K.J. Apa shares sweet memory of Luke Perry

It’s been more than a year since the world tragically lost Luke Perry following a stroke, but those who knew him aren’t letting his memory fade. Hot on the heels of former Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering sharing a throwback photo to mark the March 4 anniversary of Perry’s death, the deceased actor’s Riverdale son, K.J. Apa, shared his own memories of Perry.

During a March 9 appearance on The View, Apa revealed to the co-hosts that he still very much misses his onscreen dad, and that he was such a fatherly figure to the 22-year-old actor IRL too. “He’s one of the best people I’ve ever known in my life. I hope I can be half the man that he was,” Apa said. “I remember everything about Luke. I miss him. I miss talking to him. He was so important to me, because I feel like he always had my best interests. I just miss chatting to him. I miss listening to him.”

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It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Perry tragically passed, just days after his former 90210 co-stars agreed to star in a rebooted version of the show as heightened versions of themselves. Perry was still starring in Riverdale as Archie’s father, Fred Andrews, and had just shot a part in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood when he suffered a stroke on February 27, 2019. He died five days later, at 52-years old.

 

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A post shared by KJ Apa (@kjapa) on Feb 14, 2020 at 4:52pm PST

At the time Riverdale shut down production as the cast and crew coped with the loss. Then, they waited until the fourth season premiere to pay tribute to Perry with an entire, bittersweet episode dedicated to the actor.

Apa has opened up about how difficult Perry’s loss was in the past, revealing to Jimmy Fallon about a month after his passing that Perry used to check in with his parents every week to let them know he was taking care of him, looking out for him, and bringing him Gatorade when he was sick. After all, Perry was 24-years-old when the first season of 90210 was released, so he knew what it was like coming up in Hollywood at such a young age and dealing with rabid fanbases.

“It’s not every day you come across a guy like Luke,” Apa said at the time. “Luke is the kind of person who did everything he can to make whoever you are, no matter how big or small you are, feel comfortable and feel welcome. It’s hard to kind of put into words how that makes me feel… He made such a huge effort from the very beginning. I wish I could be like that.”

In addition to starring in the fourth season of Riverdale, Apa is currently promoting the March 13 big-screen release of I Still Believe, the real-life story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp, in which he co-stars with Girlboss Britt Robertson.

Meanwhile, Apa isn’t the only Riverdale student remembering Perry’s contributions. It was only last month that Betty Cooper herself, Lili Reinhart, took to social media to inform fans that she believes Perry is still very much with us all.

“I had a dream last night that I saw Luke... and I hugged him so hard and cried into his shoulder, telling him how much we all miss him,” she wrote on Twitter. “Looking back on it this morning, I think his spirit was visiting me in my sleep, letting me know he’s smiling brightly on the other side.”

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