If you grew up in the 1990s you likely watched Beverly Hills, 90210. From 1990 to 2000 we gathered around TV sets to see the life of Brandon and Brenda Walsh and their friends Dylan, Kelly, Steve, Andrea, Donna and David unfold. Fifteen years after the original show ended (a spinoff aired from 2008 to 2013), it is still considered one of the best ‘school-based’ shows of all time. Fans of 90210 are excited to meet Luke Perry (Dylan McKay), Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders) and Jason Priestley (Brandon Walsh) at the Calgary Expo April 16th to 19th at the Stampede Grounds. Perry himself is also excited to reconnect with his pals.

"I just found that out that we are going to be there! I saw Jason two days ago I saw Ian maybe a month and a half ago. We don’t do anything on a regular basis but we get together when we can. Jay and I grabbed breakfast the other day. Both Jason and Ian’s kids are a lot younger than mine; mine are teenagers. They are in the throes of toddlers and stuff, so we are on different schedules."

It has been 25 years since 90210 first hit the airways, and 15 since the series ended. The show hit on many topics during its run, such as date rape, gay rights, animal rights, alcoholism, domestic violence, anti-Semitism, drug abuse, teenage suicide, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, bulimia and abortion. That universality was the key, says Perry.

"Twenty-five years ago... wow. Jason is much more eloquent about this than I am, so I am going to poorly paraphrase his response, if you don’t mind. It was the universality of the stories that we were telling; it was stories that everybody could connect to who had been that age at some point in life. The twist on it was the Beverly Hills angle, which not a lot of people knew was like, but the idea is the stories we were telling played out everywhere so people connected."

Although others from the original cast appeared in the reboot, Perry never did.

"It just didn’t seem creatively moving forward to me. You’ve got to do that as an actor, even if it means failure or unemployment. You need to keep looking for a thing that moves you creatively forward, and I just wasn’t feeling it there."

Beverly Hills, 90210 made Perry a household name. Although he had runs on Another World it was a long journey for Perry from his Ohio roots. Multiple auditions resulted in no work, and he did many other jobs prior to auditioning for the role of Steve Sanders in the show. That role eventually went to Ziering, but Perry got cast as Dylan, and the rest is history. He and Priestly became heartthrobs with their faces on magazines, and plastered on the walls of teeens around the world. Despite it all he remained humble, a drastic comparison to many ‘teen idols’ from the past and current eras.

"I think having had a lot of other menial labour jobs before I got it made me realize how fortunate [I was] to be doing it. I was shovelling asphalt the day I got hired for 90210 and had done a lot of other things that I didn’t want to do. When someone was going to give me the opportunity to do the things I loved to do, and make my living at it, I always felt very fortunate. I still try not to lose sight of that; I am really lucky. The Internet was just coming around and no one knew what the magnitude of what that was going to be when 90210 was happening, and I’m glad. Irrespective of all of that, the deal is act like you’ve got some sense and behave. Just because all of a sudden your life changes drastically doesn’t mean you have to. You can drive that stuff a little bit," he said, adding that his focus was on the show, not on being famous. "I just concentrated on going to work. We made a lot more episodes than other shows did; like 32 in a season. There wasn’t the long hiatus period to bask in it – we were just working all the time and, looking back, I am fine with that. I never felt the need to cultivate a profile about anything other than my work. I don’t like my life being out in the world. I just like going to work."

In addition to the 90210 connection, Perry is also reuniting for the first time with his Buffy The Vampire Slayer co-star Kristy Swanson. He is excited to spend a weekend with Kristy and the boys, and reflected on how the experience of Buffy altered his perception of the movie industry, and his career.

