Shannen Doherty was inspired to return to ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ following the death of her late co-star Luke Perry.
The 48-year-old actress wasn’t going to star in the show’s reunion, ‘BH90210’, but following Luke’s untimely passing, Shannen decided she wanted to be a part of it.
She told ET Canada: "I wasn’t attached [before Luke’s death] … and it wasn’t long after he passed that I finally was like, ‘OK, yes.’ I thought it was going to do well with or without me, to be honest. For me, replaying Brenda was something I said I wouldn’t do twice and I’ve replayed her now twice, so I guess I could never say I’m never going to do something again because I end up doing it. For me, I felt like it was honouring him and his memory and what he meant to the audience and the fans and to all of us. As his on-set family, I felt like it was an important time for all of us to come together to honour him."
Shannen is also set to join ‘Riverdale’ to honour Luke.
Sharing the news on her Instagram account, she wrote: "I am deeply honored to pay tribute to Luke on Riverdale. The care in which this show takes in honoring his memory is beautiful. He is missed. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. (sic)"
Whilst ‘Riverdale’s showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa added: "Luke and Shannen were really, really good friends. Luke had talked to me on and off over the years about trying to find something for Shannen on the show and when we were putting together this special episode, we kind of wanted to include special people from Luke’s life. There was a very emotional, important role and we sent the script to Shannen and she read it and loved it and said, ‘I want to do it,’ so it’s about honouring their friendship a little bit. I know she was really moved when she read the script and immediately said yes."