Soleil Moon Frye is reflecting on a core memory with Luke Perry — which involved a near-plane crash.
“I have a great Luke Perry story that I don’t even know — I haven’t shared much,” Frye, 48, began on the Thursday, May 1, episode of Tori Spelling’s “misSPELLING” podcast, gushing that Perry had the “most beautiful spirit” and was “always so kind” to her.
Frye explained that she visited Perry and his costars — including Spelling, now 51 — on the set of Beverly Hills, 90210 on her birthday and received a “hug and love” from the late actor.
“And of course, where would I want to spend my birthday, other than with all of you,” Frye said, while Spelling interjected to note that she was “blushing” telling the story. “I know I’m blushing. I had such a crush on him and he was so kind and sweet and he was such a beautiful listener. I remember him being such a beautiful listener and so warm and always made you feel so loved.”
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Frye explained that she and Perry had the “same manager or agent or something,” noting that the person was learning how to fly an airplane and decided to take the twosome out to lunch.
“This is a crazy story. And he said, ‘Why don’t we all go to Catalina for lunch?’ Now we’re not talking about — this isn’t like some private plane, big plane, whatever,” Frye said, explaining that it was one of those “teeny tiny little planes” and had a propeller.
The pair landed safely in Catalina, but had a different experience on the flight home — which began as the “clouds have come in” amid “stormy” weather. “Literally, they’re like, ‘Are we able to fly?’” Frye recalled.
“As the plane goes off — there’s like this mountaintop in Catalina that it goes off — and all of a sudden, it just drops. … At this point, I don’t even know that we have seat belts on because we are convinced that, like, this is it,” Frye continued. “I jumped into Luke Perry’s arms. I threw myself in his arms … I think we ended up on the floor of the plane, if I remember correctly.”
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Frye said that the plane was “going up and down and up and down” while she and Perry were exchanging their “life stories” because they were convinced they were going to meet their fate.
“He’s holding me in his arms and I’m holding him in my arms,” she said. “Our entire lives flashed in front of us. And I was able to, like, share my life in all of the 30-minute plane ride, and it was just actually one of the most beautiful experiences in my life and that bonded us forever.”
Frye quipped that it was a “catch-22” of “being really afraid” while Perry was her “superhero” at the moment. While looking back, Frye said she “should have just kissed” Perry. “I will never forget that,” she said of the incident. “It was really beautiful.”
In 2019, Perry died at age 52 after suffering a stroke. In the wake of his death, Frye paid tribute to the actor while sharing a sweet throwback photo of the pair embracing, and referenced the plane incident.
“You had such a beautiful kind heart to me always. Your gentle voice and charm that lit up the world around you. I will always remember holding on to you in that tiny little plane & you comforting me as we were not sure if we would make it,” Frye wrote via Instagram at the time. “You were always sweet to me & made me feel adored in your presence. Sending love to your family and to you always. Xxxx.”
