Let’s Be Real About Brenda and Brandon...with Jason Priestley
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This is Let's Be Clear with Shannon Doherty. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Let's Be Clear with Shannon Doherty.

Um, boy, this is going to be a very fun episode because I have my twin, Jason Priestley with me. Hey, Jay. Hey, Shannon. How are you? It's so funny. You're my twin. It's so great. Yeah. I mean, 90210 is the show that just, it doesn't die. It's like our, you know, our legacy pretty much.

It is. It really is. It's remarkable how, and I heard about this earlier this week, that so many millennials and people like that discovered our show and binge watched our show during the COVID lockdown. Because what else is there to do? Right.

Well, it was either watch 90210 or learn how to make sourdough bread. I did the latter. Of course you did. I did not get any from you, so I'm a little disappointed. You know what? I'm sorry. I think we didn't want to drive all the way out to the motherland where you live. I know. We were living right in town. You're a long way out of town. Am I?

Yeah. That's pretty far. I mean...

From you, from where you are now, I think I'm only like 35 minutes from you. Yeah, yeah. But if you try to drive to where I currently am, it's a really long drive. That would be a hell of a commute. All right. So the last time we saw each other was at a convention, which was awesome. And you don't really do a lot of them. But when we do, I think what's really cool is the fans' reaction to you and I back together again. Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. Yeah. They, they love that Brandon and Brenda connection. They really do. And it's, you know, it's fun. You're right. I don't, I don't do a lot of those cons, but when I do do them, I'm always amazed by the response that the show still gets and just how rabid our fan base still is. It's a, it's remarkable. Yeah. And like you said, like millennials started binge watching it during COVID it's,

It's the age range of people that watch 90210 and love 90210 is pretty remarkable. But it's also a show that really helped kick off the teenage shows. Yeah. Because before 90210, there wasn't a lot of them out there. And then 90210 came around and it spawned things like The O.C. and

all of those other teenage shows that came after Dawson's Creek and all of them, right. One tree Hill, all of them. Right. Um, definitely, absolutely. It was, uh, you know, that the, the success that our show was able to, um, experience, uh, definitely changed the trajectory of, of television moving forward because, uh, you know, people realize that they could target, um,

a YA audience or a 17 to 24 year old audience, even younger, 12 to 17 and 17 to 24, they could go after those demographics. And if they secured a big enough portion of those demographics, they'd be able to make money, which at the end of the day is really what it's all about, right? Right. Do you remember your audition process?

Yes. My audition process was very short. It was very short. The first time I auditioned for the show was that first reading that you and I did together in Aaron's office over on the lot. And then the next time, my second audition was at Fox. Didn't we audition together at Fox also? You know...

I don't remember. Were you there? Yeah, I remember being in that long hall. Right. And they had sort of whittled people down. And at some point, they let some people go, let some people stay. Right. You know, out of like the three Brendas or whatever was left. And I don't know how many Brandons, probably three Brandons. And then it was just...

You and me. And I remember we sort of, you were already in the room and they asked me to come in. They hadn't originally asked me to stay or I didn't think that they did. So I just started leaving and Tony Shepard sort of ran after me and was like, where are you going? And so I came back and went in the room with you. And I think the network wanted to see us together. Was it believable that we were together?

twins? Was it believable? How was our sort of chemistry together? But I remember us being at network together. Wow. Okay. You know what? I believe you. I think I was so nervous that day that it just didn't stick in my memory banks. Yeah. I mean, for me, I think it was...

I mentioned this before on another episode that they had brought in a girl from New York. And whenever they bring somebody in from New York, you sort of assume that that person has the role because they've had to fly them out. They've had to put them out. So that means that that's the favorite person.

And once I found out that somebody from New York was there, I think my nerves went away because in my head, I just said, I don't, I'm not getting this part. There's no way because they have a New Yorker here and, you know, that's, it's a dead deal. Yeah. So then I, but once I went into the room with you, I sort of had that moment where I went, oh, oh, I think, I think we got this.

