‘90210’ Reboot Star AnnaLynne McCord Remembers ‘Fighter’ and ‘Rebel’ Shannen Doherty
AnnaLynne McCord fondly remembers crossing paths with Shannen Doherty when the late star appeared on the 90210 reboot.
"Everyone had something to say about Shannen when it was announced that she was coming back to do our version of her (much beloved) Beverly Hills 90210,” McCord, 37, told Us Weekly exclusively on Tuesday, July 16. “But the woman everyone depicted and the woman I got to spend time with on set were two very different people. So, of course, I loved her right away!”
Doherty was “a rebel” and “non-conformist who lived life on her terms,” McCord wrote.
“This is threatening to those who bend to trends, something I couldn’t see her ever doing. I didn’t spend a great deal of time with her, but I didn’t have to,” she continued. “She was who she was in all arenas. Authentic through and through. And she was a fighter. To the very end."
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Us Weekly confirmed on Sunday, July 14, that Doherty died at age 53 following a lengthy battle with cancer.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease,” her publicist, Leslie Sloane, shared in a statement. “The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. While she was in remission, the disease came back in 2017. By 2023, Doherty announced that cancer had spread to her bones and eventually her brain.
The actress famously played Brenda Walsh on the original iteration of Beverly Hills, 90210, which aired from 1990 to 2000. She reprised her role in 2008 for The CW reboot of the show, which aired from 2008 to 2013.
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“I didn’t know her well. I don’t even know if she remembered meeting me, but the impact that she had on me has lasted the 15 years that it’s been since my interaction with her,” 90210 reboot star Shenae Grimes (Annie Wilson) shared in her own Instagram statement on Sunday. “My character on the spinoff of the show definitely represented her character [Brenda Walsh] on the original 90210 because I was part of the brother-sister duo that moved from the small town to Beverly Hills.”
She added: “Shannen was always my favorite, probably because of the brunette locks.”
Grimes recalled Doherty giving her “the warmest smile and the biggest hug” before they acted together.
“When she hugged me, like, I just felt like, ‘You’ve been here. You know what this is on, like, an even larger scale than I possibly could have experienced,’” Grimes continued. “It just made me feel like, ‘I’m OK. She got out unscathed from this crazy, wild ride and she’s here,’ and I just felt really seen and comforted and cared for in that moment.”
