Actress Shannen Doherty grew up on television before our very eyes starting at age 11 on Little House on the Prairie then playing a breakout role as Brenda on Beverly Hills 90210. She was unforgettable as Heather Duke in the movie Heathers then made magic once again as Prue in Charmed.
She returns to her roots on WE tv's hour-long series Shannen Says, documenting her trip down the aisle with photographer Kurt Iswarienko.
This is what she had to say about it…
Windy City Times: Heyyy, Shannen. So this is not your first time at the reality-show rodeo.
Shannen Doherty: Yes, I've done reality shows, in a sense. I did Scare Tactics and Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty, but it was never about me. I was simply a host or I was guiding somebody else through their own real process.
I've never ever, ever opened my life up. So this is a whole new thing for me—and certainly a whole new thing for my now-husband.
WCT: Who's idea was it to do this show?
SD: It was mine, and it was shared with my husband as well. It was one of those moments where we were on vacation and maybe we had one too many margaritas and thought it would be kind of interesting to do something together and work together.
We're very, very big fans of Anthony Bourdain. We love his show, No Reservations; also, The Deadliest Catch is one of our favorite shows. I remember watching that show and thinking, "Wow, they do it right."
We were kind of intrigued by the idea of bringing that sort of different kind of a quality to celebrity reality TV. That's what first started the thought process behind doing it. We knew that we were getting married, it became even more evident that it was something that we should do just to sort of chronicle this time in our lives and let future brides and future grooms know that not [it's] just you that goes through the stress.
WCT: When did you first meet Kurt?
SD: I met Kurt on a photo shoot. I requested him to shoot me for a cover of a magazine. There was instant chemistry. I think we may have finally actually started dating two months after that. He said to me, "I've missed you since I was a child." And it was just sort of a very poetic thing—that we had, in another life, known each other. There was such a connection there that it was about time we finally got together.
WCT: Several cast members from Beverly Hills 90210 are working the reality-show circuit. Is everyone supportive of everyone else's projects?
SD: I think that you have to be supportive of each other and just in my opinion supportive of anybody who's in the same field of yours. I happen to watch Tori [Spelling]'s show. And I think it's incredibly charming and endearing. I did the new 90210 with Jennie [Garth] and there was something very different about our friendship. We were able to look at each other as grown women and really acknowledge that we liked who the other person was. So I think her show's going to be great. As far as the others, I speak to Brian [Austin Green] all the time. And I saw Ian [Ziering] a week ago and it was awesome.
WCT: Tori Spelling has the "gunkles" on her reality show.
SD: She does.
WCT: Do you have a gay BFF on yours?
SD: I have several gay best friends. One of them—Timmy, who is a fashion stylist in New York—is on the show and also there is my wedding coordinator, David Tutera, who is gay.
WCT: In one scene, David Tutera called you a "stubborn thing."
SD: He's a Taurus, and everybody knows Tauruses are the most stubborn people there are. So that's a stubborn man being even more stubborn with me, which is interesting. I'm not stubborn. I do think that there's a clear difference between determined and stubborn, as Webster's English dictionary would point out as well. I think that's very telling. I love David and we had a great time. David was cautious in meeting me, too. And I think David's first reaction to me is everything that he had heard.
WCT: What is the biggest misconception about you?
SD: I guess the biggest misconception would be that I only have one side to me. [That] seems to be the biggest one. People don't ever consider how old I was when some of the crazier stuff happened, which, by today's standards, is pretty tame. I have grown up and that there is a softer more vulnerable side or they don't consider what was behind some of the antics when I was very young. I mean that doesn't really do them justice nor myself justice.
WCT: How is newlywed life treating you?
SD: Real-time things couldn't be better. I'm slightly exhausted. I'm in the middle of writing this very serious paper and quite stressed over it. So that's the current state. But married life is amazing and I can only say that because of my partner, Kurt.
It's the little things. It's when he comes home and the first thing he does is comes in my office and wraps his arms around me and says, "I love you. I missed you" even though he was only gone for two hours. It's a relationship I've dreamed about my entire life and it's the closest thing that I've ever had to what my parents had, which was so unbelievably beautiful and special. So, married life is phenomenal.
Shannen Says plays every Tuesday on We tv. Visit www.wetv.com for details and listings.
