#20. Reunion
Did you know that a reunion of the entire cast is about to happen? Fans have been longing for this reunion for like a decade, and it seems like it’s finally about to happen!
Six members of the original cast have already signed on. If you are expecting to see Brenda again, we have bad news for you, as Shannen Doherty probably won’t be a part of that reunion.
#19. Team Brandon
Did you know that deep inside, Luke Perry was team Brandon? Shocking, right? He did enjoy portraying Dylan, and that’s how he won our hearts. However, the actor didn’t root at all for his character when a certain love triangle occurred.
Luke thought it was better for Kelly to stay with Brandon and not with Dylan. He enjoyed playing a bad boy but thought that he was not exactly a stable person. Who would’ve thought?
#18. A Sad Departure
When Jason Priestly left the show, it was a bit of a sad goodbye. It seems that he didn’t leave on what you would call good terms. Can you imagine leaving a place you used to call home and no one bothering saying goodbye to you?
When it was time to go and say goodbye, he only hugged the crew and walked away. Whenever he’s asked about this situation, the actor says that he feels as if he had wasted almost ten years of his life.
#17. A Diva On Set
Could you ever picture Steve behaving like Dylan? No, right? Well… Start doing it because there were some rumors about Ian Ziering being a bit of a diva on set, especially during the show’s fourth season.
It has been reported that there was a time when the actor trashed his dressing room when he discovered that one of his scenes had been cut. Hold it together, drama queen!
#16. Firing An Academy Award Winner?
Can you believe that the show’s producers decided to hire an Academy Award winner and fired her just a few months later? Sure, back then, she hadn’t reached worldwide fame nor won her 2 Oscars, but it comes as a shock nonetheless.
A young Hilary Swank used to play Carly Reynolds, Steve’s love interest, until she was fired. The reason behind this decision was a bit of fan service: apparently, fans of the show wanted Steve to remain unattached.
#15. No Makeovers Allowed
It seems to be that the young actors had several rules they had to follow. For example, they weren’t allowed to change the way they looked between seasons. As you may imagine, this sparked a few conflicts between producers and cast.
Aaron Spelling and the show’s producers didn’t like it when members of the cast came back from a break and their looks were different. They had to come back looking the exact same way the looked when they stopped filming.
#14. No Sunglasses
According to the crew, sunglasses were almost absolutely forbidden for the actors. Apparently, this was an order from Aaron Spelling. He believed that actors needed to show their eyes in order to establish a real connection with the audience.
Cast members would often joke about this rule. During an interview, Tori Spelling said that some of them used to joke about Luke Perry‘s famous squint and say that it was due to Aaron‘s rule of no sunglasses on the show.
#13. Romances
As you can imagine, there were many relationships between co-stars. While some of them remain hidden to this day, some others went public and received widespread media coverage.
Perhaps one of the most popular romances was the one between Jason Priestley and Christine Elise. The relationship between the onscreen good boy and the bad girl turned out to be a pretty serious one. According to the actor, this was his first adult relationship.
#12. Drama Behind The Scenes
If romances were pretty common things to happen on set, so were feuds! The drama between cast members is a very common thing to occur and, of course, this show wasn’t going to be the exception. There were many rumors regarding what was going on backstage, and many of them were true!
Perhaps the most popular rumor was the one involving Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth. The actresses had the few of the decade and, sometimes, their clashes on set were so intense that there were times when it was way worse than being in high school.
#11. Bomb Threat
As a show that had everything, of course, it had to have a bomb threat. Well, the bomb threat wasn’t actually a part of the show, but it did exist!
During an interview, Jennie Garth told that when they were filming the graduation scene, they received an anonymous tip. Apparently, someone had hidden a bomb underneath the bleachers. According to the actress, that’s how the cast realized they had become a huge success.
#10. The No-Hook-Up Rule
Fox was pretty much anti hookups, so whenever the show couples would go at it, the affiliates wanted characters to experience the consequences. Pretty harsh, don’t you think?
Do you remember that time Brenda and Dylan finally consummated their love after the Spring Fling in 1991? Well, everyone at Fox wanted them to face the consequences of doing that. Luckily for all of us, the show’s writers ignored that wish!
#9. Lying About Age
One of the show’s not-so-best-kept-secret was Gabrielle Carteris‘s age. We now know that the actress was a bit older than the rest of her castmates, but back in that time, the actress kept her actual age hidden from everyone.
When she first auditioned to play the part of Andrea, Gabrielle didn’t tell the casting director her real age. Her little white lie worked because she managed to play a teenager on the small screen for many years, when she actually was in her late twenties!
#8. Hidden Identity
One of the main characters had to hide her identity so no one would know who her father was. Of course, you know we’re talking about Tori Spelling, the producer’s daughter.
Even though the family resemblance is undeniable, Tori thought that she could fool the casting director and auditioned under a different name. Despite her best efforts, it was pretty obvious that she was the daughter of the show’s main producer.
#7. Dad Was Always Watching
You remember Donna, right? At first, she was a minor character, or at least she was meant to be just that. However, she became such a fan favorite, that the writers of the show decided to make her one of the main characters of the story.
Aaron Spelling was always interested in what her scenes would be like and was always asking about Donna’s fate on the show. We’re pretty sure that’s the main reason she didn’t have any risqué shots!
#6. Dylan’s Time On The Show
Luke Perry’s character is everyone’s favorite bad boy. He became the first crush of many teenage girls and still remains in our hearts. However, the show’s writers had different plans for Dylan McKay when the story began.
At first, his story arc wasn’t supposed to last more than a few episodes. However, as the story progressed, people were so delighted with his talent, that the writers decided to create a more relevant character.
#5. The Last Role
Everyone knows that not every character is chosen from the very beginning. Therefore, TV shows go through several changes, even if they have already aired.
This was almost the case with Jason Priestly’s character, Brandon. He was not cast until the production of the show was about to begin. It seems that sometimes when things are meant to be, the universe finds a way to make them happen.
#4. Shannen Doherty And Her Audition
Can you imagine the character of Brenda portrayed by another actress? You can’t, right? Neither can we, yet this is what Shannen Doherty thought was going to happen after she had her audition.
The actress told the New York Times that she remembered walking out of the room and thinking that she had totally ruined her chance to be on the show. Imagine her surprise when the casting director told her not to count herself out of the show just yet.
#3. Ian Ziering Wasn’t Interested
When he was approached to play Steve Sanders, Ian Ziering thought that his role was going to be pretty superficial. As soon as he looked at a few pages of the script, he had no problem showing how unhappy he was with the role he was supposed to play.
He changed his mind and decided not to turn down a starring role in a TV show. Ian was happy to discover that his character was not as shallow as he thought and that the show had deeper and more complex storylines as well.
#2. Location Of The House Of The Walshes
As everyone remembers, when the show first started, we got to meet the Walsh family. The twins, Brandon and Brenda, and their parents moved to Beverly Hills, and the rest is history! However, there is one particular detail no one ever told us…
The house the Walsh family moved into was actually located in Altadena, California. That’s 30 miles from where the twin and their parents were supposed to be living in!
#1. Inspiration For The Show
It’s no news that every person goes through something during their teen years. However, when Darren Star wanted to create a show about a group of teenagers in Beverly Hills, he didn’t get the inspiration from actual teenagers.
The show’s creator got his inspiration from Thirtysomething and The Breakfast Club. Little did he know that a series focused on teen issues would become so popular and would still be adored many decades later, right?