I think this is Brandon and I think I'm a Brenda. And then we started working. And, you know, the one thing, obviously, you know, the podcast is called Let's Be Clear. So I try to be as...

transparent and authentic with my personal experience and then everybody else's personal experience that I speak to. So once we started working, I think that first season was great. Everybody got along and we were plow horses for the most part. We were just, you know, going to work every single day and figuring it out. And we were still young. Some of us

turned 18 during the pilot. Some of us, you know, we had very early birthdays really. Um, and then I remember for me, and I don't know the defining moment for you where you realize that the show was a success, but for me it was the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Yeah, that was, that was a big moment. That was fun that day. Right. Were there any other like defining moments for you of where you said, I, I,

you know, I, I, you know, I sort of struggle with this because it, for me, it was that it was those initial summer episodes that we did at the beginning of the second season. And, and the fact that, you know, a show, cause, cause our show had been like in the, in the fifties and the sixties and the Nielsen ratings every week. And all of a sudden we were number 14 and I was, uh, I was, uh,

I was, I was excited by that because I thought it meant that, you know, we were just getting more eyeballs on the show and that, you know, and it would grow from there. And it, um, and it did, it was, uh, it was remarkable how we stuck around. Cause you, you remember, I'm sure, I'm sure you remember in the first season, first of all, our days were super long in that first season when we were in 15, 16 hours every day, cause we hadn't figured out the rhythm of the show yet. And, uh,

I just remember being exhausted all the time. And I was, and, and, and then, so the show premiered in October and the show, it was like just kind of hanging around and hanging around and hanging around. And then, uh, and then we got our back nine pickup, uh, and that was super exciting. And then, uh,

but we were still working you know 15 hours a day it was it was really it was hard and i remember us all being uh we were all tired um but but we would always find time to to go to merrick's tex-mex cafe and have mexican food and drink we had to oh my god yeah

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Text BVJOBS to 97211 to apply. I think that when you work five days a week and you're working 16-hour days, it's really hard to just go home and turn your brain off and get the eight-hour sleep that you desperately, desperately need. Yeah. And...

to go and have a taco and a margarita. It sort of is an unwinding process. Yeah. Um, for, you know, myself and for Tori, eventually that, that took a whole other turn where our relaxation was the Roxbury and yes, bar one. And, you know, we would maybe grab two hours of sleep and roll into work. Uh,

With our makeup on from the night before and fantastic, probably reeking of some alcohol. And yeah, yeah, I definitely went through a lot of growing pains on that show. There was beautiful moments for me and there were really hard moments for me towards my last season. I was in a really horrible marriage and I,

And there were things transpiring in that marriage that made it very hard for me to consistently be on time for work. And I know that that became a very big problem for the rest of you because, as it should be, because if everybody else is on time and you're waiting for one person, it sucks, right? Because it means that you're now going to work overtime.

longer hours. You're going to be there for 17 hours as opposed to only 15 hours, hopefully, or 14 hours. So it's a really, it's a hard position to be in, certainly. And I've had this conversation with Brian about, it wasn't anybody's responsibility but mine, but I certainly wish that I had been sort of set down and sort of looked at and said, listen,

the end result is going to be this, you know, the end result is you're going to get fired because none of us are willing to put up with it anymore. And I understand that you have a issue in your personal life, but that also can't bleed into work. You also have to get your shit together essentially. And, and,

What I sort of, what Brian and I were talking about the other day was, did I, was I transparent about sort of everything that I was facing at the time? And the truth is, I probably wasn't. I don't think anybody knew that my dad was super sick. And I don't think anybody knew that, you know, my husband was a massive drug addict who would get incredibly violent at times. And that...

