Jason Priestley has opened up about his grief after the passing of his on-screen sister Shannen Doherty.
The Beverly Hills 90210 actress, who played Priestley’s twin sister Brenda Walsh on hit 90s drama, died from cancer in July at age 53.
The actor, who played her twin brother Brandon Walsh, said he has begun to think about his own life.
‘It has made me think about my own mortality,’ he told the Sunday Mirror.
‘I woke up on my 50th birthday and I realized that I’d already lived most of my life,’ he said.
‘Her passing hit me hard. We had an incredible experience working together,’ he said of his time on 90210.
Jason Priestley. 54, has opened up about his grief after the passing of his on-screen sister Shannen Doherty. The Beverly Hills 90210 actress who, with Priestley, played twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh on the hit 90s drama, died from cancer in July at age 53
‘It was the day Shannen, Luke [Perry] and I were shot for the cover of Rolling Stone [in 1992] that I started to understand the impact the show was having,’ he told the publication.
Doherty was the second of the original 90210 cast members to pass away. Perry died from a stroke at age 52 in 2019.
The Wild Cards actor praised Doherty for being ‘very open’ about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015.
The Charmed star revealed in June 2023 the disease had spread to her brain and her diagnosis was terminal.
‘She was very open about what was happening with her cancer and tried to use her platform to help other people.’
‘I always admired her tenacity and her toughness, so even though I knew she was sick, her actually passing away was a big surprise, and sad for all of us,’ he said.
‘She fought it for so long and seemed like she was able to manage it… until she wasn’t, unfortunately.’
In an appearance on Doherty’s Let’s Be Clear podcast in January, Priestley and his former co-star hashed through some of the reasons why she got a reputation for being a problem child on the 90210 set.
Priestley and Doherty shot to fame with the rest of their castmates after Beverly Hills 90210 debuted in 1990. The drama ran for 10 seasons, but Doherty’s character was written out of the show at the end of season four
Priestley praised Doherty for being ‘very open’ about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015. The Charmed star revealed in June 2023 the disease had spread to her brain and her diagnosis was terminal (Pictured in Los Angeles in August 2019)
Her character was written off the show at the end of season four when it was revealed Brenda was going to study acting in England.
Behind the scenes, the young actress was going through a lot of personal turmoil that she kept to herself.
‘I was in a really horrible marriage [to actor Ashley Hamilton, 49], and there were things that were transpiring in that marriage that made it really hard for me to be on time for work,’ she revealed while acknowledging her tardiness had repercussions for the cast and crew who ended up working even longer days than expected.
The actor said he was grateful he and Doherty were able to put past hurts behind them. ‘I feel very fortunate that in the last couple years, I got to spend quite a bit of time with her. I felt okay about her passing in so much as there was nothing left between us that was unsaid’ (Pictured in Orlando, FL in February)
‘And I know that that became a very big problem for the rest of you, as it should be.’
The actor said he was grateful he and Doherty were able to put past hurts behind them.
‘Shannen was a force. And I feel very fortunate that in the last couple years, I got to spend quite a bit of time with her.’
‘I felt okay about her passing in so much as there was nothing left between us that was unsaid.’
