LOS ANGELES, Feb 4, (Agencies): Nearly half a decade following the untimely passing of Luke Perry, his former 90210 co-stars still grapple with the void left by his absence. Shannen Doherty and Jason Priestley shared their reflections on Perry, who succumbed to a stroke at the age of 52 in March 2019, during a panel discussion at MegaCon Orlando on Saturday.

Onstage, Doherty, 52, exhibited visible emotion when Perry's name was brought up by Priestley, 54. The Charmed actress was moved to tears, initially using her left hand to wipe them away before leaving her seat to retrieve a tissue for further comfort.

Expressing her shock, Doherty, whose 90210 character, Brenda, shared an on-screen romance with Perry's character, Dylan, recounted the impact of Perry's passing. She shared, “It was shocking. I have a very visceral reaction whenever someone brings up Luke because as someone with cancer — and a really horrible cancer at stage 4 — I thought I would be the first to go. So when it was Luke, it really just sent me for a tailspin.”

Doherty disclosed her battle with breast cancer in 2015, which went into remission in 2017 but returned at stage 4 in 2019, spreading to her bones by 2023.

During the MegaCon event, Doherty reflected on her relationship with Perry, acknowledging both the closeness they shared while filming the '90s teen drama and the moments of distance in the years following the show's conclusion in 2000. She revealed, "But later we became extremely close. So to lose him as our relationship was just sort of flourishing as friends, and our respect and admiration for each other was coming to its fullest potential … it was just very hard.”

In the aftermath of Perry's death, Doherty paid tribute to him on Riverdale, a series in which Perry played Archie's father Fred, during the fourth season in 2019.