90210's Jason Priestley Says The Death Of Shannen Doherty Has Made Him Think About His Own Mortality

Jason Priestley has started to "think about his own mortality" after the death of Shannen Doherty.

The 54-year-old actor starred alongside Shannen - who died in July at the age of 53 following a long battle with cancer - as her on-screen twin in the hit 1990s drama series 'Beverly Hills, 90210' and admitted that he was "hit hard" by the passing of his former co-star.

He told The Sunday Mirror newspaper: "It has made me think about my own mortality. I woke up on my 50th birthday and I realised that I’d already lived most of my life. Her passing hit me hard. We had an incredible experience working together... it was the day Shannen, Luke [Perry] and I were shot for the cover of Rolling Stone [in 1992] that I started to understand the impact the show was having."

The former 'Private Eyes' star remembered Shannen as being "very open" about her health battles and commended the 'Charmed' star - who spoke candily about her illness through her 'Let's Be Clear' podcast - for her determination to help others as he admitted he felt "very fortunate" to have been able to spend time with her in those last moments.

Jason - who has Ava, 17, and 15-year-old Dashiell with wife Naomi Lowde-Priestley - added: "She was very open about what was happening with her cancer and tried to use her platform to help other people. I always admired her tenacity and her toughness, so even though I knew she was sick, her actually passing away was a big surprise, and sad for all of us. She fought it for so long and seemed like she was able to manage it... until she wasn’t, unfortunately.

"Shannen was a force. And I feel very fortunate that in the last couple years, I got to spend quite a bit of time with her. I felt okay about her passing in so much as there was nothing left between us that was unsaid."