Brian Bowen Smith/FOX(NEW YORK) — Shannen Doherty once vowed never to return to her Beverly Hills 90210 role of Brenda Walsh, but that decision changed with the sudden passing of her close friend and co-star Luke Perry this past March.
The actress and cancer survivor now says she agreed to star in the BH90210 revival in Perry’s honor.
“You know, I don’t know how many times I said that I would like never go back and I was pretty adamant about that,” Doherty tells ABC Radio. “And then Luke passed away and it just it felt like the right thing to do. It just felt like a good move; a right thing honoring somebody that I cared very, very, very much about in my life.”
The limited Fox revival series follows the show’s original actors – including Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Brian Austin Green and Jason Priestley — reuniting to play heightened versions of themselves, as well as slipping back into their original roles for some scenes.
The original series aired from 1990 to 2000, with Doherty appearing in the first four seasons. So why does she think the show has stood the test of time?
“I think that back then we really came into people’s living rooms and touched them in a day and age where we were considered cutting edge,” Doherty says. “Of course, now we’re not. But I think that that resonated with people and they could connect with at least one of the characters on the show. And they grew up with us.”
BH90210 premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
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