Shannen Doherty doesn't mince words.
“I don't want to die,” she insisted, with a sliver of Los Angeles sunshine beaming down on her face on the set of her People magazine cover shoot, four days before Thanksgiving.
Actress best known for her role in the hit '90s TV show Beverly Hills, 90210 onwards, Charmed – As always, she's candid, illuminating and trenchant as she opens up about her stage four breast cancer that has spread to her bones.
And at 52, she's more determined than ever to keep going, even as she continues her treatment. “I'm not done living. I'm not done loving. I'm not done creating. I'm not done hoping to change things for the better,” she says with a smile. “I'm not done.”
Doherty's eight-year battle with cancer has led her to take a big picture look at her life, a theme she explores in the memoir-style podcast. Let's talk clearly with Shannen Doherty, The show will premiere on iHeartRadio on December 6th, and she will discuss everything from career highlights and past relationships to the different stages of her illness and health tips.
John Russo
Doherty first revealed her breast cancer diagnosis to PEOPLE magazine in 2015, and subsequently underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
In April 2017, she revealed on Instagram that she was in remission, but by 2019, the cancer had returned, and the following year she announced that she had been diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 cancer.
“Asking yourself, 'Why me? Why did I get cancer?' and then asking, 'Why did the cancer come back? Why is it stage 4?' can lead you to search for your greater purpose in life,” she explains.
She hopes to raise awareness and funds for cancer research while showing that terminal cancer patients still have a lot to contribute to the world. “It's unbelievable to me,” she said. [that] “We still don't have a cure,” she says.
John Russo
Doherty shared on Instagram in June that she had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor five months ago after cancer had spread to her brain, which she named Bob in a touch of dark humor.
“He had to be removed and dissected to find the pathology,” she explains, “and it was definitely one of the most terrifying things I've ever experienced in my life.”
Shannen Doherty/Instagram
For now, Doherty hopes to enroll in clinical trials as new treatments are developed. (An estimated 168,000 people have metastatic breast cancer, according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.) But what motivates her most is her desire to prove that it's possible to work after a cancer diagnosis, and that deep-rooted sense of discipline is what's keeping her going.
“People simply think it means you can't walk, eat or work. They retire us very young: 'You're done, you're retired.' But we're not,” she says. “We have energy and a totally different outlook on life. We are people who want to work, embrace life and keep moving forward.”
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Every morning, the actress is thankful for the day she gets to spend with her friends, family, and her German shepherd, Bowie.
“My best memories are from this,” she says. “I pray. I thank God when I wake up, when I go to bed, and pray for the things that are important to me without asking for too much. It connects me to a higher power and spirituality. My faith is my mantra.”
John Russo
She explains that having cancer makes everything seem more heartbreaking and the sky seem bluer.
“It sounds corny and crazy, but it makes me pay more attention to everything and I feel so blessed. We are the people I most want to work with because I'm so grateful for every second, every hour, every day that I get to be here.”
For more on Shannen Doherty's journey fighting cancer and how she's finding moments of joy despite her diagnosis, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine, in bookstores on Friday.
