A conversation with Shannen Doherty
The Fox series “North Shore” is populated by beautiful people living on a beautiful stretch of seaside paradise in Hawaii, where they spend most of their time looking for romance, money (even those who have it want more) and whatever else goes into the formula for living the super-good life, and doing it in and around a luxurious hotel called The Grand Waimea, an exclusive escape for its wealthy and powerful guests.Among the series’ stars are Kristopher Polaha (“America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story,”) as Jason Matthews, the hotel’s general manager; Brooke Burns (“Baywatch,” “Dog Eat Dog”) as Nicole Booth, director of guest relations and the daughter of wealthy hotel tycoon Vincent Colville (James Remar: “Ike: Countdown to D-Day,” “The Grid”). Into this mix of volatile emotions and volcanic ambitions comes the newly arrived Alexandra Hudson, Colville’s illegitimate daughter, with her own ambitious agenda. She’s played by TV drama veteran Shannen Doherty (“Our House,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Charmed,” “Heathers”).
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There’s a saying that good girls go to heaven, but bad girls go everywhere. And most actors love the challenge of playing them.
“Which is one of the reasons I agreed to play Alexandra,” Shannen Doherty says.
“I’ve played mostly good girls. There was, of course, Brenda Walsh on ‘90201,’ and Prue on ‘Charmed,’ who gave her life in her fight against evil. So, when the chance came not only to play a character very different from them and other nice ladies, I was interested. And then when they told me more about her and what they have planned for her, I went from interest to intrigued. And then when I learned they were shooting the series in Hawaii, that was it.”
Asked how she would describe Alexandra, Doherty says, “As an intelligent woman who not only knows what she wants, but knows how to get it.”
Doherty adds that she believes intelligence can be a woman’s sexiest characteristic, whether the woman is real or fictional.
“When you read the histories of women who were able to (secure) power in male-dominated societies, you find the one thing they have in common isn’t necessarily beauty — it’s brains,” she says.
As for why actors often say that there’s a special “plus factor” in playing villains that you don’t have with heroes, Doherty says, “That’s because they’re usually more fun. They get to do things that nice people — including the actors themselves — don’t do, or shouldn’t do. They usually wear the most beautiful clothes and jewels. And the fact that they’re fantasy characters means we can admire them to some extent, knowing that it’s all make-believe and that they’re not really getting away with (any of their villainy).”
Shannen Doherty, who began her career at age 9 as Jenny Wilder in “Little House: A New Beginning,” says she plans to expand her move into producing.
“When you produce your own films,” she says, “you can make choices that aren’t always available for you as an actor. It opens up many exciting areas to explore.”