It was all consuming for me. Just very, I didn't even want to leave the house because I was scared that he would go and get drugs. So it was almost like waiting around for, you know, my dad to show up and my dad would bring this great Dane who was crazy and he would leave the great Dane outside the house in the gated area so that,

the guy at the time couldn't escape the house to go get drugs. You know, it was the most bizarre thing I think that I'd ever been through. And then, you know, prior to that, yeah, Tori and I would sometimes be late because we were going out. This was pre-marriage. But I'm sure that that was tough for you.

And tough to deal with. And then not knowing because I wasn't sharing what I was going through that that conversation with Paul Wagner and Aaron Spelling of, you know, the fate of Brenda and 90210. That must have been a tough conversation for you to have because you were sort of deemed the quarterback by Aaron. Yeah.

So you sort of did have to do some quarterbacking in that area with a cast who...

a good majority of them felt very passionately about not waiting around for me. And it was, it was incredibly difficult. And I'm, I, I, I wish that I would have known more about what was happening in your personal life at the time, because I could have, I could have hopefully managed it with, with more, um,

with more compassion and more caring. Um, but I, but we, we only knew what we knew and we just, we were trying to, to keep the show. Of course it was, you know, the hard, the hardest thing for me was, you know, the, the show is about Brandon and Brenda. It's not, it's not about, that's what it's, it's about the Walsh family. And all of a sudden we were going to lose one of the members of the Walsh family. And how was that going to impact the show? And,

How would we find a path to move forward with the show? So it was incredibly hard for me because there were just so many unknowns. But I do, I wish we would have

And I wish all of us had more knowledge about what was happening in your life so we could have dealt with this situation in a more compassionate way. Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm not... I really take the blame for that. Like, I don't blame anyone else for what transpired and my ultimate firing. I do blame myself because...

I should have had my personal life more together. I should have left a relationship earlier. I shouldn't have been going out. I shouldn't have been, you know, I got definitely affected by the attention and that all of a sudden I could go into a nightclub and it didn't matter how old I was. I found it all very seductive and alluring and I fell into that trap. And then you add the personal issues and

And I should have, I should have been transparent. First off, I should have gotten my shit together. But second, I should have been transparent. And particularly, I think with you, I should have, because we'd always had a fairly close relationship. And, and I don't, maybe it was, maybe I was embarrassed. Maybe I was just embarrassed.

so ultra private back then, which is really funny to say because I was going out and being photographed all the time. But yet, you know, I'm a private person. It's like, okay, great. So they're photographing me, but they don't really know anything in my life. They think they do, but they don't. But I should have shared with you. And I think that whatever the outcome would have been with 90210, it still probably would have helped me a lot.

in a very personal way to sort of lean on other people for the help that I desperately needed at that point in time. Yeah, 100%. So yeah, I take responsibility, not, you know, I don't blame anyone. That's my issue. And, you know, I think Brenda and Brandon were always so interesting because we had an interesting relationship.

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. And then the Jack and Jill bathroom, all of it. There was this sexual undertone of Brenda and Brandon that to this day is hysterical. I mean, at the convention, I think I showed you a photo of the two of us that a fan brought to me and I was like,

This is inappropriate for brother and sister. And then you'll get the cover of Rolling Stone and sure we're ourselves on that, but I'm like straddling you. Yeah. It's pretty funny. Yeah. Just so bizarre. There were a lot of bizarre things that happened with us though. Right. So I sort of understand why you were trying to keep your private life private and

and not feel like you were airing anything in public because also, remember, it was the days of all the tabloids, right? And they would just come up with

the most salacious thing they could for every weekend. You were always in it. And they were always creating all these, you know, horrible stories. And, um, but there was always like just a little kernel of truth in it. Right. So I'm sure you were, were super paranoid about talking to anybody and saying anything untoward about anyone. Yeah. Um,

I definitely still feel strongly that, and it could have been my assistant I had at the time. It could have been friends. It could have been somebody on the set. But it definitely feels someone was feeding that kernel of truth. It's just that then...

those tabloids took it to a whole other level. Oh yeah. That was so incredibly hurtful. It was hurtful to my father, to my mother. Um, and to me that I, I definitely closed up even more and became like, okay, I can't, I can't. And I also didn't want to be a victim. I didn't want to be the girl who came to you or to anybody and said, you know, here's what my husband is doing. And, um,

I, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a brutal thing. I think there was only a few people who knew, uh, I think my makeup artist knew, but that's because she had to cover a couple of bruises. Right. Um, so she, she definitely knew what was going on, but she was my makeup artist. So she was loyal to me.

