The CW and Netflix will start Riverdale season four with a tribute to Luke Perry, who played Fred Andrews on the series until his death earlier in the year. Perry’s former 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty will star in the episode. The showrunners of the series recently revealed exactly who she would be playing in the In Memoriam episode.
Who is Shannen Doherty playing in Riverdale?
Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa told Entertainment Weekly: “Shannen plays the person who tells us what happened to Fred.
“She was there and she’s an unexpected source of comfort to Archie.
“A big piece of what happened to Fred comes to Archie through Shannen’s character.
“The scene is so heartbreaking because you really feel Shannen’s love for Luke.”
READ MORE: Riverdale season 4: Has Jughead faked his own death?
Though we now know the role Doherty will play, her character name has not yet been revealed.
The magazine also revealed the first look at Doherty’s appearance in the show.
The image shows her, Archie Andrews (played by KJ Apa), Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes), Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) and Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart) standing by the side of what looks like a road.
They are all holding hands and looking down sadly and Doherty, Apa and Mendes appear to be crying.
READ MORE: Riverdale season 4 Netflix release date, cast, trailer, plot
This seems to suggest that they are either at Fred’s funeral, or some sort of memorial to him.
This would reflect the name of Riverdale season four, episode one, which is titled In Memoriam.
In the EW interview, Aguirre-Sacasa reveals why he chose Doherty to join the Perry tribute following his death by a stroke.
He said: “They were such good friends, and when we were putting together this tribute episode, we wanted to make it as special as possible.
READ MORE: Riverdale season 4 trailer: Fans furious over Jughead twist
“So we asked Shannen to do a pivotal and super-emotional role
“She read the script and immediately said ‘yes.’ It’s very impactful.”
The Riverdale creator also gave some insight into how the cast felt when they learned of Perry’s death.
He said: “I remember KJ took a break from filming and he went off and I sat with him and he said, ‘Gosh, Roberto, can you imagine if we were all as good people as Luke was?’”
Riverdale season 4 starts on October 9 on The CW and October 10 on Netflix
