Growing Up 90210

OMG you guys have to read this article in the New York Times interviewing a bunch of the old 90210 cast and crew about their experiences with the show. The whole interview’s phenomenal, but I’m including some of my faves here:

DARREN STAR It was the first TV show I had done, so every casting session was a big deal for me. I specifically remember Jennie Garth. She just lit up the room when she came in and read. Shannen [Doherty] was terrific and also came with, of all of the actors, a little bit of a résumé.

We weren’t the only high school show being made that year, and we kept thinking we were losing all the quote good actors to the other high school shows.

JENNIE GARTH I heard a rumor that Aaron Spelling was going to be doing a show, and I thought, “Oh my God, if I could work with Aaron Spelling, that would be the best thing ever.” I went in and met with Aaron and read in his giant office with the shaggy carpet, and there were cigarettes sitting out on the table for anyone that wanted them. I was very impressed by that. I was like: “Wow, you can smoke in here? That’s crazy.”

I remember I was walking away from the building, and he opened the window and said something like, “Good job, kid!”

For me I was like: “Are you sure? Because I’m nobody.”

SHANNEN DOHERTY My audition was horrible. I actually remember walking out and saying: “I lost that job. I blew it.” And the casting director came out and sort of winked at me and said, “I wouldn’t count yourself out yet, kiddo.” And I was like, “O.K., whatever.”

JASON PRIESTLEY I remember meeting Aaron for the first time. He was walking across the four-inch-deep shag carpeting in his office with a cocktail in his hand. And the second that happened, there were no more nerves for me. I thought: “Well, you know, Aaron’s already drinking. I’m cool. I got this.”

Everybody had been cast except for Brandon. I read for Aaron on Thursday. I got the job Friday afternoon, and on Monday we started production.

CHARLES ROSIN One thing I should also mention is that Mr. Spelling had no shows on the air at the time. Mr. Spelling’s deal with ABC had ended, and there was kind of a nasty glee in this town that Aaron was not the dominant producer anymore.

GARTH I can remember my first story line where I got to actually act: the slumber party scene where I had to tell a deep, dark secret to all my girlfriends. And I had to describe a situation where my character had been raped. I hadn’t had any formal acting training or anything, I was just working off my instincts, and I tapped into something for me that was like, “Oh, my God, maybe I am an actress. Maybe I can do this.”

GARTH I started to develop whatever it is when you won’t leave the house. That kind of phobia. I just started to really get a little freaked out by it all. I felt like everyone was always looking at me. I was alone in an environment where I didn’t know how to swim. And I wasn’t able to do it on my own. Subsequently my parents moved back to be with me here. I’m a family girl, and I need my family with to keep me grounded.

GARTH There were times when it was worse than high school. The environment there was like: Are you kidding me? There was a lot of tension and unnecessary drama on the set, a certain amount of competition, and a certain — probably — anger about different salaries as the years progressed. People would find out how much someone was making, and then they’d be angry and want that, or if you got days off in your contract, they’d want that. Nobody was brave enough to step in and set us straight, and have a serious talk with us about it. There was a lot of tension directed from one specific person, and that one specific person had to reap the consequences from that.

DOHERTY Nobody likes to read bad things written about themselves, and a vast majority of them were exaggerated or completely false. But to be completely honest, I don’t even think about that anymore. At some point you have to move on.

Does everybody get along at work 100 percent of the time? Nobody ever does. You may have your arguments here or there, and ultimately you make up and you move on and you’re fine. Or you don’t. But nobody gets along with everybody in this world. It’s absolutely impossible.

GARTH The lesbian stalker was really ridiculous for me. And then the one where I got burned in the fire. I had to wear burn makeup on my neck and my face, and then it just magically went away one day. No scars whatsoever. I healed.

ROSIN To do “Beverly Hills 90210” required me to work six and a half days a week, 50 weeks a year, 12 to 16 hours a day. I didn’t have a big staff, I didn’t have that much support. I had three young children, and I’m smoking cigarettes and sneaking around because I’m not supposed to do that anymore, and I’m out there saying, “This show is going to kill me.” I left in May 1995, and by July 4th weekend, at 43 years old, one of my arteries shut down. The show did its best to try to kill me.

PRIESTLEY I produced the show in Seasons 6 and 7 and executive-produced in Seasons 8 and 9. I didn’t want the show to become an over-the-top nighttime drama where Steve Sanders is in a coma, and all of a sudden his twin brother shows up.

Aaron was the best there ever was. He used to say: “Fun, sex and bonding. That’s all I care about. That’s all a show’s got to be.” I left the show to do a play in London, and I called Aaron. He said: “Yeah, just go. The show’ll be fine. I’ll take care of everything.” I miss him all the time.

I love how Shannen Doherty compares her constant diva behavior to two construction workers having an argument. Too funny.