Yeah. Yeah. It was a pretty crazy time. Yes. How's that for dropping a bombshell on you? How many years later? That was pretty good. That's 30 years later. Here we are. Boom. What? I know. I know. I know. But you know, you reach a certain age in your life and you just go, well, everything in the world has been written about me and, and,

90% has been false. So how about I just tell my truth now? And I think that that's where I'm at. Take control of the narrative and fix it, right? Yeah. I mean, one hopes. Or just, you know, have online...

therapy sessions with people like you, which is what I'm doing today. I must have woken up and I'm being like, okay, therapy session with Jay. It's definitely a different experience. I love when people are like, can we watch this? And I'm like,

I'm sorry, you can't. It's a podcast. You have to listen. But eventually, hopefully, we will release video of it all. But so then we did. First off, when, what season did you start directing? Season three. Season three. The third season. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, the first episode I did in the third season was the one where you guys, you guys, the girls all went to the to Magic Mountain and we did all that stuff in Magic Mountain. And and and Steve and Dylan and Brandon were trying to help this con artist girl out.

who, uh, who had promised this group of tourists that they would get to spend, spend the day with, I don't know, uh, Burt Reynolds or something. And, and, uh, and so we, we actually found a way to get to Burt Reynolds and we got Burt Reynolds to the peach pit and all the girl on all the, all the tourists got to meet him. And we thought we were saving this girl's career. And then it turned out she was just a con artist. So sad. It was, it was a pretty funny episode and it turned, it turned out pretty good.

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Text BVJOBS to 97211 to apply. I remember you being a good director.

You were. Thanks. You were. You still are. You were very efficient. Yes. Which I deeply, deeply, deeply appreciate as someone who likes to go to work, hit my mark, say my lines and get the hell out. Right. Like I care about my job, but I don't want my job to consume my life. And that's definitely why.

how I've been in the last, you know, 20 some odd years of my career. Um, so I did appreciate it because, and, and you also directed some of the reboot that we did. Yes. I directed one of those episodes. Uh, the one where, uh, the one where Tori went to, uh, Panama or,

To see me and I came out of like the shaman. That's right. And that's when you came out of the shaman hut. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was directing that day. That was fun. I was nervous. I bet you were. You hadn't, you hadn't seen any of us for a while and, you know, and to go back and sort of revisit that character sort of, I bet you were. Of course you were. I was like shaking. I remember that I kept looking down at my hands and they were,

They were shaking and I was like, Shannon, like get it together. This is ridiculous. And then you were doing a closeup on me and my eye was twitching because I was so nervous. I was like, Oh my God, this is not okay. Like, why are you so nervous? But yeah, just obviously I'd kept up with Brian, but the rest of you I hadn't really connected with. And yeah,

So then going there and, I mean, first off committing to doing it was such a huge decision for me because Luke and I were in the middle of developing a show together and we had had, you know, countless meetings sort of going over what kind of a show and we had had, we were setting up like producer meetings with particular people that we both wanted to work with. And so when Luke,

very suddenly passed and the reboot was still there, it was like, oh my God, if I don't do this, am I not honoring him? And I felt like I had to go, I had to do it in order to honor him. And I ended up having, it was, there were challenging moments of shooting the reboot, but I, I had a great time for the most part.

