Shannen Doherty and her Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star, Jason Priestley, are reminiscing about their time together on the ’90s drama series. The actors recalls the audition process, the Fox show’s success, and the challenges that unfolded behind the scenes.
While on the recent episode of Doherty’s podcast, Let’s Be Clear With Shannen Doherty, Priestley recalls that his first audition for 90210 took place during a reading in show creator Aaron Spelling’s office, followed by a second one at one of Fox’s studios. Doherty remembers auditioning with Priestley at Fox and highlights the intense competition, as they were among the final contenders to play twin siblings Brenda and Brandon Walsh, who move to Beverly Hills from middle America.
As they discuss the series’ pivotal moments, both agree that the Rolling Stone cover of the cast marked a turning point in realizing 90210‘s success.
“Yeah, that was a big moment. That was fun that day,” remembers Priestley.
The 54-year-old actor points to the summer episodes before the second season as a key period when the show ranked 14th on the Nielsen ratings.
As for Doherty, she opens up about the challenges she faced during her time on 90210, and confesses to going through growing pains and personal struggles that affected her professionalism on the set. The 52-year-old actress admits that her marriage was falling apart at the time, alleging that her then-husband had a drug addiction, which took a toll on her ability to be punctual and focused at work.
“I was in a really horrible marriage and there were things that were transpiring in that marriage that made it really hard for me to be on time for work,” she explains.
Reflecting on her firing from the show in 1994 after four seasons, Doherty acknowledges her responsibility in the matter. She expresses a desire for a more transparent conversation about the consequences of her actions, wishing someone had told her that her behavior would lead to her dismissal. Doherty claims that her strained marriage at the time led to her having trouble even leaving the house.
“I sort of wish I would have been sat down and sort of looked at and said, ‘Listen, the end result is going to be this, you are going to get fired and none of us are going to put up with it anymore,'” Doherty tells Priestley. “And I understand that you have an issue in your personal life, but that also can’t bleed into work and you need to get your sh** together!”
Priestley, often referred to as the “quarterback” of the cast, shares the difficulty he experienced waiting for Doherty and the subsequent conversations with producers Spelling and Paul Wagner. He expresses a wish for more knowledge about Doherty’s personal struggles at the time.
Doherty now takes responsibility for her actions, acknowledging that she should’ve had her personal life more together. Despite being ultra-private back then, she admits to falling into the trap of the seductive and alluring lifestyle surrounding fame.
Doherty was married to Ashley Hamilton from 1993 to 1994, then Rick Salomon from 2002 to 2003 and most recently Kurt Iswarienko from 2011 to 2023.
