Tori Spelling has recalled the moment Hilary Swank was fired from Beverly Hills, 90210, describing how her co-star was left “hysterically crying” after being called into a meeting with producers.
Spelling Tells All
Tori, 52, who played Donna Martin on the long-running Fox drama Beverly Hills, 90210, shared the account on her 90210MG podcast. She revisited events from 1998 when Hilary Swank, now 51, appeared in the show’s eighth season as Carly Reynolds.
The actress said she had formed a close friendship with Hilary during filming. She often spent time with her and her then-husband Chad Lowe. At that time, the series was undergoing cast changes following the earlier departure of Luke Perry.
Tori said, “I was kind of her safe place on set, and she would talk to me about everything.”
Hilary Getting Fired
She described how Hilary had been summoned to meet with producer Paul Waigner and returned visibly distressed.
Tori said, “We were all in our dressing rooms,” adding Hilary had asked, “Paul Waigner wants to talk to me in his office – do you know what it’s about?”
Tori also said she waited for her co-star following the meeting.
She added, “So she goes in, and she comes back, and she’s crying, and she comes into my dressing room.”
Tori said Hilary told her she “got let go” and was “being fired” from the program.
Tori said she had not been aware of any plans to remove her fellow actress from the cast.
She said, “I hadn’t heard any of this – we didn’t know.”
Tori also said Hilary feared the setback would derail her career.
She added, “She was like, ‘Oh my God – if I get fired off of 90210, I’m never gonna make it’.”
Swank’s Future Roles
The account revisits a pivotal moment in Hilary’s career, which soon shifted dramatically.
After leaving Beverly Hills, 90210, Swank secured the lead role in Boys Don’t Cry. She earned an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2000. She earned a second Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2005.
Tori said the departure ultimately enabled that trajectory.
She said, “She would not have been able to get that role, do that role and then win an Academy Award.”
Hilary herself later reflected on the experience in an interview with Conan O’Brien.
She said, “I was on 90210 in the eighth season when no one watched it anymore, and Luke Perry was long gone.”
Hilary added, “I’m thinking, no one watches this show anymore, and I got fired off of a show that no one watches.”
The actress also said she was cast in Boys Don’t Cry shortly afterwards.
She added, “I looked at it as a silver lining.
“Like, it’s always such a reminder, when something bad happens, there’s something else that could be looming around the corner.”