A bad girl rep, fights on set, and a battle bigger than anything she's faced before.
Shannen Doherty's life in Hollywood has been anything but a fairytale.
It's no exaggeration to say that Shannen Doherty has been an actor her entire life.
Growing up in Tennessee, she starred in several plays and was active in her church.
When she was seven, her dad moved the family to Los Angeles, and her love for the craft
deepened.
After starring in a number of commercials, she got her first TV role aged 10, appearing
in two episodes of "Father Murphy"— and never looked back.
The next year, she landed a recurring part on "Little House on the Prairie," which made
her a household name.
Doherty told SPIN magazine the show pushed her to really pursue acting.
She gushed,
"I used to watch 'Little House on the Prairie' and I wanted to work with Michael Landon really
desperately.
After that, acting just became this thing that I did."
Then, at 19, she became a bonafide celebrity when she was cast to play Brenda Walsh on
"Beverly Hills, 90210."
She appeared in over 100 episodes of the series, and it was around that time she realized that
she was perfectly suited to acting.
She told SPIN,
"When I hit 18, I really understood what it was all about.
If you're at all self-conscious, acting is the best thing that you can do because you
never have to be yourself."
When Shannen Doherty was 20 years old, "Beverly Hills, 90210" was in its second season and
exploded in popularity.
Although she'd been working since the age of 10 and had been involved in a number of
successful projects, the teen drama brought a different level of fame — and scrutiny.
She told Digital Spy,
"With all great things comes a little bit of backlash.
I definitely don't think I was ready for it."
It didn't help that the cast had to film a grueling 36 episodes a year and that folks
assumed Doherty was stuck up and difficult, like her character.
She told The Sydney Morning Herald,
"You're being written about on a regular basis and 98% of it is complete lies, so it's very
hard to read about yourself and not have a reaction."
"All I can do is be happy with who I am."
There were no social media platforms back then, and she felt like she didn't have a
way to share her side of the story — all she could do was look on as tabloids continuously
painted her in a negative light.
As she told Rolling Stone, she felt the accusations were simply unjust.
She quipped,
"If you consider 'difficult' being a strong woman who sticks up for herself, yeah, I admit
to it."
Fans were shocked when Shannen Doherty left "Beverly Hills, 90210" at the height of its
fame.
Despite being with the show since day one, the actor tapped out after four seasons because
she was miserable.
She told Entertainment Weekly her fame was proving to be too much, explaining,
"The sacrifice of a camera pointed in my face 24 hours a day while I was desperately trying
to grow up, to figure out my spirituality, to figure out my boyfriends."
What's more, she hated the new scripts and openly criticized them.
Her brazen attitude caused issues with her castmates and she once nearly had a physical
altercation with Jennie Garth.
Executive producer Charles Rosin went as far as to tell Entertainment Weekly,
"Her lateness was appalling, and she had a callous attitude and an indifference."
Beyond the on-set drama, Doherty's reputation was also tarnished by numerous run-ins with
the law.
During her time on the show, it was discovered she wrote $32,000 worth of bad checks.
Then, in 1992, she was cited, but not charged, for misdemeanor battery after allegedly shoving
a woman in a nightclub.
Five years later, she was sentenced to anger management counseling for smashing a beer
bottle on a car window, and in 2000, she was arrested for DUI and received three years'
probation.
"Stupidity.
Unforgivable stupidity."
Shannen Doherty may have thought she was leaving on-set drama behind when she walked away from
"Beverly Hills, 90210," but it simply followed her to her next hit show.
In 1998, the actor joined the set of "Charmed," opposite Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano,
and the series was a hit.
Although it ran for eight seasons, Doherty left after just three due to on-set tensions.
She was once again depicted as the villain in the scenario.
"So excuse me, Phoebe, but I'm not exactly in a homeopathic mood right now."
Speaking to Details magazine, the actor slammed executive producer Aaron Spelling for not
appreciating her, then went after a co-star — purported to be Milano — and stated
that despite the high-paying and relatively easy nature of the gig, the person in question
did nothing but complain about the job.
Indeed, Milano later seemed to agree that Doherty wasn't to blame.
She told ET in 2021,
"I could take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had.
I think a lot of our struggle came from feeling that I was in competition rather than it being
that sisterhood that the show was so much about, and I have some guilt about my part
in that."
It takes a lot to deter Shannen Doherty.
In 2006, she launched a reality show called "Breaking Up With Shannen Doherty," which
aired for one season and pretty much bombed.
In the series, the actor helped women needing to end bad relationships, whether with a roommate
or a lover.
Unfortunately, the negative tone really missed the mark.
Susan Stewart wrote of the show for The New York Times,
"[It] operates on the flawed principle that it is fun to watch relationships come asunder.
[...] However, dying relationships tend to devastate those in them and bore everybody
else."
The harsh review didn't stop Doherty from trying reality TV again.
In 2010, she joined "Dancing With The Stars" at the behest of her dad but, unfortunately,
she was the first to be eliminated.
Even so, she had no regrets.
She told People,
"I made my dad proud, that's all that really matters.
[...] It pays off in seeing my father's face and the joy that I brought him."
