What were you doing at 14? Personally, I was getting bullied and making Musical.ly videos in my bedroom. But 14-year-old Vritika Gupta is busy starring alongside Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough in Under the Bridge, the hit Hulu show based on Rebecca Godfrey’s book of the same name. Godfrey wrote her book about the 1997 murder of Reena Virk, a young girl from Victoria, Canada. The role of Reena is layered and challenging, but Vritika portrayed her beautifully and had the support of creator Quinn Shephard and showrunner Samir Mehta throughout the process.

Obviously, I asked Vritika about all things Under the Bridge during our chat, but I also had a pressing, unrelated query: As a 14-year-old in 2024, does she identify as Gen Z or Gen Alpha?? “Oh my gosh,” Vritika said. “I always identify myself as Gen Z because I’m January of 2010, so it’s like the very start of 2010. I know some people who call me Gen Alpha, but I identity myself as Gen Z.” Respect her wishes, people. Gen Z, it is!

Her most Gen Z trait? “Watching TikTok too much,” Vritika admitted. “I feel like my attention span has gotten so much lower because of that app. But honestly, I enjoy it and sometimes you find pretty good and valuable hacks from there.” I will now be using the latter part of this quote to justify averaging five hours a day on TikTok.

Read on to get the exclusive tea from Vritika about a possible season 2 of Under the Bridge, what it was like working with Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough, and her Adam Sandler stanhood.

Talking Under The Bridge With Vritika Gupta

Image Credit: Hulu

Betches: So, what first drew you to this project, and what was the audition process like?

Vritika Gupta: Originally, I didn’t know that this was a true story, so auditioning into it, that really intrigued me. I’m sure a lot of people around me didn’t know about it either, so I really wanted to share the story and get that message across. I auditioned in June of 2022, and I think it was two or three months later, we had a bunch of callbacks and chemistry reads.

Betches: Did you get to talk to Rebecca Godfrey, the author of Under the Bridge, before she died in October 2022?

Vritika Gupta: So I personally did not, but I know that Quinn and Samir had the chance to collaborate with her and understand her thoughts.

Betches: Is there anything you wish you could’ve asked her about?

Vritika Gupta: Oh, that’s a great question. I think one of my questions would definitely have to be: What intrigued her to write the story? I think, being able to read the book, it was so interesting, but I wanted to know what drew her not just to the case, but also to Victoria and Canada itself.

Betches: Were you at all nervous about portraying a real person? What was the process of preparing for that type of role?

Vritika Gupta: Yeah, I was definitely a little bit nervous for sure, but being able to have, you know, Quinn and Samir and Greta and all the directors and such a safe support system around me was so valuable.

Betches: Do you share any personality traits with Reena, or was the role a total stretch for you?

Vritika Gupta: I think me and Reena are so different in many ways, but we can all relate to her in some way. I think we’ve all walked into a room and felt different. That’s something that we’ve all felt either, you know, in our childhood, or something that we still feel to this day. Also, in the show, you can see that Reena is so close with her uncle, and that’s something that I share super close to my heart because I’m super close with my uncle too.

Betches: I have to ask, did you get any life or acting advice from Lily Gladstone or Riley Keough?

Vritika Gupta: I didn’t get any acting advice from them, but I did get to watch Lily do a couple of scenes after I ended shooting on set early, and being able to see how she bonded with the cast and the crew and the younger kids on the set is something that I think I would take along the road with me. It’s so important to have that chemistry with not just the cast, but the crew and the people that are around the set because that creates a better and safe environment for everyone.

Betches: Any chance of a season 2??

Vritika Gupta: Oh, that’s a great question. It’s not really up to me. It would be super cool if there was a season 2, but obviously it’s a true story. So, we’ll just have to see.

Betches: Do you have a favorite actor who you would be super starstruck by if you met them IRL?

Vritika Gupta: If I had to choose one, I think it would definitely be Adam Sandler. I think it’s just so cool how he manages to make every movie funny and I always laugh when I watch any movie or anything that has him in it.

Betches: Would you be in an Adam Sandler movie?

Vritika Gupta: Oh my god, I would love to. That would definitely be a dream.

Betches: We’ll wait for that.