Shannen Doherty's alleged behavior on the set of hit '90s teen drama Beverly Hills 90210 is just as famous as her character Brenda Walsh. There was talk of Doherty and Jennie Garth fighting and there have been countless stories of the actress not getting along with her fellow cast members. But while fans always thought that Doherty left the series after the fourth season because of this behind-the-scenes tension, it turns out there was another reason.
Shannen Doherty, who has been battling cancer since 2015, played Prue Halliwell in Charmed, Heather Duke in the intense teen comedy movie Heathers, and many Lifetime films, like the 2018 remake No One Would Tell. Despite her body of work, she's always going to be Brenda to 90210 fans. Doherty also joined the BH90210 reboot which paid the cast tens of thousands of dollars. But why didn't Shannen Doherty stay on Beverly Hills 90210?
Why Did Shannen Doherty Leave Beverly Hills 90210?
The cast of Beverly Hills 90210 has reunited a few times, as Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, and Tori Spelling played Brenda Walsh, Kelly Taylor, and Donna Martin again in the reboot 90210 which aired from 2008 to 2013. The original cast also came back for the meta reboot BH90210, which aired for one season in 2019.
There's an interesting story behind why Doherty stopped playing Brenda Walsh. Larry Mollin, a producer and writer on Beverly Hills 90210, talked about why Shannen Doherty was asked to leave 90210. According to Entertainment Weekly, he gave an interview and said that she cut her hair short, and that was the real problem.
Mollin said, "what happened was, in the middle of a show, she cut her hair and totally screwed us up for continuity so everyone was pissed off at her. Like I said, not the writers so much, but the producer people. And the other kids were out to get her head, because she had pissed everybody off."
Mollin also said that he and the writing team thought that Doherty was a talented actress who was really good at her job. He said, "the writers loved Shannen. She’s a child of this business. You give her a script and she’ll just read it exactly like you wrote it. Never change a word, never ask a question. She had a photographic memory."
It seemed like a main character like Brenda would never leave the series. The POV of Beverly Hills 90210 is through the eyes of twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh (played by Jason Priestley) as they relocate from Minnesota to Beverly Hills, California. Absolutely everything is different and the teenagers are fancier and more sophisticated, throwing thousands of dollars at clothing and driving expensive cars.
Brenda's relationship with Luke Perry's character Dylan McKay is one of the best parts of Beverly Hills 90210. When Brenda moved away, she had already accepted that Dylan had fallen in love with her best friend Kelly, but over the years, fans heard that Brenda and Dylan had reconnected again.
What Happened To Shannen Doherty's Beverly Hills 90210 Character Brenda Walsh?
Shannen Doherty's last Beverly Hills 90210 episode was the season 4 episode called "Mr. Walsh Goes To Washington." In the season 5 premiere episode called "What I Did on My Summer Vacation and Other Stories," fans found out that Brenda was going to England to attend acting school.
This seemed to work for the character since Brenda had always had a flair for the dramatic. And her friends and family thought that she was an independent person and accepted her decision easily.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Larry Mollin explained that he came up with that plotline. He said that "kind of became a bad joke because she was a good actress. I never thought she was a bad actress."
This was a good way to have Brenda leave the series, as the characters were growing up and getting used to new lives. It made sense for Brenda to decide that staying in Beverly Hills wasn't the best thing for her as she had some challenges over the years that brought on painful memories, like fighting with Kelly over Dylan. It was better to have Brenda go to acting school than for her character to meet a violent end that would have been too dark for the teen show.
Did Shannen Doherty Like Starring On Beverly Hills 90210?
While of course starring on a hit TV show as a teenager is thrilling and will set someone up for life in terms of career opportunities, Shannen Doherty always gives honest interviews about the emotions she has felt when thinking about her 90210-induced fame.
When Doherty talked about having cancer in a 2020 interview with Elle, she also shared that it was hard to read the press about her during her years on Beverly Hills 90210. People said very negative things and that affected her.
Doherty said, “The more stories that were written about me, the more defensive and closed off I became. And the bigger the walls I built around me. I had a lot of resentment.”
In 2016, Shannen Doherty spoke about a 90210 storyline from season 1 that she ended up sadly relating to. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she talked about the episode called "This Is Not A Test" when Brenda thinks that she might have breast cancer.
Doherty said, "Back then, I was a kid. I thought that I was invincible. I was going to live forever. It didn't dawn on me and it still didn't register until a fan on my Twitter actually was like, 'Brenda Walsh had--' And I was like, 'Oh my god! That's right! We did do that episode.'"
The actress also said that the episode has a special place in her heart: she said to Entertainment Tonight, "I remember that episode because it really meant a lot to me. I worked very hard with the producers, director and writers of that episode to make sure that we told that story correctly and how serious it was and really drove it home, to check yourself."
While sometimes teen series like Beverly Hills 90210 can really lean into cheesy storylines that make people groan, this was a smart episode for the show to do. Brenda has open conversations with her friends and family about how afraid she is that something could be wrong. It was relatable for anyone who has gone through that themselves or who has worried about a family member who gets a diagnosis.
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