Jason Priestley has spoken openly about his grief following the death of his on-screen sister Shannen Doherty.
The Beverly Hills 90210 actress, who played Priestley’s twin sister Brenda Walsh in hit 90s drama, He died of cancer in July at the age of 53..
The actor, who played his twin brother Brandon Walsh, said he has started to think about his own life.
“It’s made me think about my own mortality,” he said. Sunday mirror.
“I woke up on my 50th birthday and realized I had already lived most of my life,” he said.
“His death affected me deeply. We had an incredible experience working together,” she said of their time on 90210.
Jason Priestley, 54, has opened up about his grief following the passing of his on-screen sister Shannen Doherty. The Beverly Hills 90210 actress, who alongside Priestley played twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh on the hit 90s drama, died of cancer in July aged 53.
“It was the day Shannen, Luke (Perry) and I were photographed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine (in 1992) that I began to understand the impact the show was having,” she told the publication.
Doherty was the second member of the original 90210 cast to pass away. Perry died of 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 that the disease had spread to her brain and her diagnosis was terminal.
‘She was very open about what was going on with her cancer and tried to use her platform to help other people.’
“I always admired her tenacity and toughness, so even though I knew she was ill, her passing was a great shock and sadness to us all,” she said.
“She fought it for a long time and seemed like she could handle it… until she couldn’t, unfortunately.”
In an appearance on Doherty’s Let’s Be Clear podcast in January, Priestley and her former co-star discussed some of the reasons she gained a reputation as a problem child on the set of 90210.
Priestley and Doherty rose 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 the fourth season.
Priestley praised Doherty for being “very open” about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2015. The Charmed star revealed in June 2023 that the disease had spread to her brain and that her diagnosis was terminal (pictured in Los Angeles in August 2019).
Her character was written out of the show at the end of the fourth season when it was revealed that Brenda was going to study acting in England.
Behind the scenes, the young actress was going through many personal problems that she kept to herself.
“I was in a really horrible marriage (to actor Ashley Hamilton, 49), and there were things going on in that marriage that made it really difficult for me to get to work on time,” she revealed while acknowledging that her tardiness had repercussions for the cast and crew who ended up working even longer days than expected.
The actor said he was grateful that he and Doherty were able to put past hurts behind them. “I feel very fortunate to have spent a lot of time with her over the last two years. I felt good about her passing as there was nothing left between us that hadn’t been said.” (Photo taken in Orlando, Florida, in February)
“And I know that became a very big problem for the rest of you, as it should be.”
The actor said he was grateful that he and Doherty were able to put the pain of the past behind them.
“Shannen was a powerful force and I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend quite a bit of time with her over the past few years.”
“I felt good about his passing, as there was nothing left between us that hadn’t been said.”