‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Stars Jason Priestley & Ian Ziering Reveal How Luke Perry Will Be Honored In Fox Reboot
Luke Perry will not be forgotten on the Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot. The actor, who played teen heartthrob Dylan McKay for seven seasons on the hit 1990s drama series, will be honored by his longtime co-stars when the revival — titled BH90210 — premieres next month. Perry died in March at age 52, just before filming for the highly-anticipated BH90210 reboot began.
While he hadn’t signed on to the reboot due to his commitments as a star on The CW series Riverdale, Perry had expressed interest in appearing in the BH90210 revival before his untimely death.
Now, Perry’s former co-stars are opening up about how the reboot series will address the actor’s heartbreaking absence as the original 90210 gang — Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling — reunite for the six-episode, limited edition reboot of the ’90s teen drama to play “heightened versions of themselves,” as previously reported by Deadline.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada, Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh on the series, said it was difficult reuniting with his BH90210 family without Perry by their side.
“We had to talk about the fact that he wasn’t there. And I think we’ve done it in a tasteful way that’s not exploitative… It’s a difficult line to walk. So hopefully we’ve done it in a way and we’ve been successful in navigating those waters successfully.”
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Ziering, who played rich kid Steve Sanders on Beverly Hills, 90210, told Entertainment Tonight it felt very “personal” as Perry’s absence was addressed on the revival.
“We all were very close to him. Luke was a best friend to me, not just when we were on 90210 but even before that. I knew him from when we were doing soap operas in Los Angeles. So it continues to be challenging and it’s always very difficult, but we will find a way to do it right.”
Ziering also said the cast left themselves “vulnerable” as they dove into “some of the personal issues” that they have dealt with in their real lives. Suffice it to say, if tears are shed during the reunion series, they will be real.
Preview trailers for BH90210 show the original cast reuniting as their real-life selves, not as their characters. It would make sense that that will be the setting in which they pay tribute to Luke Perry.
You can see a sneak peek trailer for BH90210 below.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot, BH90210, premieres Wednesday, August 7 at 10 p.m. on Fox.