COMMENT: Luke Perry was the first celebrity poster I ever hung on my wall. It was a smouldering black and white shot with a yellow and red Smash Hits logo in the corner. My dad was furious as I'd used sellotape instead of Blu-Tack.
I used to gaze adoringly at that poster and imagine a time when I would be as sophisticated as Kelly and Brenda from Beverly Hills 90210 and have tortured, tempestuous relationships with heartthrobs like Perry.
Rather, I was infatuated with his character Dylan. For me, like so many 90s teens, he was my first encounter with the bad boy. Brooding and damaged and unable to save himself, just waiting for the love of a good woman to redeem him.
Brenda tried. So did Kelly. Donna probably had a crack, I don't remember but it seems like the type of self-destructive thing she would do.
Perry spent a decade playing the role. Raising his eyebrow and furrowing his brow at the antics of Steve (oh, Steve...), Brandon and the crew.
And then we all moved on. The show ended. We grew up. Perry became another jobbing actor in Hollywood, guest starring in a string of crime procedurals and B-grade movies.
The original cast of Beverly Hills 90210.
But every time his face popped up on screen, my eyes would light up and I'd exhale: "Dylan!"
I started watching Riverdale on Netflix solely to see how my teen crush had aged. Not so well, it turns out. 52 is still a tragically young age to die.
I can't pretend to know the ins and outs of Perry's personal circumstances. I hope he lived a good life that he enjoyed and died surrounded by the people he loved and who loved him.
I hope his life was less melodramatic and troubled than Dylan's (I hope everyone's life is less melodramatic and troubled than Dylan's...)
I've interviewed a lot of actors over the years and they all seem to share one common goal - to affect people. To connect with their audience and make them feel something.
