ARTICLES
SHANNEN DOHERTY

Shannen's Interview With US Magazine
US

What goes around comes around: five years after she left Beverly Hills, 90210 amid rumors of creative frustration, personal turmoil and relentlessly bad press, Shannen Doherty finds herself dealing with a diva - if that word can be applied to a male horse. Her 5-year-old Holsteiner, Louisito,, refuses to come out of his trailer. ''We took him to the Desert Circuit Horse Show recently, where his trainer rode him,'' the 28-year-old Doherty says. She boards her three horses - Louisito, Samourzakam and Alberto - at the Royal Oaks Farm, an hour north of her Hollywood home. ''The minute Louisito got there, he became a real prima donna. I tried to ride him, and he tried to buck me off, and he hates all the other horses now. He has so much attitude, because he's winning and he knows it.''

Doherty has been enjoying her own winning streak lately, thanks to the success of her year-old WB series Charmed, in which she plays Prue, the eldest of three sisters (the others are played by Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs) who just happen to be witches. The show is the brainchild of Aaron Spelling, the producer of 90210, and given Doherty's turbulent exodus from that teen drama, many were surprised he chose to work with her again. ''Some people still believe the outrageous rumors about her while she was on 90210,'' says Spelling. ''Have you heard any rumors about her professionalism since Charmed? Of course not. She's like a quaterback on the set.''

''She's incredibly professional,'' echoes c0-star Milano. ''Even if there ever was a tantrum, she'd be right because she knows how a set should be run. She's been doing this for a long time.''

For two decades, to be precise. Born in Memphis, Tenn., on April 12, 1971, Doherty moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was 6. (Her father, Tom, ran a trucking firm, and her mother, Rosa, was a housewife.) A few years later, she caught the eye of Michael Landon, who cast her as a regular on the NBC series Little House: A New Beginning when she was 11. Other gigs followed, including the rather dark filmHeathers, before Spelling signed her to play the misunderstood and, yes, b*itchy Brenda Walsh on 90210.

That's where the trouble began, in the form of rumored on-set skirmishes, money problems and a series of doomed romantic relationships, including her five-month marriage to actor Ashley Hamilton. ''I shake my head at myself and say, 'Where was I, mentally and spiritually, to marry somebody I didn't know?''' says Doherty. ''It was a really confusing time in life, and unfortunately, I went through it in the public eye.''

Insane as her life was, Doherty does have one pleasant memory from her 90210 years. ''Toward the end [of my four-year stint on the series], I went to Milan to accept an award for the show,'' she recalls, ''and there were something like 10,000 people outside my hotel yelling, 'We love you, Brenda! We love you, Shannen!' I was at this really insecure point, because the press was just ripping me to shreds, so when all of a sudden, people rallied for me, it felt amazing.''

These days, Doherty doesn't need a mob of adoring Italians to help her feel good about herself. ''I'm getting more secure,'' she says reflectively. ''And I'm not obessed with the outer shell. I knew that there were people who didn't think I was attractive, and maybe that bothered me before, but now I don't care. I still have a million and one issues to work out with myself, but I like who I am.''