Holly Marie Combs Shares the “Big Plans” Shannen Doherty Had Before Her Death
Holly Marie Combs says Shannen Doherty was not expecting to die this quickly, as she had plans to make the most of her final days.
In a special episode of the Charmed rewatch podcast The House of Halliwell, Combs told her fellow castmates Brian Krause and Drew Fuller that she and Doherty thought they had “more time” together in friendship, as they had “big plans for this year.”
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“She didn’t think she was going anywhere anytime soon,” Combs said. She also revealed that Doherty was going to take a trip to Italy and “was considering moving” there as well. Combs noted the irony of Fuller cutting his vacation in Italy short upon hearing the news of his former co-star’s death. “She was definitely laughing at you running through the airport,” Combs remarked.
Doherty died on July 13 at 53 after a long battle with cancer. Fuller reflected on Doherty’s attitude as the disease grew worse, noting that her “superpower” was her ability to “make you forget that she was sick,” as she had “this incredible ability not to ever be a victim.”
Fuller continued, “You forgot it when you’re in her presence. It was like, ‘Bitch, she’s not sick. She feels amazing and she has all these incredible plans.’ We’re traveling the world and we’re talking about this and that and moving and building a new house in Tennessee and possibly going and building and living in Italy. She acted as if — and her energy felt — as if she was gonna be here for as long as we were.”
To commemorate Doherty, Combs said she wants to get a tattoo with the time of her late friend’s death “because that’s my big gripe with the whole situation, that we both thought that we had more time — and so many plans. And I hope I can carry out some of those for her.”
Combs also shared that Doherty and Rose McGowan, who replaced her on Charmed after the actress left the series, had a touching bonding moment while doing Comicpalooza in Houston, having dinner alone together.
“They bonded in a way that they hadn’t before and developed a relationship that was actually really deep and meaningful,” she said. “Rose is pretty torn up. She’s kind of been my grief counselor … she said to me, ‘Remember, she’s always beside you and you have to live for her now.'”
Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Combs said that Doherty told her she didn’t want to be remembered as “the actress who had cancer.” Instead, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum wanted to be recognized for her animal activism. She noted that one of Doherty’s final efforts within her activism was “trying to establish a sanctuary for wild horses.”
Combs also mentioned that she is producing a documentary on seal pups, which Doherty wanted to be a part of before her death. “We’re just going to add her name [to the credits] because I already know what she would have directed me to do,” she said.
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