Spy: Inside KJ Apa’s creative retreat in Auckland

Kiwi star KJ Apa has just had a whistle-stop visit home to Auckland from his base in Los Angeles. Photo / AP

Kiwi acting sensation KJ Apa has just had a whistle-stop visit home to Auckland from his base in Los Angeles.

Last weekend, the former Riverdale star posted a picture of himself painting a large piece on the balcony of a villa. He captioned the post: “Work & Progress // “Family Affair”.

The former Shortland Street actor also posted an Instagram story of his mother, Tessa, in her art studio. His sister Timēna posted a picture of Apa, herself and KJ’s 2-year-old son, Sasha, in front of the finished art outside the villa and another, once the art had been hung inside.

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A post shared by KJ Apa (@kjapa)

Apa’s agent acknowledged that Apa and son had been home for a visit and said Apa had left earlier this week and did not wish to comment on his visit home.

It is understood Apa was last home in New Zealand in August last year when he visited with both Sasha and Sasha’s mother, French model Clara Berry.

In August this year, Netflix’s Riverdale, in which Apa starred as Archie Andrews for seven seasons, screened its finale.

Apa has been keeping a relatively low media profile since leaving Archie’s trademark red hair on the set in Toronto, where the series was filmed - and the huge fandom that accompanied the role he started playing at 19 years old.

In February this year in an interview with fellow actor James Franco for VMAN magazine, Apa reflected on the all-encompassing series. “It’s so hectic to think about because I’ve spent a lot of time really unhappy,” Apa told Franco.

“Really unhappy about where I was in my career, which objectively, seems really ungrateful. And then I realised, coming into my last season of the show, how incredible an experience I’ve had. When I’m older, I get to have this documentation of these pivotal years of my life that are documented on television. The seasons represent chapters of my private life that I can look back on and show my kid and reminisce on.”

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A post shared by Timēna Apa (@sissyuce)

A few weeks before the Riverdale finale screened, Apa shared a picture of himself painting to Instagram, which he captioned, “Systems of Myself.” The now 26-year-old has since shared sporadic posts of his life to his more than 17 million Instagram followers, including a video performing his other passion: music, jamming with a mate playing guitar.

In Apa’s October collections post on Instagram, he shows himself enjoying his new low-key life. The actor showed fans his art studio at his Hollywood home, enjoying some skateboarding, getting a new tattoo, and father-and-son time with Sasha.

Apa has starred in numerous films including A Dog’s Purpose and The Hate U Give. His legion of fans will next see him back on the big screen in US movie, One Fast Move, in which he stars in the high-octane racing adventure film about a dishonourably discharged soldier seeking out his estranged father to help him pursue his dream of racing Supersport motorcycles.