'Riverdale': Ashleigh Murray Talks Josie's Family, Previews Conflict Within The Pussycats

They’re pitch perfect on stage, but behind the scenes, there’s trouble brewing within pop combo Josie and The Pussycats. 

On Thursday night’s “Riverdale,” there’s conflict among the town’s most famous group – and on the eve of the talent show, no less.

And those aren’t the only things teenage frontwoman Josie McCoy, played by Ashleigh Murray, is going to be dealing with. “Chapter Six: Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill!” takes viewers inside Josie’s family life.

Ashleigh told AccessHollywood.com more about what to expect.

AccessHollywood.com: How excited are you for fans to finally get to see inside of Josie’s home life? That must be thrilling for you.
Ashleigh Murray: It is, I’m very excited. Actually, a couple of hours ago, I group texted Hayley [Law] and Asha [Bromfield], in all capital letters. ‘EEK! I can’t believe we’re going to be on TV tomorrow.’ I’m very, very excited.

Access: You were talking about the Pussycats side of the family, but we’re also going inside the McCoy family home, which should be interesting. [What can you tease] about what people will see when they finally go inside her home – Josie’s home?
Ashleigh: They are going to see why Josie is so uptight about her band and about her music. You’re also going to see the dynamic between her and her father, and that will explain — in the music video that we just released, there’s a shot of him looking — he’s got this look of grimace on his face, like he’s not about this performance and you’ll discover why s this really beautiful scene that happens between Josie and her family and Archie as well.

Access: We got to see the Blossom parents last week, which was fun, and also chilling, but what are Josie’s parents like – what is their relationship like?
Ashleigh: You know, their relationship is, it seems like it’s on its way out. It’s like it’s almost still there more so for professional purposes than anything. I’m not really sure where the love has gone. It’s not quite as aggressive as the Blossoms. We’re definitely not that crazy. I don’t think anyone’s that crazy, but you’ll definitely see the tension between Mayor McCoy and … Papa McCoy. You’ll be able to see the tension between them because he’s a traveling musician, so that plays a lot into their relationship. But he’s still a part of the decisions that happened in the household. Even though mom is there, holding down the fort, there are certain things that require his say so, and you’ll see some of that as well.

Access: As an actress, do you put the McCoys’ relationship as like a driving force for why Josie is such a perfectionist? Everything has to be perfect for her. The music has to be right, and just everything’s got to be its certain way.
Ashleigh: Absolutely. That comes a lot from the relationship that she sees her parents have and also what her parents do as adults, for their professions. Her father’s a traveling musician, which in a way, is an idea of success for Josie and she wants that success and she wants her father to see her as someone who can do that, and her mother is running a town. She makes all the hard decisions, and sometimes, her judgment, she has to come up with very quickly and hopefully, it turns out to be the right choice. And so she sees that there is a level of focus that you need to have to succeed. But, I think more so, when it comes to the dynamic between her and Archie and Valerie, the idea of a guy infringing upon what she believes is going to allow her to have that success is a bad thing because with her parents, her mom is successful, her dad is successful, and yet, they’re not together. 

Ashleigh Murray in 'Riverdale'

Ashleigh Murray in ‘Riverdale’ (The CW)

Access: Let’s switch to the band situation. In the sneak peek, Val says, ‘I quit.’ I’m curious how Josie’s going to take the news, especially with a talent show coming up. It could not be a worse time. 
Ashleigh: It is. It is the absolute worst time, and you’ll see how she manages to get herself out of it. … It’s the worst time and that kind of explains what Veronica is doing there because I need to find somebody to make this trio work. I can’t do it [with] two of us and luckily, we’re able to figure it out just for this particular instance. But losing Valerie is a huge blow, just for the future overall, not just for this variety show. So, Veronica is kind of a quick fix and you’ll see why.

“Riverdale” continues Thursday at 9/8c on The CW.

Jolie Lash