AnnaLynne McCord is enjoying her fair share of drama on Days of our Lives as a mysterious woman impersonating Abigail Deveraux, but that isn’t new for the actress, who had plenty of experience in the soap genre playing Naomi Clark on 90210, the 2008-13 reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210. It’s been over a decade since the final episode aired, but she remembers it like it was yesterday.
“Looking back on being 20 and getting a job, you have such little appreciation for what ends up being something that’s quite a blessing in your life, and you can look at in hindsight more clearly, perhaps,” she begins. “But I think in today’s climate with everything that’s going on in the industry, to do five years on a show is just such a gift. I look back on it with a lot of gratitude now.”
She’s the first to admit that her behavior, at times, may have been less than exemplary. “I was a little brat!” she says with a laugh. “I remember when I directed my first film, a little independent, I called my [unit production manager] and I was like, ‘On behalf of all actors who don’t know any better, I am so sorry that I thought everything was about me, and when I wanted you to change your schedule for just me and you were managing an ensemble of 12. I’m very sorry.’ He started laughing. He was like, ‘You’re a joy, you’re fine. We all understand the pressures of being on camera and being young and everything that comes alongside it.’ And then he ended up being so helpful on my project and it was a full circle moment that was quite lovely, actually.”
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McCord recalls that she wasn’t thrilled when she was told that Naomi was going to provide some of the comic relief in the series. “I argued and fought tooth and nail with the showrunner from Season 2 because we went through so many showrunners on that show in such a short period of time,” she explains. “But Rebecca Sinclair [Kirshner] came on at the end of Season 1 and I was mad because [previous showrunners] Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah were my friends and I was like, ‘How dare you!’ I probably took it out on her, unfortunately. But she called me into the office in Season 2 and she was like, ‘We are going to write you funny; you’re so funny.’ And I was like, ‘What? No, I’m not.’ And she’s like, ‘Yes, you are, you’re so funny.’ And I was like, ‘No, I studied in New York. I’m a serious, dramatic actress. I’m not funny. I don’t wanna do comedy. I didn’t sign up for this.’ And the whole time, the more upset I’m getting, the more she’s like, ‘See you’re so funny. This is what you don’t understand.’ And that shift point gave me confidence in something that I never thought I had. I thought that comedic actors were trained in a different way. But she was letting me know that I have the ability to very seriously approach anything that’s given to me, no matter how outlandish, so it was a huge learning moment as a young actor. And it also allowed me to take that into my career in the future.”
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The actress was unfamiliar with the original series when she was cast in the reboot because her TV time was limited when she was younger. “I was not allowed to watch the original,” she says. “I was allowed to watch Little House on the Prairie. [The 90210 showrunners] had a conversation with us about the nature of the show and it’s a new generation, but all the characters will have similarities to the original. So decided if I wanted to create something completely different with Naomi, I should do it with an unclouded mind. Honor Kelly [Taylor] and Jennie Garth and let Naomi be something of her own in her own generation. But Shanae [Grimes], who played Annie, was an avid original 90210 watcher, so she was obsessed. She was so excited about it.”
McCord shares that she enjoyed connecting with members of the original cast. “I had a beautiful time meeting the late Shannen Doherty [Brenda Walsh], and the stories about her, in my opinion, were all B.S.,” she relays. “She was just the person who tells the truth in an industry that doesn’t always appreciate that. And she tells the truth with her words and her energy, and she doesn’t bend for anyone. And those were aspects that I respected, and I appreciated meeting her and I will always remember her in that way.”
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McCord can’t help but chuckle when recalling her more outrageous storylines on the show. “Oh, my God! There were so many crazy moments,” she exclaims. “So, Naomi was getting hazed during her college years and we were filming at UCLA and I had to come out in a panties and bra outfit and walk through the entire campus half-naked. And then the mean girls from the sorority have the entire group of people throw eggs at me. The stunt coordinator had shown me that the eggs were pretty cracked and they were handed out to only my stunt guys and girls that I had a relationship with, and knew were only going to aim at certain parts of my body that wouldn’t cause any damage. And the director just grabbed a carton of eggs right before they rolled and started handing them out to background [performers] to throw at me, which is incredibly dangerous. Thankfully, no one had that good of an aim or they weren’t aiming for my face, so that one was pretty wild. I had bruises and welts all over my body. Everybody was freaking out after. But there were so many things that Naomi got up to. I was home-schooled and didn’t get to go to college, so I got to go to college on 90210.”
90210, Seasons 1-5, Streaming, The CW App