Shannen Doherty only decided to do Fox’s BH90210 after Luke Perry’s death. The Beverly Hills, 90210 star made the revelation during the 2019 Summer TCA Press Tour. Luke Perry passed away in March of this year, leading to an outpouring of tributes to the actor from his co-stars, among others. Perry died shortly after the announcement that BH90210 had been ordered to series.
At that point, Shannen Doherty was not planning on starring on BH90210. Doherty and Luke Perry were not among those initially announced to take part in the reunion show, which features the cast playing “heightened versions of themselves.” Doherty explained her initial mindset saying (via Fox News):
I definitely wasn't going to do it. It was nothing against the show. I knew that the show would get sold and do well and live on without me, but they didn't need me, so it just wasn't at that moment what I wanted to be doing.
Those feelings eventually changed, following the passing of her dear friend, and former co-star. Shannen Doherty eventually signed on to star as “herself” for the mind-bending series. Doherty rose to fame on Beverly Hills, 90210 as Brenda Walsh. Brenda and Luke Perry’s Dylan McKay were an on-again-off-again couple on the hit series.
Brenda and Dylan’s real-life counterparts maintained a strong friendship well after Beverly Hills, 90210 ended. When Luke Perry died unexpectedly, it changed Shannen Doherty’s mind regarding her previous plans not to participate in BH90210. Doherty explained, saying:
When Luke passed away, things drastically changed for me. And I felt like it was a great opportunity to sort of honor him. And then I really liked to be in that position because now I get to sit up here with a lot of people that you know, I respect and I love. And we have been on this amazing journey together where we also try to really sort of heal through losing somebody who means the world all of us.
Since signing up for the reunion series, Shannen Doherty has been able to start healing alongside her Beverly Hills, 90210 co-stars. All of whom shared the out-of-this-world experience of rising to fame together, and weathering life since the pop culture phenomenon.
Shannen Doherty went on to various TV projects, including Charmed. At the time of his passing, Luke Perry was starring on The CW’s Riverdale. The show paid tribute to the actor before his final episode as Fred Andrews aired. Riverdale will be doing a tribute to Luke Perry in its upcoming fourth season, which Shannen Doherty will guest-star on.
Beverly Hills, 90210 originally aired on Fox from 1990-2000. A reboot on The CW eventually came out in 2008, entitled 90210. Shannen Doherty guest-starred on the series, along with a few of the series’ other original stars. BH90210 is a totally different story from that reboot.
The Fox show tells the story of a reunion within a reunion as the cast teams up for a fictional reboot of their original series. Fox’s BH90210 just started airing last week. The show paid tribute to Luke Perry at the end of the premiere.
Back in 2017, Luke Perry had weighed in on the potential for a Beverly Hills, 90210 reunion. At the time, he acknowledged all of his former co-stars’ interest in doing it, adding they wanted to get back together for “something good.”
New episodes of BH90210 air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX, as part of this summer’s premieres.
