On its own, the series Riverdale made plenty of headlines. But viewers were shocked in September 2022 when headlines began showing up naming convicted murderer Ryan Grantham a "Riverdale actor." Some scrambled to search him online, wondering if they'd missed something big with one of the core cast members. After all, the cast is very close and has spoken about their experiences filming the series.
Other headlines called out Grantham's appearance in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which again sent fans of the franchise googling. But in both cases, Grantham played minor roles, which had fans of Riverdale, specifically, up in arms over how the shows' names were used in articles about Grantham's horrific crime and conviction.
What Role Did Ryan Grantham Play In Diary Of A Wimpy Kid?
According to the former actor's IMDb page, which also lists his crimes and conviction, Ryan Grantham played a small role in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a 2010 movie that featured Zachary Gordon as the titular character, Greg.
Ryan played the character of Rodney James, which according to the movie's Wikipedia page, was "Greg's classmate and friend." Rodney's role, nor his background, is elaborated on, but the cast entry for him does link to an article about his conviction.
Without doing a deep dive into Google, most viewers who saw the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film would not have remembered Grantham. And the same seems to apply to Riverdale.
Ryan Grantham Played A Minor Character On Riverdale
Another of Ryan Grantham's minor roles was on the Riverdale series. He appeared in a single episode in 2019 as Jeffery, per IMDb, but Grantham's role is not listed on either the main Riverdale Wikipedia page or on its more comprehensive cast list page.
Meanwhile, most of the other Riverdale actors receive higher recognition and have long acting resumes behind them.
As one fan who dove into the show's background pointed out, Grantham played the part of a driver who killed Archie's father.
The late actor Luke Perry passed away between filming episodes, and the show gave his character an untimely demise to honor Perry and explain his character's absence.
Grantham was on-screen for part of the episode but never appeared on Riverdale again (nor did he appear on the series before that episode).
Few Headlines Referenced Grantham's Other Acting Roles
Most headlines about Grantham's conviction commented on the more well-known shows on his acting resume. Yet his IMDb page lists 37 acting credits, ranging from the last acting gig he had in Riverdale all the way to his apparently first role as Billy in 2007's The Secret of the Nutcracker.
Grantham also appeared in other TV series, such as Riese, a mini-series he appeared in six episodes of.
He also appeared in two episodes of Supernatural (once in 2008 and once in 2015), which may have been a bigger name-drop than Diary of a Wimpy Kid, if getting attention was the goal of the headlines.
Riverdale Fans Don't Want The Show's Legacy Tarnished
Plenty of fans of both Riverdale and Diary of a Wimpy Kid were unhappy about the way Grantham's crimes were reported. In a Reddit thread discussing one of the news articles about the case, commenters were equal parts confused and annoyed by the headlines.
A commenter on Reddit expressed their distaste over the wording choices in headlines, pointing out that Grantham's "little acting roles" didn't need to be in the article, and at most, should've "been a footnote."
One Riverdale fan simply said, "For the last time, stop tarnishing this show for an irrelevant character that was on screen for 13 seconds." Some fans already thought the series had been ruined, thanks to one specific Riverdale season, but most agreed that this footnote wasn't ideal.
Others echoed that sentiment, with some pointing out that the initial crime happened in 2020, but it wasn't until the 2022 conviction that anyone tied Ryan Grantham to Riverdale in a headline about his crimes.
Grantham was sentenced to life in prison as of September 2022, at the age of 24. Though the trial wasn't followed closely by many major publications, Ryan Grantham's actions resulted in his mother's death in 2020.
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