Luke Perry's Kiwi 'Riverdale' co-star KJ Apa shares touching story about late actor

KJ Apa has broken the silence on the death of his co-star Luke Perry.

Apa appeared on US talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and discussed his on-screen father's death, saying that Luke Perry made him feel "comfortable and welcome" on the Riverdale set. 

• READ MORE: Luke Perry's final Riverdale scenes will air this week

"It's not every day you come across a guy like Luke. Luke is the kind of person who did everything he can to make whoever you are, no matter how big or small you are, feel comfortable and feel welcome. It's hard to kind of put into words how that makes me feel." KJ said. 

KJ also said that Perry treated him like a son off-camera too, and would even call his parents in New Zealand every week to update them on how KJ was doing. Apa also explained that his own father and Perry got on very well and often texted each other.

"He would call my parents every week and keep them updated on how I'm doing. If I had a cold or something he'd be like, 'I got him, I brought some Gatorade to his apartment the other day.' He made such a huge effort from the very beginning. I wish I could be like that."

It's the first time KJ has spoken publicly on Perry's death, previously KJ had only posted an Instagram post with the simple caption: "Rest in love bro".

Last week, Luke's final scenes as Fred in Riverdale were aired, in which he was seen comforting his son after he was accused of committing a crime. As of the time of writing, it's not known how the show's writers will tie up Fred's storyline in the wake of Luke's passing.

At times during his appearance on the Tonight Show, Apa appeared naturally emotional about Perry's death, his voice wavering at times. 

Kia Kaha KJ!