Remembering Luke Perry

Losing a celebrity is a weird phenomenon. There’s a sense of shared grief that comes from having been a fan of their work. At the same time, rarely have we actually met the person or had personal interaction with them. Our experiences with famous people are at once universal and specific, as is our sadness at their passing.

Monday we lost Luke Perry. Here the Nice Girls pay tribute to a fine actor and a good man.

Melissa

My interaction with Luke Perry is limited to a press room for Riverdale before the show’s first season premiered on the CW. It was Comic-Con 2016, and I was excited to see Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead come to life on screen. The pilot left a lot to be desired but interviewing the cast and creative team reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the show, especially Luke Perry who would be playing Fred Andrews.

I remember sitting next to Luke and realizing I was watching a master class in how to promote a project. He was funny, engaged, thoughtful, kind, and generous. Everything you want from someone championing a new project in particular. He knew his involvement, his name, was generating much more press than the cast of then largely unknown young actors. He turned his laid-back charm on us, a table full of journalists who needed to come up with content about a show we’d only seen one episode of (if any) and which the cast had only filmed a single episode. Luke was a pro, answering our questions with substance yet not giving away too much. He struck me as a man comfortable in his own skin, happy to be working, happy to be talking with us (believe me, this is not always the case with talent), and ready to help shepherd a new generation of heartthrobs through the rocky shoals of “teen” fame.

I didn’t watch Beverly Hills 90210. Prior to this experience, I only knew of Luke from the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and in a general pop cultural context. I came away from that interview a fan. He will be missed.

Roz

I was too young to watch Beverly Hills 90210 when it started airing in 1990, but I did manage to get my parents to let me see Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie two years later. Luke, as Pike, was a “bad boy with a heart” and is responsible for why I’m a sucker for that sort of male lead. He was such a great weird gift in an odd movie that is not objectively good, but I love all the same. Even though I never watched Luke as Dylan, he’s still always associated with that role in my mind.

To see him later in life on Leverage, as a charlatan, was a great nod to his iconic role as Dylan but also a departure from it. Older, wiser, but still a little bad, it was the perfect role in my mind that fed on both nostalgia and talent.

Cara

I was at the perfect age for Beverly Hills 90210 when it first aired, and I was quite enamored with Luke Perry’s Dylan. I suspect my teenage dating choices reflected the impact the character had on my young hormones. As an adult,  I have loved him as Fred Andrews, the gentle, caring father who may be the only adult character in Riverdale that is truly a good guy, and definitely the only sane character on the show. And, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I still found Luke Perry to be a straight up zaddy. He’ll forever be my teen idol.

Lisa

I loved Luke Perry for most of my life. I loved him as Dylan on Beverly Hills 90210 and had his posters on my wall in high school. Buffy The Vampire Slayer was also my favorite movie in high school. He played so many iconic characters that I loved and adored. Dylan, Pike, and currently Fred Andrews on Riverdale. Seeing him weekly on my TV again was so cool. I can’t believe he is gone. I am so glad I and my friend Stephanie had the opportunity to meet him at Dragon Con. It was a day I will never forget. I was so excited but remained cool, and he was so gracious, humble, and cool. He was always so cool. He is truly a gem and will be missed. RIP Luke Perry.