‘Riverdale’ Cast Pays Tribute to Luke Perry Ahead of Season 4 Production
Luke Perry's Riverdale co-stars honored him four months after his death.
On Monday (July 8), actress Madchen Amick, who plays Alice Cooper on the hit CW series, took to Instagram to post a photo of the cast and crew during a table read for the show's first episode of Season 4, which will honor the beloved actor, who passed away in March after suffering a massive stroke.
The image included cast members Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, KJ Apa, Camila Mendes and Madelaine Petsch, as well as showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, sitting around the table reading their scripts.
“There was nothing but love, memories and mourning for our beloved Luke as we honor him in our first episode back," she wrote, adding the hashtags, “#wemissyouluke #inmemoriam #riverdale #S4 #tableread.”
In the comments section, Perry's children Sophie and Jake, left heart emojis, while actress Christine Elise wrote that she and the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast was “living the same sadness” when they filmed the reboot without him.
Last month, Aguirre-Sacasa revealed this upcoming season's first episode, which is set to be titled "In Memoriam," will pay tribute to Perry and his character, Fred Andrews.
“Probably the most important episode of #Riverdale we’ll do this year, if not ever,” he wrote on Twitter last month. “A tribute to our fallen friend. Thankful for this opportunity to honor Luke & Fred."
Though Perry's Riverdale character made his last appearance in Season 3 during a scene with his TV son Archie, his absence was never addressed because the writers wanted to give him a proper send off.
"We didn’t want to rush into that at the end of the season and give it short shrift or not make that story as great and emotional as it needs to be to honor both the character and the actor," Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Weekly. "I think that’s going to be a big part of Archie’s journey next season, honestly."