In his latest role, Jason Priestley plays a man of 35 – and the 54-year-old carries it off brilliantly. Yet for the Beverly Hills 90210 actor turning 50 has been hard, as he lost his co-stars and good pals Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry at a similar age within five years of one another. Jason says: “It has made me think about my own mortality.
I woke up on my 50th birthday and I realised that I’d already lived most of my life.” The Canadian-born star is still coming to terms with the death of Shannen last month aged 53 from cancer. The pair played twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh from 1990 until 1994 on the smash hit Aaron Spelling series.
They were close and even dated briefly. Jason says: “Her passing hit me hard. We had an incredible experience working together.
.. it was the day Shannen, Luke and I were shot for the cover of Rolling Stone [in 1992] that I started to understand the impact the show was having.
” Shannen was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. In June 2023 she announced the disease had spread to her brain and was terminal. Jason says: “She was very open about what was happening with her cancer and tried to use her platform to help other people.
I always admired her tenacity and her toughness, so even though I knew she was sick, her actually passing away was a big surprise, and sad for all of us. She fought it for so long and seemed like she was able to manage it..
. until she wasn’t, unfortunately.” Shannen had a “bad girl” reputation in t.