Ashleigh Murray Says Luke Perry’s ‘Riverdale’ Tribute ‘Does Him Justice’

Gone, but never forgotten.

“Riverdale’s” Season 4 premiere is set to be an emotional tribute to the late actor Luke Perry. Ashleigh Murray, who is the actress behind the show’s beloved character Josie McCoy, dished to Access about returning to the hit show to honor Luke’s legacy.

Ashleigh Murray and Luke Perry backstage before The CW Network’s 2016 Upfront at New York City Center on May 19, 2016 )

“It’s very touching, it is going to be emotional for a lot of viewers … especially anyone that had the pleasure of meeting Luke, even if it was just for a moment,” she revealed to Access.

Adding, “I feel like it does him justice and I hope it also does his family justice too.”

Luke died at the age of 52 after suffering a massive stroke in March 2019. While the late star’s last appearance on “Riverdale” aired back in April, the absence of his character, Fred Andrews, has yet to be addressed on screen.

Ashleigh, who stars in the new “Riverdale” spin-off “Katy Keene,” noted that the hit show’s cast and crew are “happy with what the writers came up with. It’s going to be very special.” But the 31-year-old star also admitted to Access that even though she’s so thankful to have been a part of the special episode, it was tough to film.

“It was not easy at all. It’s still difficult,” she told Access. “It was tough. I was very, very emotional throughout it. We all had our moments.”

However, Ashleigh shared that the cast and crew came together and got through filming the episode as a team.

“I felt safe enough to cry, or laugh, or have any of the emotions that come up,” she admitted to Access.

Adding, “This was this final step for us. I know, like we all know, Luke would want us to keep going. He wouldn’t want us to cry too long over him. It changed us, but we are able to keep moving.”

Ashleigh Murray (L) and Luke Perry attend the 2017 CW Upfront on May 18, 2017)

“Riverdale’s” showrunner and creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that the first episode of the show’s new season would serve as an emotional goodbye to Luke.

“It’s almost going to be a stand-alone episode. It’s going to reveal the fate of Fred Andrews and it’s set on July 4th,” he said during the show’s panel at the annual event. “It’s a really emotional episode; it’s a tear-jerker. We had the table read for it about ago and I’m not going to lie, we were all crying. But we think it, again, honors the memory of Luke [and] It honors the memory of Fred. They were both such amazing human beings that we wanted to really, really craft an emotional and deep tribute to him, which is what I hope this episode is.”

During the Comic-Con panel, it was also announced that Luke’s longtime pal Shannen Doherty will appear next season.

“I am deeply honored to pay tribute to Luke on ‘Riverdale.’ The care in which this show takes in honoring his memory is beautiful,” Shannen wrote on Instagram at the time.

The show’s fourth season will officially be back on Wednesday, October 9 at 8 PM on The CW.

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