Brian Austin Green on Struggle to Accept Luke Perry's Death: 'Texted Him the Day After'

Now, Green is opening up about how hard that loss has been for him, and how he struggled in the immediate aftermath of the death of one of the people he shared the screen with on Beverly Hills, 90210 for 10 years from 1990 to 2000.

The actor opened up about it in a clip shared with People from the upcoming episode of Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone alongside fiancé Sharna Burgess. He got real about the fact that when you create a group like they did on their hit show that's now been together so long, it's inevitable that eventually you'll lose someone.

It's a similar situation to what the cast of Friends has been dealing with after the shocking death of Matthew Perry. Just like with that cast, Green said of his group, "Nobody ever expected that we would lose someone so early. And I ... honestly never expected that it would be Luke."

Making matters even tougher for Green was the fact that he'd just been through a serious issue himself that presented with stroke-like symptoms when he first got word of Perry's stroke.

"I had just come out of neurological stuff myself, so there was a part of me that was like, 'I'm kind of prepared. I can help him through this. I can go to the hospital and he'll be OK. Even if it takes a couple years. He'll be all right,'" Green recalled.

Unfortunately, he would never get that chance as Perry passed days later on March 4. "There was a part of me that couldn't really process that that was real," he shared. He noted that Perry was the "strongest" of them all, as well as the healthiest and most fit.

In fact, Green said that though he knew his friend was gone, "I texted him the day after he passed."

He explained that he did it "because there was a part of me that was like, 'No, he's gonna answer back. He's hiding somewhere. Or something’s happened.'"

"I didn't completely believe that," he admitted, "but there was a big part of me that was hoping that was the case."

Now, it's been nearly five years since Perry's death and Green says his former colleague is still an almost daily part of his life. "When things happen in my life, I'll stop for a second and I'll think about him and what I learned from him and what I think his opinion would be of what it is I do," he shared.

He also shared a secret blessing in the tragedy, which was learning just how much Perry had done with his life.

"I heard amazing stories about him after he passed that I didn't know," said Green, "because he ... did a lot of things and didn't ever talk about them."

On Riverdale, he portrayed Fred Andrews, the father of lead Archie Andrews. His character also passed away at the start of Season 4, though from a car accident. His memory and legacy would continue to impact the series through it's final seasons.

Airing after his passing, Green reunited with the rest of their cast for BH90210, a comedy spoof of themselves and their legacy. The series premiere featured archival footage of Perry as his 90210 character Dylan McKay and was dedicated to him.

Getting Grilled with Curtis Stone drops new episodes every Sunday on HSN+.