Brian Austin Green and Shannen Doherty starred in Beverly Hills, 90210 in the ’90s, and now, 30 years later, Green is praising his former colleague as she fights against cancer.
“She’s strong, she’s honest, she just perseveres. She gets through whatever’s going on, and even if it’s hard, she will share that,” Green, 50, told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published Wednesday, November 29. “I think it benefits people that are around her to see somebody going through a difficult situation and still keeping her head up.”
Green starred as David Silver in Beverly Hills, 90210 for all 10 seasons from 1990 to 2000. Doherty, 52, portrayed the female lead, Brenda Walsh, for the first four seasons.
In March 2015, Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following a mastectomy and numerous rounds of chemotherapy, Doherty announced two years later that her cancer was in remission. In February 2020, however, she revealed the cancer had returned. She recently revealed that the cancer, now stage IV, has spread to her bones.
“When you ask yourself, ‘Why me? Why did I get cancer?’ and then ‘Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage IV?,’ that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life,” she told People in an interview published Wednesday.
In June, Doherty shared via Instagram that the cancer had spread to her brain and that she underwent surgery five months earlier to remove a tumor. Despite her health battle, the Charmed star said on Wednesday that she remains upbeat.
“I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating,” Doherty explained. “I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not — I’m not done.”
Doherty has been very open about her health challenges on social media. Earlier this week, she announced she will tell her story in a new podcast titled “Let’s Be Clear With Shannen Doherty.”
“I will be opening up like never before in a series of brutally honest conversations with some very special and influential people in my life,” she wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, November 28. “From former costars, to friends and family, to the brilliant doctors guiding me through my cancer journey … it’s going to be a wild ride.”
Doherty, now single after three previous marriages, is so optimistic about the future that she’s looking forward to finding love again. She was previously married to Ashley Hamilton from 1993 to 1994 and to Rick Salomon from 2002 to 2003.
In April, Doherty filed for divorce from third husband Kurt Iswarienko after 11 years of marriage.
“I don’t think I’m going to be single forever,” she told People. “I have to love myself and reckon with the past, really, before I can move forward, and now I’m pretty sure I’ll meet somebody — hopefully soon.”
Doherty went on to find humor in her failed relationships — and noted she can’t be compared to one iconic actress who was married eight times to seven different men.
“Listen, Elizabeth Taylor still has me beat as far as husbands and divorces, so I’m good,” Doherty joked. “I’m not there yet, so there’s no reason to be negative about it. S–t happens.”
