Shannen Doherty Didn’t Realize How ‘Pretty’ She Was Until Before Her Death

Shannen Doherty confessed days before her death that she had finally realized how “pretty” she was as a young actress.

Doherty discussed the a-ha moment during her appearance on an episode of the Charmed rewatch podcast “The House of Halliwell,” which was released Sunday, July 28, just two weeks after she died of cancer at age 53. Doherty told cohosts Holly Marie Combs, Brian Krause and Drew Fuller — who also starred on the WB series — that watching early episodes of the show made her see younger self in a new, kinder light. 

“You know what's really interesting about going and rewatching these as a woman is, I was like, 'God, I was really pretty back then,'" she admitted. "And we're not even wearing a lot of makeup. Granted, we have really good lighting and everything else, but I was so thin."

Doherty starred as Prue Halliwell on the first three seasons of Charmed, from 1998 to 2001, opposite Combs, 50, and Alyssa Milano, who portrayed her sisters Piper and Phoebe Halliwell, respectively. After Doherty exited the show at the end of season 3, she was replaced by long lost half-sister Paige Halliwell, played by Rose McGowan, for seasons 4 through 8.

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During Sunday’s “House of Halliwell,” Doherty noted that, back then, she did not have “one wrinkle on my face” and in hindsight, the footage “made me a little sad.”

"Youth is wasted on the young,” she said, adding that “now that I'm 50, whatever I am, if somebody wants to do the math — I believe it now. Now is when I would really appreciate my looks and like the physique. I was so friggin' skinny."

She continued, "It just took a little thing like cancer for me to lose some weight, but I'm still not as skinny as I was back then.”

On Monday, July 29, “The House of Halliwell” shared a clip of Doherty’s cameo via Instagram. McGowan, 50, left a message in the comments section, writing, “Ahhh it’s so not real that she’s gone. I keep thinking I’ll see her in 2 weeks. It’s real but not real. Even at this late stage her beautiful mind so sharp, it never felt possible.”

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Combs has also mourned Doherty online, writing via Instagram on July 20, “Shannen promised to haunt me but I thought she’d be occupied with a few others at first. Alas I’m sure it will show up when and where I least expect it. My rock.” 

While Combs and McGowan had a decades-long friendship with Doherty, her relationship with Milano was more complex; Doherty claimed that the Who’s the Boss alum was partially to blame for her being prematurely let go from Charmed and the pair have had a contentious dynamic for years. Despite their ups and downs, Milano paid tribute to her former costar in a July 14 statement to Us Weekly.

“It’s no secret that Shannen and I had a complicated relationship, but at its core was someone I deeply respected and was in awe of,” Milano, 51, told Us, referencing their longstanding tension. “She was a talented actress, beloved by many and the world is less without her. My condolences to all who loved her.”

Us confirmed on July 14 that Doherty had lost her battle with cancer. She first revealed her diagnosis in 2015, and after two years of chemotherapy, confirmed she was in remission. The cancer returned in 2020 when Doherty said she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, and three years later, it had spread to her bones.

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On the June 24 episode of her “Let’s Be Clear” podcast, Doherty gave a tearful update on her decision to undergo another round of chemotherapy. “I’m having to go back on chemo and it’s really hard,” she said. “The idea of going through that all over again has wrecked me.”

Yet she continued to fight her illness. “We kept going until we couldn’t go any more,” her oncologist, Dr. Lawrence D. Piro, recalled on July 15. “The last conversation that we had, she was in the process of realizing that things had taken a pretty significant turn. The conversation was about love and support and caring and still fighting through. She wanted to continue to take treatment and fight through, even though her physical condition had taken a bit of a downturn. And so we did.”