Jason Priestley opened up about how his relationship with Beverly Hills, 90210 costar Shannen Doherty has changed over the decades.
“It’s evolved because we’ve both evolved,” Priestley, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting his new limited series, Börje — The Journey of a Legend on Monday, April 29. “When we met, we were kids. I was 21, she was 19, we were kids, and our relationship has grown.”
He added, “And along those lines, just the fact that we’re not into the stuff we were into back then when we were [on the show]. We’ve progressed, the two of us. We grew up together.”
Priestley and Doherty, 53, met in 1990 on the set of Beverly Hills, 90210, playing twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh, respectively. The series followed the duo as they try to adjust to their new lives in Los Angeles after moving from their small town in Minnesota. Jennie Garth, Luke Perry, Tori Spelling and Brian Austin Green also starred.
In season 4, viewers discover that Doherty’s character had relocated to England to pursue acting. In reality, Doherty had been let go from the show after a series of events had left her at odds with most of her castmates. Priestley, meanwhile, remained on the show until midway through season 9, although he remained a producer for the final season. He later returned to direct and make a cameo for the series finale.
Now, Priestley and Doherty can look back and laugh. During a January episode of Doherty’s “Let’s Be Clear” podcast, the duo lamented on the odd chemistry that existed between their characters, despite them being siblings.
“Brenda and Brandon were always so interesting because we had an interesting relationship,” Doherty said. “There was this sexual undertone of Brenda and Brandon that to this day is hysterical.”
Doherty also opened up about the circumstances that led to her firing from the show, explaining that she was in a “really horrible marriage” at the time that “made it really hard for [her] to consistently be on time for work.” (Doherty wed Ashley Hamilton in October 1993 and filed for divorce in April 1994.)
“It wasn’t anybody’s responsibility but mine, but I certainly wish that I had been sort of sat down and sort of looked at and said, ‘Listen, the end result is going to be this, you are going to get fired because none of us are willing to put up with it anymore,’” she told Priestley. “‘And I understand that you have an issue in your personal life, but that also can’t bleed into work, you also have to get your s–t together.’”
Any past drama, however, is in the rearview mirror. While speaking with Us, Priestley even admitted that he now looks back at his time on 90210 fondly — much more so than he did in decades prior — and that he, like Us, gets “a little nostalgic for the ‘90s, too.”
As for where Brandon would be today, Priestley thinks the character may have continued his career in Washington D.C. as a journalist with The New York Chronicle. There’s also the possibility he decided to run for office himself.
“I think eventually he probably got into politics somehow, and then he ended up on a career in politics, whether he was a lobbyist or whether he actually ran for a seat somewhere,” he told Us, noting, “He was president of the school. I mean, come on.”
Brandon’s love life, meanwhile, is still up for debate, but Priestley agrees, “He might’ve gotten back with [his former fiancée] Kelly, yeah.”
