Heather Locklear thought she was too old to join the cast of ‘Melrose Place’ when she was offered the role – aged 30.
The actress, 63, shot to fame on the 1990s primetime drams and has now reflected on her introduction to the show during an episode of the ‘Still the Place’ podcast, hosted by her former co-stars Daphne Zuniga, 61, Laura Leighton, 55, and 56-year-old Courtney Thorne-Smith.
She said: “I watched the show because there was so much press on it.
“And I was going, ‘Oh my God, this show is gonna be great … and I wish I could be on it, but I'm too old.’
“I was, like, 30. Or almost 30 or something like that. And you guys were all 20, early 20s.”
‘Melrose Place’ premiered on Fox in July 1992 and followed the lives of a group of 20-somethings living in a fictional West Hollywood apartment complex.
The original cast included Courtney, with Daphne and Laura joining later in the season.
When ratings stagnated, producer Aaron Spelling, who had previously worked with Heather on ‘Dynasty’ and ‘T.J. Hooker’, cast her in an attempt to boost interest in the series.
Aaron, who had referred to Heather as his “lucky penny,” initially brought her in for a short guest arc.
The actress also recalled receiving a call from her manager about the role, on ‘Melrose’, adding: “I go, ‘Of course. Yeah. That'd be fun’.
“I just said, ‘I wanna be a businesswoman. I don't wanna be Sammy Jo from Dynasty. I don't wanna, like, be a quirky girl.’”
Her ‘Melrose’ character, advertising executive Amanda Woodward, made her debut in a January 1993 episode.
The show’s ratings improved significantly, and Fox subsequently ordered 10 additional episodes for the first season. Heather was then promoted to a main cast member for season two of the show, and her Amanda character quickly became a central antagonist, cementing the actress as one of the show’s breakout stars.
Despite Amanda’s prominence, Heather told her former castmates on the podcast her favorite ‘Melrose’ storylines did not involve her own character.
She said: “I’m not in them. I love the one with Marcia (Cross) – the friggin’ head thing!”
Heather appeared to be referencing a storyline in season four in which Marcia’s character Kimberly Shaw is revealed to suffer from severe mental illness, including dissociative identity disorder.
Kimberly later dies in season five from an inoperable brain tumour.
