<Ul> <Li> Actor </Li> </Ul> <Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 2013--present </Td> </Tr> <P> Keneti James Fitzgerald "KJ" Apa (born 17 June 1997) is a New Zealand actor . He is known for playing Kane Jenkins in the New Zealand prime - time soap opera Shortland Street . In 2016, he was cast as Archie Andrews in Riverdale after a four - month worldwide talent search . In 2015, he was cast as teenage Ethan Montgomery in A Dog's Purpose, released in 2017 . </P> <P> Apa was born in Auckland, the son of Keneti and Tessa Apa (née Callander). His father is Samoan and is a Matai (chief) of his village in Samoa . He has two older sisters, Arieta and Timēna . He attended high school at King's College, Auckland before embarking on his acting career . Apa plays guitar and piano . Apa was involved in a minor car accident in Vancouver in September 2017, but was uninjured when the passenger side of his car hit a light pole . The event was reportedly the result of Apa falling asleep at the wheel after a long shoot the previous night . </P>

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