Luke Perry Latest News, Photos, and Videos

Madelaine Petsch is opening up about all the hate she received when Riverdale first started.

The 26-year-old actress said that playing Cheryl Blossom brought a ton of online haters, but she didn’t feel like she had the right to complain or clap back.

In her new Cosmopolitan interview for her March cover, Madelaine shared some advice that she got from her late co-star Luke Perry.

“He was like, ‘You’re not a character we’re supposed to like, and that means you’re selling it so well that people think that must be who you are,’” she told the mag.

Madelaine also noted that he told her to get off of Twitter, but for her, that wasn’t enough.

“I called up my team and was like, ‘I love my job, but this is hard for me.’ And one of my team members was like, ‘Maybe you should make a YouTube channel and show them how dumb and weird you are?’” she said, and of course, that’s exactly what she did!

If you missed it, Luke made a surprise appearance in the final high school episode of Riverdale recently, that left fans shocked and in tears. Find out how they made it happen!

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers from the latest episode of Riverdale!

Riverdale‘s final high school episode, aka graduation, aired last night and kicked off with a very emotional moment!

Within the first ten minutes of the episode, the late Luke Perry came on the screen in a surprise posthumous appearance as Fred Andrews.

The actor appeared in a dream that Archie (KJ Apa) was having about his parents (Perry and Molly Ringwald) taking pictures on graduation day.

“I can’t believe we’re here. Archie, you’re graduating. I didn’t think I’d live to see this day,” Luke says.

The footage is actually from the season two premiere, “A Kiss Before Dying,” after Fred was shot by the Black Hood.

Also in the episode, we saw all of the couples break up and everyone going their separate ways. It was also the last appearance from Skeet Ulrich and his character FP Jones.

Lili Reinhart got a visit from her late co-star Luke Perry.

The 23-year-old Riverdale actress shared on Twitter that she dreamt she had an interaction with the actor.

“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,” Lili wrote.

“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 ✨,” she added.

It has been almost a year since Luke shockingly passed away, and we definitely think this is a sign he’s looking over her and others.

Many fans were left quite upset at The Academy for not including Cameron Boyce and Luke Perry during the “In Memoriam” segment at the 2020 Oscars.

Both actors passed away suddenly last year, and Luke was even in one of this year’s nominated films, Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood.

“The Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues in the Oscars In Memoriam segment,” The Academy said in a statement to E! News. “An executive committee representing every branch considers the list and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time. All the submissions are included on Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year. Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce are remembered in the Oscar.com gallery.”

Billie Eilish performed a cover of The Beatles while paying tribute to the late stars, which kicked off with a tribute to Kobe Bryant.

Luke Perry‘s death wasn’t originally going to be covered in the new season of Riverdale.

Showrunner and creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa opened up about making the decision to address his death in the storyline of the season four premiere.

“When Luke passed [last season] we very quickly made the decision that we weren’t going to address it in the current season of Riverdale,” he told EW. “We didn’t want to rush it, we didn’t want to sandwich it into all the other plot lines, and we just wanted to take our time and think about it. We briefly thought that maybe something would happen at the end of the season that would signal it and that felt a little cheap. We thought let’s just hold it so that we can think about it over the hiatus and reflect on it. That was absolutely the right decision and it allowed us to absorb what had happened and really think about what kind of story we wanted to tell.”

“Very early on, we landed on the idea that Fred should have a heroic death and that would be impactful for Archie,” he added. “It felt like that’s a way that Fred could have gone. After that, we said this episode really isn’t going to launch any huge stories for this season. It was really going to be focused on that and the emotional effects of that passing for everyone.”

“There have been sadly a lot of tribute episodes in television — one of my favorites is the Friday Night Lights episode where the football player’s father dies, called ‘The Son,’” Roberto continued. “We wanted to tell a very grounded, truthful story. That became the organizing principle or the marching orders.”

The fourth season of Riverdale kicked off last night (October 9) with a very emotional Luke Perry tribute.

In the beginning of the episode, Archie (KJ Apa) receives a phone call that his father Fred has died.

During the episode, he has to grasp the fact that his dad is gone and how he’s going to continue his legacy.

While Riverdale showrunners were reluctant to tackle how Fred died this season, they decided that an episode at the beginning of the season was the best way to pay tribute to the late actor.

“Very early on, we landed on the idea that Fred should have a heroic death and that would be impactful for Archie,” Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa tells EW. “It felt like that’s a way that Fred could have gone. After that, we said this episode really isn’t going to launch any huge stories for this season. It was really going to be focused on that and the emotional effects of that passing for everyone.”

Click to the next slide to find out exactly how Fred dies…

Madelaine Petsch shared a really heartfelt memory on her social media about Luke Perry, just hours before the tribute episode for the actor, and season four premiere episode of Riverdale airs.

“This photo is from my first upfronts for Riverdale, Luke walked me through the entire experience as he did with most of the new experiences I encountered after booking this show,” the 25-year-old actress shared on her Instagram. “I didn’t even know this photo existed but it explains our relationship to a T.”

Madelaine added, “He was always so generous and supportive and patient with my learning and growing through some of the most formative years of my life. I am so lucky to have known you Luke. You were one of a kind and impacted everyone’s lives in such a meaningful way.”

Lili Reinhart also took to Instagram to address tonight’s tribute: “Tonight’s episode, and all episodes for the rest of our run, are for Luke. We love, honor, and cherish his memory every single day. I only wish he were here to see how many lives he touched with happiness and laughter. I know he’s watching from above. We love you, Luke.”

Camila Mendes added on her Instagram Stories, “I’m finding it hard to express how I’m feeling but I’ll try. We put everything we have into this episode. We wanted to honor Luke’s memory in the most sincere and respectful way possible. This episode is as hard to watch as it was to make it. Actually, making it was harder. But the result is a beautiful tribute to our friend. Luke deserves that and so much more.”

Stay tuned for another sneak peek at Riverdale‘s season four premiere, and tune in @ 8PM ET/PT on The CW to watch.

See even more messages from the cast inside! More Here! »