Jason Priestley was caught off guard by Shannen Doherty’s death last year since his “Beverly Hills, 90210” co-star appeared to be coping well with her longterm cancer battle when he last saw her.
“I was with her just a few weeks, maybe four or five weeks before she passed away, and there was no indication that anything was wrong with her,” the actor, 55, told People Friday.
“As much as we all knew something was coming eventually, when she did pass away I think part of it was a surprise, because she didn’t seem sick. So it made it really difficult to figure out how to feel about it.”
Priestley, who played Doherty’s twin brother in their beloved ’90s teen drama, said her loss was “very painful” but noted that he and his castmates “sort of knew” it was coming and “didn’t” as well.
“Shannen was sick for a very long time, so I think we all knew that eventually something was going to happen,” he further explained, “but she seemed so not sick when you would spend time with her.”
Priestley said he saw the ailing actress put on a “super brave face” when he saw her, as she likely “didn’t want everyone to know how sick she really was.” He added, “She was very good at masking it.”
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015 and by August 2016, it had spread to her lymph nodes. She then briefly got good news when she went into remission a few months later.
However, Doherty announced in February 2020 that her cancer had returned and it was stage 4.
Her longtime publicist, Leslie Sloane, announced her passing in July 2024, saying in part, “She lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease. The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie.” Doherty was 53.
Priestley along with his other fellow “90210” co-stars like Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Carteris and Tori Spelling mourned the loss of their longtime friend and former cast member at the time.
The “Call Me Fitz” alum, for his part, wrote at the time via Instagram, “Shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of my friend Shannen.
“She was a force of nature and I will miss her. Sending love and light to her family in this dark time.”
Holly Marie Combs, who starred with Doherty on “Charmed,” previously echoed Priestley’s recent statements that it seemed to her as if Doherty was going to live longer than she did.
“I think she did as much as she could in the time that she had, but we did think we had more time,” she said on the “House of Halliwell” podcast last July.
“That’s the really sad part. We had big, big plans for this year. She didn’t think she was going anywhere anytime soon.”
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