Luke Perry’s Riverdale costars are continuing to share their emotional memories of the late actor in the wake of his death Monday at age 52.
PEOPLE spoke to Cole Sprouse (who plays Jughead) on a rainy red carpet for his new film Five Feet Apart on Thursday. Asked what memories of Perry he’ll hold onto forever, he said, “There’s a thousand things. All of us are — I don’t think there was a single bad thing I’ve ever heard said about that guy, truly. He is so loved. California is crying right now.”
“We were all so close to him and we all cared for him so much. He had this way of speaking that was so hyper-passionate, and he would speak, right around here to your face,” added Sprouse, 26, placing his hand a few inches from his eyes. “He would get very close and it immediately removed all of your walls, it was this beautiful way that he had of speaking, and he would latch onto topics so passionately. We are all still very much in the grieving process, but he seems more like the kind of guy that would want us all celebrating his funny stories rather than sitting around lamenting, and I have tremendous respect for his family who’s asked for a lot of privacy in this period. So yeah, nothing but respect.”
Camila Mendes, who plays Veronica Lodge on the CW series, broke her silence on Perry’s death Thursday by posting a candid shot featuring the star with a tiny birthday hat on his head.
“He took care of us all. an authentic man who took pleasure in offering us his guidance and wisdom. His presence was healing; he had the ability to make you feel comfortable and at ease within seconds of seeing him,” she wrote. “I will never forget the collective shock and distress we experienced when the news broke on set. We lost a dear friend. My heart hurts for his family and anybody who had the pleasure of knowing him.”
The actress, 24, continued: “Rest in peace, Luke. Although you’re no longer around to wrap me in the warmth of your hug, I can still remember what it felt like. Whenever I think of you, I will remember that feeling.”
Her message was met with support from costars like Vanessa Morgan, who commented, “This just made me cry. I love this photo so much. The cute lil hat. ❤️ angel.”
Added Marisol Nichols, “That hug…crying all over again.”
Madelaine Petsch, who plays Cheryl Blossom, tweeted a sweet selfie alongside Perry, who played Fred Andrews, and Nichols (Hermione Lodge).
“Still in absolute disbelief, you are so deeply missed Luke. 💔 I feel so lucky to have known you,” she wrote Thursday.
The message came one day after Petsch, 24, broke her silence with a lengthier note that accompanied a cast shot featuring Perry, Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse and KJ Apa.
“You were such a light in our lives; the most genuine & kind soul I will ever know,” she wrote. “From day one of this show you were the most amazing mentor to me. Thank you for teaching me not only about this industry, but also about kindness and being a family and how to foster and nurture those important relationships… you were the absolute best at that. I love you Luke, you and those sweet forehead kisses will forever be missed.”
Apa, 21, who plays Perry’s on-screen son Archie Andrews, appeared to reference the actor’s death for the first time on social media Thursday by posting a screenshot of the Third Eye Blind song “The Background” to his Instagram story.
The song features lyrics that allude to moving on after the loss of a loved one, including “Everything is quiet/Since you’re not around/And I live in the numbness now/In the background.”
Perry died Monday at age 52 days after suffering a massive stroke Feb. 27. A source told PEOPLE he never regained consciousness.
The first episode of Riverdale since his passing aired Wednesday, and featured a touching tribute to the actor via a black screen that read, “In Memoriam Luke Perry 1966-2019” at the episode’s end.
Perry has been publicly mourned by friends and costars alike, including Riverdale stars Lili Reinhart, Molly Ringwald and Casey Cott.
Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper, channeled her grief into poetry with a moving message on her Instagram story.
“When someone you love, gets taken from you. And the small circumferences surrounding you is stuck. Frozen in a moment. Of loss. And shock. Yet the people passing you are moving at full speed,” she wrote. “Did they not feel the earth shake? Or slow? Can they hear the thoughts screaming in my head? His name. His face. Memories. Flashes. Of a friend. A lost friend.”
She continued, “We always expect the earth to stand still. For the universe to grieve the loved ones we have lost, along with us. But it keeps moving. Maybe as a sign that we should too. The movement of strangers, like a wave taking us with them.”
Reinhart, 22, concluded her emotional note by admitting that in grieving, it’s “too hard to give anything.”
“So we ebb and flow with the passage of others, coasting off their energy and conserving our own. Because it’s too hard to give anything right now. To anyone. Except for him,” she wrote. “The one we’ve lost. And I pray that he’s silently moving in tandem with us. Guiding us through the waves even when we can’t swim.”
- For more on Luke Perry’s life and death, check out this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday
Perry was surrounded by his two children, Jack and Sophie, his fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp and a host of other friends and family members when he died, his publicist said in a statement.
In lieu of flowers, the Perry family ask that donations be made to Fight Colorectal Cancer and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
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