The Beverly Hills 90210 panel at GalaxyCon in Raleigh was a very fun one! The cast that were there were Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering, and Gabrielle Carteris. The panel went for a little over 45 minutes with them taking questions from the host and also the fans in line. Watching this had such a home feel to it as it’s like oh here are the friends I grew up with watching on TV. It felt like these are my people. I picked out a few highlight quotes from the panel.
When asked about what the show captured the best about being young, Gabrielle said “It wasn’t milk and cookies, that life was real. I think I talked about it captured, I think, the true essence of what it is to be young and to be having a great time and yet the challenges were big, right? To be young and to have the challenges that come up there. Young people do have them. It wasn’t just like, oh, life is just so easy and breezy.“
Jennie: “Yeah I think it was the first show of it’s time to actually address actual things that teenagers were going through and not just in Beverly Hills but all across the world and I think also there was that intrigue from the rest of the world to see what Beverly Hills kids were dealing with and then ultimately they found that they were dealing with the same things and so that’s why I think the characters really stuck with the audience.“
Gabrielle: “I also think it was a great I mean for a lot of you guys who watched it was an opportunity to speak to your parents for the first time about real issues. everybody treated young people like they were not little human beings like they were you know it was it was the first time really addressing those issues and then being able to share them that was big“
They were asked what were the original opinions of the characters you were set to play? Jennie answered: “Well, Kelly was just like the bad girl and very snooty. Type cast kind of Beverly Hills girl. So I was excited to see her get more depth as the years went on.”
Gabrielle: “I think all the characters, even mine, who I, I loved Andrea, but she was type cast, right? Coming from the poor side, right? Everybody thinks cause, oh, I wear glasses. Oh, she was the smart one. I was like, not always, you know.”
Ian: “When we first started, I didn’t really like Steve Sanders. I was grateful for the job, but I thought my character was a bit of a jerk, rich, spoiled, obnoxious, got by by bribing people or smiling or taking advantage of others. And it was one note and I had a problem with that. I went and I met with the producers. I said, ‘Look, I don’t like this character. No one’s really going to like this character. He’s not likable. And if we’re going to have any kind of longevity, we need to show the reason why he’s this way.’ And it wasn’t too long after that that we discovered that he was really a victim of poor parenting. He had celebrity parents and they adopted a child just because that was the thing to do. They didn’t want a kid and the way they nurtured him was but just here, here’s $100. Go, bye Steve. I don’t have time for now. Here’s $100. But it it’s damaging. It doesn’t create depth. It doesn’t create character. It doesn’t create empathy. And that’s nothing that Steve ever had until he met his friends until Brenda and Brandon came to town. And the gravitas, the humility was something that was so foreign to Steve. And I think the arc that I got to play was probably the steepest because I didn’t see at the beginning of the show, Steve winding up as a loving family man, marrying an Asian woman, and having a child. I didn’t see that coming.”
When asked about if they auditioned for their original character or someone else. Brian: “I auditioned right away for David. I had so much fun playing that character in the beginning. It was really like we used to wardrobe and I we used to go through like swatches of material and try and pick the most ridiculous things we could to make pants and shirts and put buttons on hats and it was it was ridiculous. And as the show progressed, you know, the character changed, but I really I had so much fun in the beginning chasing Jenny around, chasing Ian around. I loved it and that was that’s the only character obviously that I auditioned for because I looked like I was 10 when when I started.“
Gabrielle: They had me audition for both for Brenda and for Andrea. I actually went to network with both contracts and then ultimately got the role of Andrea. And I’m so happy I did. I mean, for me, I mean, I said this to somebody today, but I feel like Andrea represents that little part in all of us that feels not seen. And so, I really really loved and was happy that I could to play that role. And I grew into her, but she was stereotyped in the beginning, too. And they always struggled with the stereotype of what it was, but I loved being that character.
Ian talked about when he pitched the Alzheimer’s storyline which meant a great deal to him.
“I did pitch one thing that got shot down several years, but I was insistent. It had to do with Alzheimer’s. At that time, I’d go visit my grandmother in Connecticut, and I’d go walking to her room, but the hallways were lined with people that had Alzheimer’s. And it was so sad to me. And I didn’t think the young adults understood what that was. So, I pitched them. I wanted to write an episode about Alzheimer’s. And they said, “Thanks, Ian. No, no, thank you. And then I wrote a scene for what I wanted to do. And then they took me serious and I was able to to write that out. And they cast Milton Burl in that episode. And Milton got an Emmy nomination. I guess I provided a vehicle. I was just so proud to have something that I wanted to express that I thought was important and I was able to convey it to the producers in a way that they got it and they said, ‘Okay, write it.’ So, it was me, and I think Jessica Klein who handled all the other stuff, and I just wrote my storyline in that.”
This is the best quote to close with as Jennie discussed watching the show while doing the podcast: “Just watching the show back though from the beginning and seeing all of the arcs and all the storylines and everything that happened. I I so get it now. When we were making the show, none of us were really sitting down to watch it that I’m aware of. Like we were always working and and when we weren’t working, we were trying to assemble some sort of a life outside of work. So sitting down to watch the show now as an adult, I have such a huge appreciation for the writing and the crew and the and these actors, you know, and everything that went into making such a memorable, meaningful show for so many people around the world. Like it gives me goosebumps to just think that that I got to be a part of that. And I’m so grateful for all of you. I know we all are devoted fans. We really really love you guys.”
If you are a 90210 fan, you’ll love this panel! Here is the link to check it out!
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