Riverdale boss Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has said the Luke Perry tribute episode will be ‘brutal’.
Perry, who played Fred Andrews on the show, died in March after suffering a stroke aged 52.
Season four of the teen drama will open with the episode In Memoriam, dedicated to Perry and his character.
Speaking to TV Line, Aguirre-Sacasa said shooting the episode was tough on the actor’s co-stars, as they were still grieving their friend.
‘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.
He added that ‘everyone was really proud to gather to tell this tribute to Fred, and to Luke.’
The showrunner also spoke about the season four table read, which reunited the cast for the first time after hearing the news that Perry had died.
He explained: ‘There was something really special when we gathered to do the table read that was cathartic. You know, shows are families. But we knew it was going to be hard, and it was.’
Describing the episode on Twitter earlier this year, he called it ‘probably the most important episode of #Riverdale we’ll do this year, if not ever.’
He tweeted: ‘A tribute to our fallen friend. Thankful for this opportunity to honour Luke & Fred.’
How Fred’s absence will be addressed on screen is yet to be revealed, but the episode will include an appearance from his 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty.
Aguirre-Sacasa said: ‘[It was] something that Luke wanted to happen since season one.
‘They were such good friends, and when we were putting together this tribute episode, we wanted to make it as special as possible, and so we asked Shannen to do a pivotal, super emotional role.
‘She read the script and immediately said “yes”. It’s very impactful.’
Riverdale returns to Netflix on 10 October.
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