Shannen Doherty Believes A Cult Classic Movie Killed Her Film Career
Few shows were a bigger deal in the early '90s than "Beverly Hills 90210." As such, it's easy to see why many expected its main cast members to go on to become movie stars on top of their small-screen stardom. Unfortunately for Shannen Doherty, that didn't come to be.
The "Heathers" star landed a role in Aaron Spelling's teen drama series in 1990 before departing the show after its 4th season. From there, she starred as Rene in Kevin Smith's teen comedy, "Mallrats," a role that the actor believes torpedoed her career. The follow-up to Smith's well-received debut, "Clerks," "Mallrats," was expected to be a major success, but that turned out to be wishful thinking.
The two discussed their experiences with "Mallrats" on Doherty's podcast, "Let's Be Clear" (via Variety). "That's kind of the interesting thing about 'Mallrats,' right, is that it wasn't a box office success," Doherty said to Smith. "Oh, it died," Smith agreed. "It died," Doherty confirmed. "So did my film career. That was it."
Though Doherty would go on to land over 40 roles after the release of "Mallrats," many of them are lesser-known projects. Meanwhile, the actor found success in shows like the fantasy drama "Charmed," in which she starred as Prue Halliwell for 67 episodes before being replaced by Rose McGowan.
Smith and Doherty remain cordial, despite the failure of the film
Kevin Smith seemed to regret the situation surrounding his second feature as he continued to speak with Shannen Doherty on her podcast. He went on to ask if she ever got a shot at a big movie after that. "No, that was it," she said bluntly. "People literally thought that I was carrying the movie, so therefore, it was a box office failure [and] it was completely on me," she explained. "So there was no film career after that, which was a little brutal."
Doherty went on to say how pivotal she thought "Mallrats" would be for her career, saying, "I really thought 'Mallrats' was going to kick me into that [higher] gear." For his part, Smith accepted the responsibility for the movie's failure and apologized to Doherty. "She's right, man," he admitted. "It's like if this works, here goes the movie career. And it really did not. Boy, I apologize for that."
However, that isn't the end of the story. "Mallrats," like other Smith films, has gone on to find its audience, becoming a cult classic along the way. "So 'Mallrats' comes out and dies this miserable death and then has this ten-year ascension to cult classic," Smith recalled. This led Doherty to ask when they would be doing "Mallrats 2," to which Smith replied, "We've had a script for quite some time... I'm game." As it stands, fans of the movie will just have to keep their fingers crossed.