Yeah. I had a pretty good time on that show too. I mean, of course, you know, like halfway through the season, I went back to Toronto and started, started working on my, on my, on my Canadian show. And then I would just come back on the weekends and shoot on weekends and then go back. It was, it was crazy. So I don't, I didn't, I didn't know. I didn't know like later on in those episodes, episode five, six, stuff like that. Like I was, I was hardly around. So I really don't know.

What was, what was happening on the ground where did it, did it, did the show start to run more smoothly or less smoothly as it went along? I think the same. I think, I think it, I think it didn't, I think it just stayed exactly where it was. You know, I mean, it, it was, for me, it was ironic and very funny that, that,

I was the girl who got fired for being late and not being responsible on the set, right? Of the original. And then the reboot, I'm constantly early to set and very responsible and very like, I'm doing my job and going to bed and blah, blah, blah. I would go to dinner with like Brian and Ian sometimes, but I,

That I was not the one showing up late to set. It was not me. And I kind of loved it. I thought it was hysterical. I was not the one, you know, pausing in the middle of filming because I thought that my dog really needed a bath and like kept a whole crew waiting. It was really, really interesting stuff that was happening. And yeah, I mean, I did have a moment with the...

With some of those where I said, listen, I know that this might seem funny coming from me and how things come full circle, but don't keep us all waiting. It's not cool. And I just remember that sort of talk that turned into a little bit of an argument. And I walked away and I went to my trailer and I started laughing because

Yeah. Because I was like, this is just, you can't write this. You can't write this in life. It's just, it was, but I still, you know, I loved my wardrobe. I loved my character. I loved that they let me, they really let me improv.

almost everything that they, they didn't force me to, you know, stick with the dialogue that they wrote that I was like, yeah, no, let me, I'm going to, I'm going to eat in every single scene. And you looked at me and went, are you always going to wear a hat? Yeah.

Do you remember asking? You're like, is it like a character thing? Are you always going to wear a hat? And I was like, I don't know yet. Maybe. Maybe, Jay. You're like, well, you know, can you just push it back so the light can get on your face? I'm like, oh, he's trying to make me look pretty cool. Okay, I'll do that. It was great. How was, I mean, I know that you were, you know, going back and forth and you weren't there towards the end, but how did you,

How did you like that whole experience? What did you think of it? Because we only did the six episodes and then it got canceled. Yeah. Do you think maybe the concept was the wrong concept for a reboot? Maybe we should have been actually playing our characters 30 years later? You know, I don't know. I mean, the concept that we went with,

for that reboot was like it was it was so off the wall and sort of avant-garde that i think it was difficult for people to wrap their heads around what was really happening and i think that a lot of people tuned into the show thinking it was going to be you know we were all just you know brandon is has taken over the beach bed and you know like it was going to be that

Um, and I think when they didn't get that, cause I think they kind of secretly, they kind of wanted that. Um, and I, and I think that when they didn't get it, I think they, they, they were disappointed, which is you never want to have an audience be disappointed in the content that you're creating.

So I think, I mean, I think it was, I think it was an interesting experience. And I think that we, you know, maybe helped to push the envelope a little bit, but was it, was it what the audience wanted? Obviously not. Yeah. I mean, I, I sort of always thought that it should have been, if we were going to do it, it should have been, um,

Sort of like that show 30 something, but for us, it would have been at that time, 40 something where we pick up these characters in their forties and what they've gone through and what they've struggled with and are still struggling with. And do they, do they know each other anymore? You know, did, did when Brenda went to London, did she ever come back and did she, you know, what is her relationship like with her twin? And, and,

you know, what happened ultimately with her and Dylan and, you know, for everybody to sort of have those moments and, and to really, you know,

And I think I do agree with you that I think that that's kind of what the audience wanted. And when they didn't get it, they were clearly, clearly, clearly disappointed because our numbers were not great. And we got canceled very quickly. Yes. Very quickly. Six episodes and done. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. I was like, wait, what? That's never happened to me before. That was, that was, that was one for the record books.

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