But Josie’s not just a run-of-the-mill teen. Like the other kids in RIVERDALE, Josie has some troubles at home. Ashleigh Murray explained that “Josie is absolutely consumed by music and the success of her band. And not just her, that’s the thing. Her biggest obstacle that she’s dealing with [are] the expectations her mother has, because she wants her to stay in a certain brand and that’s kind of what it’s all about her her mom. And her father, on the other hand, who is a musician and travels all the time, doesn’t quite love the type of music that Josie chooses. Trying to balance the love and acceptance of her parents while staying true to herself … it’s a lot for a teenager to handle. Combine that with the ego of a 16 year old, sometimes she’s a bit of a mess. You see how it unfolds in the first episode. She seems kinda’ diva-ish mean girl. She’s not completely mean, it’s more sassy than anything. Halfway through the season you’ll really get to see the dynamic between her and not just her bandmates, but her parents [as well] and how that influences who she is outside of the house.”
Josie’s relationship with the Pussycats is better than her relationship with her parents, but sometimes she can get a bit ahead of herself, according to Murray: “It’s interesting, it’s very strong [the bond between the girls]. She definitely loves her bandmates and all three of them share the same type of struggle and they look to her for support or guidance. But at the same time she can get a little ahead of herself. Her head gets a little big and she starts to run things as if she’s a dictator as opposed to a partner. She learns her lesson from that but all in all, underneath it, at the end of the day she realizes that these are her girlfriends more than anything else. If she’s going to succeed, if she’s going to have these girls by her side, she’s going to have to give sometimes. It’s all love. Sixteen year old hormonal love.”
When we first meet her, Josie’s biggest annoyance, however, is Archie, who approaches her for help with his music and she doesn’t take him seriously. “She has a big problem with Archie. Not just his choice to want to pursue music but how it seems kind of out of nowhere for her. She’s doing favors for him and she definitely judges him before seeing what he’s capable of. She will start to figure out how to soften around him but it’s difficult because he starts to push in on one of her bandmates because everybody thinks Archie is cute.”