these other actresses who almost played Paige instead of Rose MacGowan

Shannen Doherty’s departure shook up the series Charmed. To replace her character, Rose McGowan came to play Paige, the Halliwells’ half-sister. But she wasn’t the first actress the production had thought of.

Charmed is one of the series that marked an entire generation. Seventeen years after the broadcast of the last episode, Charmed is available on Amazon Prime Video. The series follows the adventures of the Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper and Phoebe, who discover by chance that they are witches. It’s when Phoebe, played by Alyssa Milano, reads a magic formula from Book of Shadows without knowing that it is a grimoire that the three sisters obtain their magical powers transmitted by their ancestors. They must then fight against evil as well as the demons who want to destroy them in order to recover their powers.

Rose McGowan joined Charmed after Shannen Doherty left

Several moments marked the series, but the one that upset fans the most was undoubtedly the death of Prue, the older sister, played by Shannen Doherty. The latter asked production to leave the series after having numerous arguments with Alyssa Milano. Something which was refused, since she had a contract to honor. But over time, tensions became more and more frequent. As Shannen Doherty grew tired of her character, the production decided to let her go by making Prue die. “There was too much drama on set and not enough passion for the work”Shannen Doherty told Entertainment Tonight. To replace her, a half-sister magically arrived: Paige, played by Rose McGowan. The latter was not, however, the first choice of the producer, Aaron Spelling.

Charmed : another actress from Beverly Hills could have replaced Shannen Doherty

Among the actresses approached to replace Shannen Doherty is Tiffani Thiessen, the interpreter of Valérie Malone in Beverly Hills. But the actress had other projects in mind. The production of Charmed then turned to Jennifer Love Hewitt, who would later become the star of Ghost Whisperer. Except that the latter wanted to concentrate on her career in cinema. Producer Brad Kern then decided to audition Rose McGowan who got the role immediately.

Article written with the collaboration of 6Medias.