US actor Jason Priestley admits that both deaths – Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty – were a “shock” for him.
Canadian actor Jason Priestley (54) has been hard hit by the deaths of his former “Beverly Hills, 90210” colleagues (1990-2000) Luke Perry (1966-2019) and Shannen Doherty (1971-2024).
US actor Luke Perry died on March 4, 2019 at the age of 52 from the effects of a stroke. US actress Shannen Doherty died on July 13, 2024 at the age of 53 from the effects of her cancer.
“It made me think about my own mortality. I woke up on my 50th birthday and realized that I had already lived most of my life,” said the “Private Eyes” star. Priestley turned 50 on August 28, 2019, months after Perry’s death. “Luke’s death was a total shock because he was missing nothing. We were both neighbors and friends and spent a lot of time together. We shared so much,” said the American-by-choice.
Although Shannen Doherty – who played Priestley’s twin sister in the 1990s hit series – spoke openly about her experience with the long-term cancer battle with loved ones and on her podcast “Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty,” Priestley told the British tabloid that her death also came as a shock to him. “I always admired her tenacity and her toughness and although I knew she was ill, her death was a huge surprise and sad for all of us,” he said of Doherty. “She fought it for so long and it seemed like she was going to make it… until, unfortunately, she didn’t.”
Shannen was “a force,” Priestley recalled. “I’m very lucky to have been able to spend a lot of time with her over the last few years. I’ve come to terms with her death in the sense that there was nothing left unsaid between us.”
The “Beverley Hills, 90210” WhatsApp group
Jason Priestley is also connected to the other former “Beverley Hills, 90210” colleagues via a WhatsApp group. They chat and enjoy meeting up at events. “When we get together, it’s like we’ve never been apart. The same jokes, the same one-liners, except some of us are dads now, so we tell really bad dad jokes,” said Priestley, referring to his male colleagues.
Source: Stern
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