“We’re not in Kansas anymore.” A famous quote that serves not only as the pilot episode title of the
new series 90210 but also echoes the show’s overarching theme of the Wilson family’s move from Wichita to Beverly Hills and the coming-of-age life lessons experienced by the kids of West Beverly High School. She may not be from the Midwest but Canadian actress Shenae Grimes can certainly relate to the sentiment. After being cast as 90210’s central character Annie Wilson, Grimes has been strapped into the Hollywood rollercoaster of fickle fans, critics, parties, red carpets, press and paparazzi, a ride that would put a strain on any fresh-faced 18-year-old. On a day off from her grueling shooting schedule, Grimes joined us at the beautiful Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive (yes, it’s in 90210) to give us an insight into what it’s like to be on one of the most-talked about shows on television.


The original Beverly Hills, 90210 became immortalized in television history during its 1990 – 2000 run. It was the first of its kind, a ground-breaking teen soap opera following the lives of beautiful, rich kids, their loves lives, their moral quandaries and their hairstyles. It might be lacking the mullets but the new spin-off is counting on the same storylines and stars, albeit for a hot young cast lead by Grimes. Of all the kids, she seems the most qualified for what has been dubbed “902.0”, having already starred on another teen soap revamp, Degrassi: The Next Generation. She admits that her path to stardom is “very cliché,” explaining that “I thought I’d be an artist, a fashion designer, a singer, a dancer, but never an actor until an agent approached me when I was leaving a dance recital. From there my passion for moving people through portrayals of different characters grew with every job. And five years later, here I am.”

Indeed, here she is at our afternoon photo shoot in the Luxe Rodeo Drive penthouse suite, surrounded by a fleet of make up artists, stylists, publicists and our own Saturday Night Magazine staff. It’s a kind of organized whirlwind that the uninitiated might find overwhelming, but Grimes seems unfazed and is soon sitting down with rollers in hair, idly chatting to the make-up artist as he glams her up for the first shot. Still, seeing the endless palette of eye shadow colors, the wall-to-wall racks of designer clothes, shoes, boots, belts and jewelry, the camera equipment and the Blackberry-toting publicist and talent agent hovering nearby, it’s easy to see how such unfettered attention could soon go to a young star’s head.


Google the name “Shenae Grimes” and you’ll find a multitude of bad-mouthing stories about her alleged bad behavior on set, eating habits and chain-smoking. We don’t know if Grimes ever followed Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley’s suggestion to “eat a double cheeseburger,” but we were witness to the room service order of a Cobb salad, garlic fries and a diet coke. As for her self-confessed “addiction” to cigs, we did overhear the starlet gripe that she, “picked a bad day to quit smoking.” The fact that her daily habits are even a topic for media discussion makes it clear that, in the short time since the show premiered, Grimes has been thrust under the microscope of constant scrutiny and is now faced with an uphill battle against the blogger army. In fact, during our interview she describes Hollywood as, “terrifying and unsettling.” She also adds that she finds it easier to identify with her character Annie because, “we’ve both had to adjust to this new world of criticism, controversy, and gossip.”

No doubt it has also helped the young cast to have guidance from the veteran actors who experienced a similar level of media hype back in the day. In particular, Grimes has formed a strong bond with infamous co-star, Shannen Doherty, revealing that, “The Annie/Brenda connection led to a sort of kinship between us. She’s advised me to stay strong, keep my head on, and focus on what’s real while letting the bullshit slide off. I’m here to do a job and the hype and the scandal should remain irrelevant to it.”

Grimes, who cites Natalie Portman as one of her role models, certainly takes her job playing Annie Wilson very seriously and has a definite fondness for the character and the history of the franchise. When asked if she sees Annie as more like the Brandon or the Brenda, Grimes says that, “I think Annie and Brenda are very similar for the obvious reasons, new girl in school trying to fit in with the high-rollers, an interest in musical theatre. Yet, at the same time, she reminds me a lot of Brandon as well. Brenda was a little less conscientious of rules and consequences and a little more impulsive, where as Annie, much like Brandon, often seems a little wiser than the average teen. She seems to have a pretty sophisticated sense of right from wrong.” Of course, all this talk of the Walsh twins leads to a nostalgic conversation about the original show. Like all of us, Grimes has seen most of the episodes and says that her favorite characters were Brenda and Dylan, adding, “They both had this careless air of cool, you just kinda wanted to be their friends. And of course my favorite storylines were anytime those two got back together.”


