Tom Hanks’ Son Colin Recalls the Time He Met Luke Perry: ‘Seemed Like a True Gent’

Already, we’re all missing Luke Perry something fierce, and now we can count Tom Hanks‘ son, actor Colin Hanks, among our numbers. On Monday, March 4, after the news broke of the Riverdale actor’s tragic passing, celebs all over spoke out to mourn his loss. On social media, Colin had his own sad words to share. Though the two Hollywood stars had never gotten the opportunity to work together, they did have a chance encounter on a plane. The story that the Fargo actor shared proved just what a hero Luke really was.

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“I only met him once but the story is too good not tell given today’s sad events,” Colin, 41, shared on Instagram. “My wife and I are on a plane back from Mexico. Couple of rows ahead of us, these two brothers, young kids, are beating the hell out of each other. Their poor parents are powerless to stop the crying, yelling and screaming. If you’re a parent, you understand. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. It was like this for close to two hours. Then, about 10 minutes before landing, it starts to get real bad. Out of nowhere, a man comes from first class. Hat, beard, sunglasses, blowing up a balloon. He ties it off, hands it off like he’s holding out a sword to a king. Kneeling, head down, arms up. Kids calm down in milliseconds. Plane damn near bursts into applause. 15 minutes longer and it probably would have started WWIII, but we landed before that could happen.”

The man had totally saved the day — and when Colin got to customs, he had a realization. “[I] finally get a good look at the guy and I say to my wife, “Holy s–t. I think that balloon man/hero is Luke Perry.’ As luck would have it, we end up standing next to each other. Out of the blue, he turns to me and says some kind words about Fargo, which kinda blew my mind. I start singing his praises about how long I’ve admired him and also about the move with the balloon. ‘That’s a pro move! You can’t teach that!’ I say. He tells me he always flies with a couple of balloons for that very reason, to give to screaming kids.”

The interaction was beyond impressive — and Colin only had kind words to share. “[I] don’t know if that’s true, but have no reason to believe it wasn’t. Guy seemed like a true gent. Gone way too damn soon,” he shared. But luckily, the Beverly Hills, 90210 star left him with a lesson he’d never forget. “Also, I’ll be damned if I don’t start traveling with some spare balloons 🎈🎈🎈,” he joked, calling the star a “true gent” once again in the hashtags. And it definitely sounds like that’s exactly what he was. All of the stories coming out about the actor and what an amazing man he was are truly breaking our heart — but we’re so glad that we get the chance to hear them.