Shannen Doherty Joins ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ Reboot After Luke Perry’s Death
Shannen Doherty is headed back to a familiar zip code, as the 48-year-old actress has officially signed on to Fox’s upcoming Beverly Hills, 90210 revival. Doherty will join her longtime co-stars Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling for the six-episode, limited-edition reboot of the 1990s series, Deadline reports. Doherty also will co-executive produce the 90210 reunion series.
Doherty played Brenda Walsh in the original teen series, which aired from 1990 to 2000 on Fox. The coming-of-age drama initially centered around Doherty’s character and her twin brother Brandon (Priestley) amid their family’s move from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Beverly Hills. Doherty’s Brenda later became involved with bad boy Dylan McKay (Luke Perry).
The new 90210 will offer a unique spin on the revival trend. Doherty, Priestley, Garth, Ziering, Carteris, Green, and Spelling will play “heightened versions of themselves” as they reunite to talk about getting a revival series going 19 years after their iconic teen show ended.
Shannen Doherty— who was noticeably absent from the original cast announcement in February—shared a throwback photo with her co-stars to confirm the news that she has signed on to the revival series. In her caption, the actress joked about the cast’s ’90-era outfits, which included high-waisted belted jeans, shorts with heart patches, and oversized Beverly Hills T-shirts.
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The buzzy 90210 reboot was announced in late February, just days before original cast member Luke Perry died of a stroke at age 52. Before his sudden death, Perry had not officially signed on to the Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot, due to his full-time commitment to the CW’s Riverdale, where he played Fred Andrews.
While Luke Perry will be the only original 90210 cast member missing from the revival series, his absence is expected to be addressed on the show.
Doherty already noted Perry’s absence shortly after announcing her return to the series. On her Instagram stories, Doherty posted a sweet photo with her former onscreen love interest with the caption, “Forever missed.”
Shannen Doherty has also posted several photos of her and Luke Perry in the weeks since his shocking death, revealing that she was having a hard time processing the loss of the beloved actor and her friend of nearly 30 years.
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While it will be hard for fans to see Brenda without her high school sweetheart Dylan, fans are happy that Shannen Doherty has signed on to the Beverly Hills, 90210 revival. Tori Spelling previously teased the reboot to People and said the cast mates were excited to work together every day.
“We’ve come full circle and it feels really great. This is the ultimate high school reunion and we’re going to be back together every day and I’m so excited,” Spelling said.
Spelling also added that the cast “would love” to have Doherty join them, and now that wish has come true.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 revival series is expected to air this summer on Fox.