The comparisons to the old show are tough to avoid and while the cast and crew might be counting on nostalgia for higher ratings, they’re also determined to make the new version an entity unto itself with a new generation of fans. Addressing a question about whether she felt the pressure for the show to live up to the massive hype preceding the premiere, Grimes says that, “The pressure was there but collectively I think we all chose to put it in the back of our minds and keep it there. From the beginning, we knew we were riding some pretty groundbreaking coattails and wanted to do that justice but at the same time, we knew we were here to do our own thing, our own way, on our own show.”

So far that strategy seems to be working. After airing only four episodes, The CW were happy enough
with the ratings to pick up a full season of the series. New fans have been pulled in by the show’s slant on modern teen life; the constant flow of text messages, the use of Los Angeles’ coolest hotspots, Silver’s “vlog” and Naomi’s penchant for formal shorts. And of course, fans who grew up watching the original are eating up every bit of Brenda/Kelly interaction and Dylan McKay name-dropping. Critics and bloggers, however, have been less kind, frequently slamming the show for lackluster storylines.


The show has also developed something of an East/West rivalry with The CW’s other flagship teen show, Gossip Girl. Grimes agrees that the two shows are similar in that they both offer, “A glamorous world for teens to be a part of which fulfills the escapism we all crave as viewers.” However, where as Gossip Girl’s casual take on sex, drinking and drugs has earned it the reverse-psychology marketing campaign tagline of, “Every parent’s nightmare,” 90210 is staying true to it’s more wholesome roots by dealing directly with “issues” like teen sex, divorced parents, drugs in school and class paper plagiarism. So does Grimes see the show as family-oriented or edgy? “We’ve found a very complimentary combo of both aspects. The Wilson family is very tight-knit, which is a refreshing source of support in a teen drama. And while the issues our teens deal with at West Beverly High are edgy and racy, they are true to what is going on in high schools today, which hopefully parents and kids alike will appreciate. They’re also issues that a lot of series are afraid to touch upon so as to avoid controversy.” We must have missed that episode.


Back at the photo shoot, Grimes is pouting, posing and working that faux fur coat for our photographer’s last set up on the hotel rooftop overlooking the palm trees and designer boutiques of Rodeo Drive. To keep everyone’s energy up, we’ve plugged Grimes’ iPod into a speaker system and are enjoying a cool blast of British indie rock from the likes of Oasis and The Kooks. We ask if she ever uses music to inspire her acting and she elaborates, “I love music and it can certainly help to set the tone for a scene but at the same time, I find I need quiet to pull from within. I use music to inspire me when I’m writing poetry. I’d call them lyrics but I’ll refrain as I don’t see myself singing on a stage anytime soon.”


Keeping in mind that the original series ran for 10 seasons and the current 90210 looks set to be around for a while, we wonder if Grimes is in it for the long haul or if she’ll pull a Shannen Doherty and move on after a few years. The up-and-coming actress might be struggling with the tabloid rumor mill but she’s certainly got a firm grip on her career plan, stating, “I’m young and my goal as an actor is to experience and portray as many different roles as possible. I thrive off of challenge and change and am definitely a fan of keeping my plate full, but for now I’ll try to spread my wings during the off season.”

By Carla Thorpe

Photographer: Bobby Quillard
Photo Assistant: Andrew Goldman
Styling: Jenny Ricker at The Wall Group
Hair: Campbell McAuley for SoloArtists.com/CTonics
Makeup: Spencer Barnes for SoloArtists.com/La Prairie
Location: The Luxe Hotel, Rodeo Drive