Luke Perry's lost Yahoo interview: The TV role that never aired
Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale provided the bookends for Luke Perry‘s career, which ended all too suddenly when the actor died on March 4, five days after suffering a massive stroke. In between those two teen shows, Perry enjoyed an eclectic mix of roles that ranged from TV shows like Oz and Jeremiah to such movies as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 8 Seconds. But as he told Yahoo Entertainment in this interview with the cast of Riverdale from San Diego Comic-Con in 2016 — a portion of the conversation recently found in our archives and unseen until now — one of his favorite characters never even made it to American screens. (Watch the interview, above.)
That character would be Ponce de León or “Poncie” to his pals, the clone of the 15th century Spanish explorer and best friend to a cloned John F. Kennedy. Where would two such clones meet, you ask? Clone High, of course! The brainchild of Bill Lawrence and reigning cartoon superstars Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the short-lived 2002 MTV series took place at a secondary school where the student body consisted of second-generation copies of major historical figures, ranging from Joan of Arc and Gandhi to Cleopatra and Genghis Khan. Distinguished by clever visuals and a steady stream of witty gags, the show was the duo’s first major project out of college and set them on the road to such future hits as The Lego Movie and the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Although it has since obtained cult status, Clone High — which premiered on Canada’s Teletoon network before moving to MTV stateside — was never a huge hit during its initial U.S. airing. Part of that was due to the fact that it swiftly vanished from the airwaves after three episodes … right before Perry was set to make his debut as Poncie. “I think I was in the fourth one, and the third one was when they cut it off,” Perry told us three years ago. “I liked the show. I thought it was really funny.”
Not everyone agreed. Gandhi’s presence in the series sparked protests in the real-life Gandhi’s native India. Then-head of Viacom (the parent company of MTV) Tom Freston experienced the public outcry firsthand on a business trip to India, where he was trapped in the corporation’s New Delhi offices by a crowd of some 150 demonstrators. MTV canceled the series not long after, with multiple episodes still yet to air. “It might have been in our best interests to have that be someone other than Gandhi,” Lawrence admitted to Entertainment Weekly in 2017. “But you know, we were just a bunch of dumb comedy writers.”
The good news is that all episodes of Clone High are available to rent or purchase on Amazon, so Perry’s performance is just one click away. While you’re there, you can also rent or purchase the actor’s 1993 appearance on The Simpsons in the all-star episode, “Krusty Gets Cancelled.” Perry voiced himself, who turned out to be Krusty the Clown’s stepbrother.
As “Sideshow Luke Perry,” the heartthrob famously got launched from a cannon during an all-star special to save Krusty’s show. “Bette Midler, Steve Martin and Elizabeth Taylor were on the show. … It was a crazy episode,” Perry recalled at Comic-Con.
“I’ve been fortunate,” he continued, also noting his run as Sub-Zero in the Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm cartoon series. “I had a really good time in animation.”
Clone High and The Simpsons are available on Amazon.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
