The premiere of this series took place in the fall of 1998. From the very first episode, the audience simply “stuck” to the screens, trying not to miss a single word or gesture. Actresses playing three charming witch sisters instantly got an army of fans who praised them as best they could. Their popularity, as well as their fees, grew by leaps and bounds. So what happened? Why did Shannon Doherty leave Charmed? Let's try to understand this article.
How it all started in the series
One dark, rainy evening, the youngest of the three Halliwell sisters, Phoebe, returns to her childhood home. In this house, as before, the elder sister Prudence (or Prue, as she is usually called) and the middle one, Piper, continue to live. It is the middle sister who always acts in the family as a peacemaker, and this evening, when again the relations between the older and younger sisters are heating up, she tries to reconcile them. The night that came after this strange evening turned out to be the most unusual in the girls' life, because when the older sisters went to bed, the youngest, Phoebe, went to the attic and found some book there. After reading a few lines from her, she also goes to rest and does not notice that thanks to the words spoken aloud, everything in her life and that of her sisters has changed forever.
In the morning in this house, not just beautiful girls woke up, but powerful witches. Many years ago, when they were still very young, their grandmother - Penelope (Grams) - “tied” their forces to save her granddaughter and give them the opportunity to live an ordinary childhood, without magic and demons. But now, after her death, the forces returned to them.
Prudence Halliwell
Prue was the first of three girls born to Patricia Halliwell and Victor Bennett. From birth, she owned telekinesis, and this gift returned to her when she was already an adult. At school, she was popular and studied very well. From childhood, Prue was a responsible girl. She liked to take pictures, but when their mother was killed by the Demon of Water, she abandoned her dream and began to think about providing for the younger sisters. The girl seriously took up the history of art and after a while began to work as an appraiser of art objects at the Bakled auction house.
After the death of her mother, Prue developed a fear of water, she was afraid that her life would end in the same way. With the return of the sisters of magic, all of them (and Prue mostly) learn to overcome their fears and try to better understand themselves and their addictions. After one of the stories in which the sisters got ten years ahead, Prue saw herself as a tough careerist, a very wealthy woman, completely deprived of her personal life. After this test, she decides to change her life and make a reality of her dream: she became a photographer in a magazine.
When the strength returns to the sisters, Prue here, as usual, takes care of the younger sisters and quickly becomes the most powerful and strong of the three of them.
The actress who brought Prue to life
The elder sister Prudence in this series about the good witch sisters was played by the famous actress Shannen Doherty. She is a very bright personality, known in Hollywood for her penchant for all kinds of scandals, nervousness, and too high self-conceit, which often interfered with her work. Rescued her that she had a bright, attractive appearance.
Acting skills are also abundant in her, so the role of Prue Halliwell was a success for her as well as possible.
So why did Shannon Doherty leave Charmed? She once with a huge scandal left her previous project about the guys from the Beverly Hills. But when the decision was made to create a new series about witches, producer Aaron Speling risked inviting her to these shootings, because this story was very different from his previous projects. At first, everything was more than good. But by the beginning of the second season, a very serious tension arose around Shannon's figure.
Why Shannon Doherty left the Enchanted many months after that interested her fans. And it all began long before this day.
Lori or Alice?
Initially, the producer for the role of Phoebe, the youngest of the sisters, approved the actress Lori Rum. But for some reason, she was forced to abandon, despite the fact that the filming process had already begun and even shot the pilot series, but then they chose Alice Milano, who became Phoebe Halliwell for several seasons.
By the way, Shannon also auditioned for the role of the middle sister - Piper, and Holly Mary Combs, who was invited to the project first, was supposed to play the youngest. But over time, everyone outplayed. As a result, Holly became Piper, and Shannon became Prue.
Why did Shannon Doherty leave Charmed? After all, at first everything was more than good. The girls who played sisters became friends in life. But everything has changed. From series to series, Milano won the hearts of the audience. This became especially noticeable when a new hero appeared on the screens - Cole. Their love - a strong sense of witch and demon - attracted a lot of attention to them. Now the elder sister's admiration had subsided a bit. But the average got it in full.
Official reasons for leaving
Doherty always loved to be in the spotlight - both in the frame and in life, so this situation did not suit her. Now the girls talked only in the frame. As soon as the shooting of the next series was over, they could even start a fight.
Now it’s not so surprising why Shannon Doherty left the Enchanted. But there was still a very important incentive to cause scandals and fights with Alice. While filming this series, Shannon had an affair with Julian McMahon, who played the role of Cole. And she could not restrain jealousy both to her lover and to her serial sister. Even the fact that Milano began to establish more than friendly relations with a completely different actor playing the role of the Guardian Angel of all sisters, Brian Krause, did not diminish her jealousy.
The producer was tired of seeing all these squabbles and decided to remove Alice from the series. And she herself announced this, demanding a choice between her and Shannon. The plot of the death of Phoebe has already been prepared. Suddenly, everything changed.
What happened and why did Shannon Doherty leave the Enchanted, because the role of the elder witch brought her unheard of popularity?
One version is more loyal: Shannon was offered a role in another film, and she agreed. The other was less prosaic.
The actress could no longer restrain her emotions, scandals went beyond the set. She was often detained for driving while intoxicated. The patience of the producers was running out. And here Milano delivered her ultimatum: either she or Shannon. Since the popularity of Alice at that moment was steadily rising, and she did not create scandals, Spelling decided to leave her in the project. And for Doherty they did the last courtesy, offering to choose the cause of death of their character, and even direct it.
The actress chose Prue's death at the hands of the demon Sheks (Master's servant), whom the sisters all could not defeat.
So Shannon Doherty left the Enchanted. The reasons were both professional and personal. And which ones are outweighed will remain a mystery to the masses.