"It was very mixed emotions," says Green, who also reveals he texted Perry after his death and sends a message to critics of how he mourned.
It's been two weeks since Luke Perry passed away suddenly at the age of 52, and while his "Beverly Hills, 90210" costar Brian Austin Green wasn't among those who instantly paid tribute on social media, he talked about his friend's death at length in a new podcast.
Over the weekend, the actor dropped a new episode of "...with Brian Austin Green," with most of the hour devoted to remembering his late costar and opening up about how the rest of the "90210" cast celebrated him after his death.
According to Green, a number of the show's stars gathered at Gabrielle Carteris' house for what he described as a meeting filled with "very mixed emotions." He added that some of the people there he hadn't seen in 18 years.
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View Story"You were happy to see everybody and you felt like, god it's been to long and it was great, but what a horrible reason to have to see everyone again," he explained. "It was definitely interesting. It had its fun, funny laugh times and it had its moments where, you're sitting there and I don't fully know what to say because I don't totally believe it."
"Luke has been in my life for a long time and we had a really special relationship and I'm learning now Luke really had a special relationship with a lot of people," he continued.
During the emotional meeting, Green said he heard stories about Perry he never knew before, including one he shared with his listeners.
"The production office had gotten a call saying one of the Make-a-Wish kids that came to visit him wasn't doing very good and probably had a couple days left to live," explained Perry. "And Luke got on a plane and flew out to see her. Nobody knew. He didn't make announcements about things, he just did them. I thought that was really cool."
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View StoryGreen said it's hard to speak about Luke as if he's no longer around. "Jason [Priestley] summed it up best to me, we all knew that at some point we'd have to deal with losing cast members and friends, but not this soon," he went on. "Not at 52. Not in such an abrupt way."
While a "90210" revival is coming from Fox, Perry wasn't supposed to be part of it, due to his "Riverdale" filming schedule. Green also spoke about some of their conversations about the new series.
"I called him when we were talking about the reboot because he knew early on that he was doing 'Riverdale,' so he couldn't do the reboot, which was a shame," said Green. "But we thought if the reboot's doing really well, he can come back, do a couple episodes and figure it out. It's a shame now that's not a possibility. That's so low on the totem pole, but it's a shame that for fans, they don't get that send off of Dylan McKay."
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View StoryGreen said the two kept in contact often, with Luke regularly sending him quotes from TV shows and movies as a way to just say hey. Even after Perry's death, Green kept texting his friend.
"I texted him after he had passed, knowing obviously that he can't text me back, but on some level, hoping that he would text me back, or that he was out there somewhere," he explained. "I know he is. I know he's looking down and I know he's smiling."
The actor also opened up about some of the backlash he got for not immediately posting a tribute to Perry on social media. While most of the cast released statements or shared something on social media, Green didn't.
"For who, who am I posting for? For Luke? Luke passed. Am I posting for me? Who am I f--king mourning for? Aren't I mourning for myself?" Green said. "Mourn your own way. If you want to post something in tribute, awesome. If you don't, awesome. Everyone has their own way of dealing with shit."
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View Story"I'm not, for a second, gonna let someone make me feel judged for dealing with the situation how I choose to deal with it," he added. "I think especially this, I don't give a shit what you have to say. I don't care if you're bothered that I didn't f--king post something."
As for what he'll miss most about Perry, it's his hugs.
"The one thing Luke did, not the one thing, but something that really meant a lot to me, he gave amazing hugs," added Green. "I know that sounds silly, but he was one of those people, I think the only person in my life, when he hugged you, he breathed you in."
"If you spent an hour and a half at lunch with him, for an hour and a half he was completely engulfed in your life," he said. "People don't do that anymore, especially with social media. People just don't spend time with people and experience them, get to know them and love them for who they are. He wasn't that type of person."