Today, EW honors Perry with a special online tribute and a look back at his previous EW covers.
In these interviews, he offered up the best of himself: self-aware and smart, goofy and generous.
“I know I’ve got a lot to learn.
But I’m better than I thought I was.”
The world made it very possible for him to be terrible.
Instead he was modest and gracious."
Offscreen, he continued to be equally as kind, as warm, and as playful as Fred.
you’ve got the option to’t scare me!
I’m not afraid of that s, Roberto!'
That’s what I said," he joked, before turning more serious.
“I didn’t want him to tell me.
And if it means something else then that’s what it means.
Perry often surprised his interviewers and audiences with his playful responses.
In one video, Perry told EW he would have likedRiverdaleto do a crossover episode withGame of Thrones.
That’s how smart Roberto is.”
In the same breath, he turned around and earnestly professed his love forProject Runwayand Tim Gunn.
“People would be surprised that I likeProject Runway,” he said.
In both of his EW covers, the same traits were evident.
At one point during the interview, Perry was bare-chested and bouncing a basketball.
Three years later, in March 1994, Perry got the cover of EW all to himself.
He’s more introspective and less concerned about living up to that cool guy image.
“Luke Who’s Talking,” the cover boasts.
Perry is extremely frank throughout the interview, especially about90210’s downward swing and his foray into feature films.
“The teenage days are gone!”
he crows when he first sits down in a suburban Los Angeles diner, again with Schwarzbaum.
“Coming-of-age movies are gone for me.
I mean, come on, the hairline just won’t have it!”
Perry was also eager to forge a new path one away from his90210heartthrob status.
It was the sword that was stuck in the stone.
I couldn’t believe they were just letting it sit there.
Perry notably did his own riding for key scenes in the film and was injured on set.
But it was the very last shot, so the timing couldn’t have been better."
The film allowed him to achieve something he’d been craving broadening his horizons as an actor.
“It’s in trouble,” he told EW in 1994.
“I know that the show is not great now.
I believe it was a great show at one time.
Then it went to being a good show.
And now it’s just another show.
“It would be easy to pack it in and let the show taper off.
But that’s not the commitment I made to Aaron Spelling,” he said.
“Originally, nobody wanted me but him.
Now, in the last season, I’m not gonna become lethargic.
I think we got problems and we need to fix ‘em.”
Perry was optimistic about doing his best for the remainder of his contract.
And if that means taking creative liberties or creative control, I’ll do that.
I have a good relationship with production.
“I know where I’m going now,” he added.
“It’s not all about the career anymore.”
Even as Fred Andrews’ fate onRiverdaleisstill to be determined, those lessons remain.
“I don’t anymore, and now I’m pissed at myself that I ever did.
I feel better than I ever have about where I’m going.
The frenzy dying away forces people to look at the clearer picture.
What’s this all about?
Get the s out of the way and let’s see what this is about!
