TV's Jughead Has Seen Your "I'm Weird" Memes, Calls Character "A Cringeboy"

Weird is the head that wears the crown.

When Cole Sprouse, the former Disney child star who portrays Jughead in CW's Archie Comics-inspired TV series Riverdale, delivered his now-infamous "I'm weird" monologue a few months ago, he probably didn’t think it would blow up like it did. Well, he was wrong. And apparently, Archie Comics fans have been waiting since 1941 for Jughead to comment on how weird it is that he always wears a hat.

During yesterday’s Reddit AMA session, Sprouse shared his thoughts on working on the show, his acting career and, inevitably, his “I’m weird" speech that has been the butt of a viral internet joke for the last few months. When Redditor PastryNecromancer (the supposed necromancer of pastries) asked what he thought about the meme, the 25-year-old actor responded:

“I was that kid when I was 16, so truthfully, it made sense (in the most haunting way),” said Sprouse. “I think this show plays with classic stereotypes well, and jughead definitely has his cringeboy moments. Juggy deserves the flack. Glad the scene resonated with the audience the same way it resonated with me as the actor reading those lines.”

For those unfamiliar with the meme, it all began with a scene from the tenth episode of Riverdale wherein Jughead (portrayed by Sprouse) goes off a teenage angst-ridden monologue about how much of a misfit he is.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t fit in. And I don’t want to fit in. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That’s weird.”

Upon its original airing in April, the speech quickly turned into a meme on Tumblr, as the fans of the show mercilessly roasted Archie's burger-obsessed sidekick for being the mainstream poster boy of the edgylord archetype, and from there, excerpts from his monologue made its way into various image macros in the form of a popular copypasta.

The fact that an eyeroll-worthy rant about nonconformism, let alone given by a millennial actor, became a defining moment for a character who's been around for nearly a damn century is pretty impressive and fascinating. And for some longtime fans of Archie Comics, they seem to have found closure in Jughead's self-embrace of being weird. After all, there are so many other weird things about Jughead, like his insatiable appetite for hamburgers that is borderline self-destructive.

Nevertheless, one thing's for sure about the Sprouse's "weird" portrayal of the character: It ain't your daddy's Jughead.