'BH90210': The moment that gave Ian Ziering goosebumps
There was one particular moment that actor Ian Ziering remembers from filming the new Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot, BH90210, when he was overcome with emotion.
“Once we all walked into the Peach Pit together, it became surreal,” Ziering tells Yahoo Entertainment. “We walked into this amazing set that is, and it was like 99 percent exactly as it was, and I turned around, and I’m looking at Brian and I’m looking at Jennie, and, you know, we’ve all aged a little bit but to see them in that environment kind of gave me goosebumps. It was really exciting. It’s like time has folded in on itself, and I’m revisiting all the things that I did, you know, 29 years ago.”
Ziering and the 90210 cast, which includes Jason Priestley, Jennifer Garth, Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Gabrielle Carteris and Brian Austin Green, will share the nostalgia with fans as the teen drama, which ran for 10 seasons, from 1990 to 2000, on Fox, returns, with a whole other premise.
Whereas the original was about twin high school students adjusting from life in Minnesota to life in Beverly Hills, the revived series centers around the characters but also the actors — well, a version of the actors — we first got to know at West Beverly Hills High School.
“We come back as ourselves,” Ziering says, “where Jennie, Tori, Brian, Shannen, myself and Jason all meet up at a fan panel, and Tori convinces us to get the show back on the air, and the six-episode miniseries that we’ve created for the summer for Fox starts there, and then moves through the process it takes to get it back on the air.”
Notice that he didn’t use the word “fictionalized,” which has often been used to describe the series.
“I think it would be better said that the characters are more sensationalized, because there is a good smattering of our real selves woven into the fabric, where it’s not on the nose, it’s kinda on the cheek, that’s how… we get away with it,” Ziering says. “But it is scripted. The stories are heightened, but they are our authentic voices coming through.”
Ziering says all the actors had a say in their characters. In fact, Garth, Spelling and Doherty are also credited as producers. The actor approves of what the gang was able to do. More importantly, he thinks fans will be into it. He promises that there will be appearances from some recognizable faces, including Carol Potter, who played Brandon and Brenda’s mom, and Christine Elise, who played the troubled Emily Valentine.
“And I think we’ve done a beautiful job creating six episodes with a little tickle at the end,” Ziering says. “Hopefully, there’ll be a cry for more.”
BH90210 premieres Wednesday, 8/7 at 9 p.m. on Fox.
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