Riverdale's Lili Reinhart Shares Poem After Costar Luke Perry’s Death: I'm 'Frozen in a Moment'
Lili Reinhart is channeling her grief over the loss of Riverdale costar Luke Perry into poetry.
The actress shared a moving message to her Instagram story on Monday, hours after Perry died at age 52 after suffering a stroke last week.
“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.”
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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.”
The star plays Betty Cooper on the popular CW series, the friend and neighbor of KJ Apa’s Archie Andrews. Perry appeared on the show as Archie’s dad Fred Andrews.
Reinhart also shared her grief on Twitter, writing, “I’m finding it hard to grasp that he will no longer be around to give long hugs and share his wisdom and kindness with all of us … I just can’t believe it.”
Perry suffered a stroke Feb. 27, and a source told PEOPLE he never regained consciousness.
Reinhart initially shared a sweet selfie with the actor pulling for his recovery.
“Thinking of you, Luke. And praying for your safe recovery,” she wrote.
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As news of Perry’s death broke, the producers of Riverdale issued a statement remembering the star as a “father figure and mentor to the show’s young cast,” which also includes Cole Sprouse, Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch and Casey Cott.
Cott paid tribute to Perry with a touching message on Twitter.
“I’m totally heartbroken. Luke took me under his wing the day I was cast and made me feel like I belonged. He was the most generous, wise soul with unmatched kindness,” he wrote. “He treated everyone with love and joy. We had so much fun. Praying for his family.”
Molly Ringwald, who played Perry’s ex-wife on the show, did the same.
“My heart is broken. I will miss you so much Luke Perry. Sending all my love to your family. #LukePerry,” she wrote.
Perry’s rep confirmed in a statement the actor died Monday morning, surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiancée Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett and a host of other friends and family members.
“The family appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers that have been extended to Luke from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning,” the statement read. “No further details will be released at this time.”