Molly Ringwald Pays Tribute to ‘Riverdale’ Co-Star Luke Perry on First Anniversary of His Death

Molly Ringwald is continuing to mourn the loss of her Riverdale co-star Luke Perry. On Wednesday, the actress took to Instagram to mark the one-year anniversary of Perry’s death, admitting that she still struggles to believe that he is gone, though she feels his presence every day.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year since we lost this beautiful soul,” she captioned a photo of Perry. “Your presence is felt and you are missed every day, my friend.”

On Feb. 27 of last year, Perry was hospitalized after suffering a stroke in his Sherman Oaks, California home. He never regained consciousness and died five days later on Monday, March 4, 2019 surrounded by loved ones. He was 52.

At the time of his death, Ringwald had shared numerous tributes to her co-star, including a screenshot of herself and Perry from Riverdale, The CW series on which they both had starred as Fred and Mary Andrews, the estranged parents of Archie Andrews.

“Goodbye, my friend,” she captioned the image with a broken heart emoji. “I enjoyed dancing with you for a time…”

“Rest in love Luke,” she later wrote. “Hopefully wherever you are, there are fields and fields of primo weed…”

Speaking out several months later in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ringwald admitted that she initially believed her co-star would recover from the stroke and soon return to set.

“I expect him to just be there,” she said. “We thought it was going to be a temporary thing. He was so beloved by everyone.”

Following his death, Riverdale aired a tribute episode to the actor, with his on-screen counterpart being written off by way of a hit and run accident. In the episode, it was revealed that Perry’s Fred Andrews had pulled over to help someone whose car had stalled at the side of the road, during which he was struck by another vehicle.

Speaking on the episode, series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa said filming was “brutal” on the cast and crew.

“We kind of knew this was going to be brutal on the cast, especially KJ [Apa], who was Luke’s main scene partner,” he said, adding that “everyone was really proud to gather to tell this tribute to Fred, and to Luke.”