"It does sound like a good time, doesn’t it? Kristy is just one of the boys – that is one of the cool things about her. There are a lot of Buffy fans out there from the TV show and movie, and spun a bunch of shows off. It had its own little world going there and I don’t think anyone expected that. That was interesting to watch unfold. In terms of me and the movie, it didn’t open well. It opened second that weekend to Death Becomes Her and they didn’t think that was enough, so they stopped promoting the movie. It was a big lesson for me why movies are considered hits or not hits, or if they work or not work on opening day. The studio didn’t have faith that the film would find its audience as much as it has, and I always thought that was a mistake on their part. In terms of how it reflected back on me, I think my opportunities got a little limited because there wasn’t a tremendous box office payoff on what I thought was a really great script. There are a lot of ins and outs in the business and it was the first time I’d been made privy to how all that works."

Perry has twice played gay characters in appearances on sitcoms which, in many ways, was a big step in the process of gay characters on TV, for someone of Perry’s stature to play the roles. In a 1997 episode of Spin City he played Spence, the ex-boyfriend of gay character Carter (played by Michael Boatman) who visits and tells Carter he is getting married to a woman. In 2005 he played Aaron, a nerdy birdwatcher that catches the attention of Jack (Sean Hayes), in an episode of Will & Grace.

"The writing was funny. The character just happened to be gay, but the writing was really funny. How can you not want to work with Sean Hayes? Working with James Burrows, Megan Mullally, that was a no brainer. In terms of being the boyfriend of Michael Boatman, I’d like to think – on some level – I am still the boyfriend of Michael Boatman. He is a very good actor and just a cool dude; that was so much fun. Spin City was the first time I had done a sitcom and I was so interested in seeing how they were made. They were great at helping me figure it out. Everybody sees it in a different context: you see it as ground breaking, but I just saw it as these are funny jokes and I get to work with Michael J. Fox!"

Perry also voiced himself in an episode of Family Guy in 2000. Peter Griffin subs out an article his daughter Meg wrote changing it to claim Perry is gay. When Perry finds out he tries to sue Meg and typical Family Guy hilarity ensues.

"I love animation. I have done a bunch of cartoons like The Simpsons. When Seth told me what the concept was I thought it was hysterical. I love Adam West – he was Batman when I was a kid – so I thought, to be able to in some way be in the same piece as Adam West, of course that would be great. Then when I saw the level to which they executed it, where the swimming pool was shaped like me and the sideburn was the diving board, I thought that was fucking funny. Seth is a very talented guy and I wanted to be part of that."

In looking back, Perry had no qualms about the roles, and received no negativity from playing them.

"I have never heard a negative reaction to any of it; people thought it was funny and worked well. It was something that you just can’t worry about – what people are going to say. You are going to play the characters you play, for whatever reason you want to play them, and can’t worry about what other [people think]."

While Beverly Hills, 90210 may be what Perry is best known for, his career has spanned over decades and he has appeared in many shows and films. When you meet him, tell him some of your favourite moments, whether it was Inspector Space Time on Community or his runs on Oz and Jeremiah.

"I have a lot of people at these types of events that ask me about... the ending of Jeremiah and ask if there will be any more. I always have to sort of disappointingly tell them that there won’t be. I wish more people would bring up Inspector Space Time! That was fun. Comedy interests me; it is a hard thing to do – much harder than dramatic stuff – and I find it really challenging. It is one of those things that if you do not do well at it, you just suck, and can hear the crickets chirping. I respect that level of talent where it is either going to work or you are going down in flames. You want to take all those opportunities to do funny shows like that."

That includes working with other icons. Perry understands what it means to fans who were influenced by his work because he too has had experiences he will never forget and will share with his grandkids.

"I did Hot in Cleveland last year and I had a blast doing that. Betty White is a 92-year-old comedic ass-kicking machine. I only did one episode but, apparently, on the show this is her party trick. She was doing a scene with Marion Ross and Marion hadn’t had much time to rehearse so they wanted to try different takes on the scenes. They would change the dialogue on Betty every time and she was bang bang bang! Nailing it the first time every time. My mouth was open and they had to cut because my jaw kept dropping open. There was no joke that she couldn’t make work. I will be telling my grandkids about it. Some people say I saw Babe Ruth play I will be saying I worked with Betty White."

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Locale Calgary |

Person Luke Perry |

Topic 90210 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Calgary Expo | Comic Expo | Celebrity Interview |