The Revelation Shannen Doherty Made About Her Younger Self Just Weeks Before She Died

The entertainment industry and fans alike were saddened to hear about the death of Shannen Doherty from cancer in July 2024. Some weeks before her passing, the actor opened up to her "Charmed" co-stars about how she felt about rewatching her younger self on screen. And her answer was super relatable.

Before her death, Doherty appeared on an episode of "The House of Halliwell" podcast with hosts (and her former co-stars) Holly Marie Combs, Brian Krause, and Drew Fuller. As the podcast looked back on intriguing moments of "Charmed," Doherty couldn't help but reflect on who she was back then...and her transformation over the years. "You know what's really interesting about going and rewatching these as a woman is, I was like, 'God, I was really pretty back then,'" she admitted. "And we're not even wearing a lot of makeup. Granted, we have really good lighting and everything else, but I was so thin."

The episode was released a few weeks after Doherty's death and shows that the actor was clearly reflecting on the good days of her youth – before cancer changed her life forever.

On Shannen Doherty's appearance on "The House of Halliwell," the actor admitted that watching her younger self on "Charmed" made her somewhat sad. As she sat next to her Halliwell sister, Holly Marie Combs, Doherty revealed her true feelings. "Youth is wasted on the young," she said.

She added, "Now that I'm 50, whatever I am, if somebody wants to do the math — I believe it now. Now is when I would really appreciate my looks and like the physique...it just took a little thing like cancer for me to lose some weight, but I'm still not as skinny as I was back then." Watching the show also must have reminded the "Heathers" actor of a different time when she was not only smaller, but stronger and healthier.

The Instagram page of "The House of Halliwell" shared a snippet of Doherty's conversation on the show. "Charmed" actor Rose McGowan, who also had a close bond with Doherty, admitted how much she missed her friend. "Ahhh it's so not real that she's gone. I keep thinking I'll see her in 2 weeks," the actor commented of her late friend. "It's real but not real. Even at this late stage, her beautiful mind so sharp, it never felt possible."

After her initial breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, Shannen Doherty was committed to making the most of whatever amount of life she had left. After her cancer returned in 2019 and was later found to be terminal, Doherty was determined to "embrace life and keep moving forward," per People.

And that she did. The "Beverly Hills 90210" actor not only continued to spread awareness about cancer in various interviews, but she had launched a podcast, "Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty." She even shared on Instagram that she had committed to eating cleaner – with a little cheat meal thrown in here and there, of course. "Right now, I just want to be the best version of myself. Not sure what that is but I know eating right is the start," she told her followers. And Doherty also still made time for loved ones. In the last paparazzi photo taken before Doherty's passing, she was spotted having a good time with friends.

What was more impressive was the actor's strength and willingness to fight her cancer until the end with chemotherapy treatments. "We kept going until we couldn't go any more," Doherty's oncologist Dr. Lawrence D. Piro said to People. "She wanted to continue to take treatment and fight through, even though her physical condition had taken a bit of a downturn. And so we did." While Doherty may have passed from this unfortunate disease, her life and legacy live on.