‘Riverdale’ Creator Reveals How Luke Perry’s Death Will Be Addressed

Luke Perry passed away on March 4, just under one week after suffering a major stroke at his home in California. Prior to his death, Perry had been filming the CW drama Riverdale, which he had starred on since the series’ premiere in 2017.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, series executive producer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that the series will address Perry’s death in a narrative way, though nothing has officially been decided.

“You know, honestly, we are I think all still in shock and are all still processing and grieving,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “We know that we have to address it in some way, but we’re giving ourselves a little bit of time and space before we figure out the best way to honor him.”

Perry starred on Riverdale as Archie’s dad, Fred Andrews, a hardworking man who loved his town, his family and served as the series’ moral compass.

“Luke was, is, and will always be a big part of Riverdale,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “We’re kind of a family and when a loss like this happens, you carry it always. It changes and it hopefully becomes a little less painful as time goes by, but you’re changed.”

“When I was with the crew, I said, ‘It will never be the same,’ and that’s true because Luke was such a part of the show,” he continued. “There are still a few more episodes that have Luke in them, so we’re glad to share those.”

The showrunner added that whichever direction the show takes, Perry’s essence will always be a part of Riverdale.

“His spirit — which was so generous and wise and vivacious — we hope will infuse every episode, so in my mind, every episode for the rest of time on Riverdale will have a bit of Luke in it,” he said.

During an appearance on The View on March 12, Riverdale star Cole Sprouse also offered a brief detail on how the show will address Perry’s death.

“I can’t go too much into the spoilers of it, but we do have something planned narratively,” he said. “We dedicated some of the episodes to him.”

“He was very well loved,” Sprouse added of Perry. “I mean, the whole world is mourning his passing. But, he was one of those guys that would rather have us all laughing about his great stories than mourning for too long.”

After Perry’s death, Riverdale shut down production for a brief period, with Aguirre-Sacasa sharing on social media that all future episodes of the CW drama will be dedicated to the late actor.

“Going through pictures on my way to set,” Aguirre-Sacasa captioned a photo of Perry with a group of cast members. “From the early days. With Luke in the middle. Our heart, always. Tonight’s episode of #Riverdale finds Fred doing what he does best–helping Archie. It is dedicated to Luke, as all episodes will be for the rest of our run.”

Riverdale has since resumed filming in Vancouver, Canada.

Photo Credit: The CW