Former 90210 Star Shannen Doherty Blames 1995’s MALLRATS for Stalling Her Film Career

Shannen Doherty Thinks Mallrats Threw a Wrench in Her Film Career

1995’s Mallrats, directed by Kevin Smith, didn’t quite make a star out of former 90210 actress, Shannen Doherty, who has more or less called Smith out on that fact.

When Kevin Smith stunned the movie world with his $27,000 budgeted black and white indie film, Clerks, back in 1994, people were led to believe his next project, Mallrats, would be even bigger than his previous one. That wasn’t the case, however, and Smith suffered the dreaded sophomore slump. Now, Shannen Doherty who starred in Mallrats, has stated that she believes the box-office thud made by Mallrats destroyed her chances at becoming a successful Hollywood film actress.

It’s not that Doherty didn’t appear in the beloved classic from the late 1980’s, Heathers, where she played opposite Christian Slater and Winona Ryder. It’s that Kevin Smith’s 1995 follow-up to Clerks was supposed to be a decent sized hit and propel Doherty to stardom. The Smith project even got the “go-ahead” thanks to Doherty’s involvement in the project. But, Mallrats, stumbled out of the gate and was DOA at the box-office.

Other “Beverly Hills 90210” stars also suffered with some disappointing film careers. Jason Priestley, though showing great talent in 1998’s Love and Death on Long Island, also faced a similar fate at the box-office as the one Doherty did. Ditto the talented Tori Spelling who co-starred in Mark Waters’ box-office dud, The House of Yes in 1997. Doherty, Priestley and Spelling couldn’t make a “go” out of Hollywood film careers though their now deceased co-star, Luke Perry, scored marginal successes with the OK performing Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 8 Seconds in the 1990’s. Perry, too, never became the leading man he could have become had his films made more money.

Don’t think Doherty is holding any grudges here. She and Smith are still up and ready for a Mallrats 2, according to a couple of key sources. Smith said he was sorry for Mallrats not being a success, though.

Jason Lee and Claire Forlani, who co-starred in Mallrats, never made it too big in Hollywood either as leading movie stars. Lee’s Stealing Harvard and Forlani’s Meet Joe Black were box-office duds despite Tom Green starring with Lee in the former movie and Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins playing with Forlani in the latter one.

Mallrats only made $2 million domestically but has won many fans over the years. So, a sequel could be of some interest to the same demographic who showed up for Clerks III at Fathom Events screenings in 2022. Yes, Ben Affleck went on to star in hits like Good Will Hunting in the 1990’s after appearing in a role in the critical financial dud,  Mallrats, but Affleck also had his share of box-office belly flops as well before he played in big blockbusters like Armageddon. Anyone remember the art house picture, Going All the Way, from 1997? Didn’t think so.

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