Doherty finally scored a reality TV hit in 2014 when she and "Charmed" costar Holly Marie
Combs went on a road trip for Great American Country's "Off The Map With Shannen & Holly."
Doherty had a great time filming the show, telling Business Wire,
"Not only did we do some amazing and fun things, we also met really interesting, lovely people."
In 2010, Shannen Doherty decided to embrace her reputation as a bad girl and tell her
life story in a memoir titled "Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style and (the Right)
Attitude."
The book took a look back at the good and the bad in the actor's life and career.
While promoting the tome, the "Heathers" star explained to Parade that her mission was to
show folks she had matured and mellowed, without forgetting about her past.
She said,
"I have a rep.
Did I earn it?
Yeah, I did.
But, after a while, you sort of try to shed that rep because you're kind of a different
person."
Shannen Doherty was faced with the biggest battle of her life when she was diagnosed
with breast cancer in her early forties.
In August 2015, she chose to go public with the diagnosis and revealed she had undergone
a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
Deciding to be fully transparent about her journey, she then revealed that the cancer
had spread to her lymph nodes and admitted to ET that she was scared of the unknown.
"Living without a breast is manageable, it's the worry of your future and how your future
is going to affect the people that you love."
Doherty underwent chemotherapy and radiation and on Instagram in 2017, she shared that
she was in remission.
Cautiously optimistic, she wrote,
"As every single one of my fellow cancer family knows, the next five years is crucial."
Sadly, Doherty's cancer did return and, once again, she chose to be honest in the hopes
of helping others.
In February 2020, the actor revealed she had stage four breast cancer.
Since then, she has shared unfiltered photos and updates of her treatment, including the
tearful day she had to shave her head.
As she explained on Instagram,
"I hope I encourage people to get mammograms, to get regular checkups, to cut thru the fear
and face whatever might be in front of you."
Just like her career, Shannen Doherty's love life has had its share of drama.
The actor's first two marriages dissolved within months, starting with her union to
fellow actor Ashley Hamilton.
The pair wed in October 1993 but divorced in April 1994.
Eight years later, Doherty said "I do" to professional poker player Rick Salomon, but
they annulled their marriage within nine months.
It wasn't until she met and married photographer and cinematographer Kurt Iswarienko in October
2011 that she found a true life partner.
Speaking with People in 2019, Doherty admitted that they had their hardships, but shared
how Iswarienko was there when she needed him most, during the time of her 2015 breast cancer
diagnosis.
But while their bond strengthened, their plans to start a family were challenged.
As Doherty told Health, the hormones they gave her caused her to enter menopause instantly.
That meant she would have to take estrogen pills to try to reverse the menopausal effects,
which could cause a higher risk of her cancer returning.
Unwilling to take the chance, she considered other avenues but simply wasn't sure.
She said,
"We're having conversations about an egg donor, maybe adoption, but there's fear there.
Am I going to last five years?
Ten years?
I certainly wouldn't want my 10-year-old burying a mother."
Given the fact that "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Heathers" made Shannen Doherty a star,
you may be surprised to learn that she wasn't all that excited about either project being
rebooted.
First, there was Paramount Network's "Heathers," which premiered in 2018 after some controversy
that almost saw it shelved for good.
As Doherty told Entertainment Weekly, she first heard about plans for a reboot when
she was undergoing chemotherapy.
When asked if she'd like to participate, she initially responded,
"No.
I don't know how you could ever, ever remake it."
However, she changed her mind once she read the script and eventually agreed to a cameo.
Even so, she was adamant she didn't want to rehash any of her other acting credits, quipping,
"Somebody asked me, 'Would you do the 'Charmed' reboot?'
and I was like, 'Oh my God, I can't be the reboot queen!'"
So when she was approached about appearing in 2019's "Beverly Hills, 90210" reboot, "BH90210,"
she initially shut it down.
This time, the loss of a dear pal would make her change her mind.
Following Luke Perry's death, she agreed to take part, telling Us Weekly,
"I thought it was the right time to do it, to honor a friend and be with my friends,
recreating something that was special to America, special to the world, and most importantly,
special to all of us."
A year after revealing that she had stage four breast cancer, Shannen Doherty told Variety
exactly what that meant.
Opening up about her diagnosis, she shared how she learned that her cancer could be treated
but never cured.
However, she refused to despair.
Rather than backing down, Doherty decided to focus on doing what she loves most and
vowed to continue working.
She told the mag,
"The best example that I can continue to set for other people with cancer, and to the outside
world who doesn't have cancer, is to show them what a cancer patient looks like.
We are employable."
Indeed, she filmed three movies in 2021.
Doherty also revealed to the outlet that she had her sights set on choosing a book to turn
into a film that she planned to helm herself.
She gushed,
"I'm a total nerd when it comes to cameras and lenses and lighting — creating a mood
and a tone.
When I direct, I'm probably at my absolute happiest."
Showing just how resilient she is, Doherty shared a health update on Instagram in March
2022 using the hashtag #cancerslayer.
Sharing two intimate selfies of herself masked up and rocking a cute heart-adorned IV bandage
at a health appointment, she wrote,
"Early morning doctors visit for scans.
Blurry eyed.
Hair askew but the new bandage wraps made me smile!"