Shannen Doherty, the onetime terror of "Beverly Hills 90210," the marked woman of the tabloid media, in the title role of "Gone with the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell?
That unlikely casting is a feature of the two-hour movie "A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story," airing Monday on NBC (see "Best bets").The movie also stars Rue McClanahan as the author's storytelling grandmother and Dale Midkiff as Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw, reportedly the basis for the character of Rhett Butler. William Clark Gable, son of the great star, appears in a minor role.
Doherty, dressed for an interview in a denim shirt, black skirt with white floral design and sneakers sans socks, seemed totally at ease, even placid. She confirmed that her life was calm and peaceful these days:
"It must be, if you pick up the Enquirer and find the only thing they can write about me is that I installed a pay phone next to my house and was seen at Stroud's (a discount bed-and-bath chain) buying $1,400 worth of bed linens and wouldn't go to an expensive store. It must be calm if they're pulling that stuff out of their heads."
A major reason for Doherty's newfound peace: She's in love. He's director Rob Weiss ("Amongst Friends"). They hang out in her new house, cook, watch movies, write "and do normal stuff," she said.
Doherty, 23, said she knew little about Margaret Mitchell when she was cast for "A Burning Passion." She had seen the movie "Gone with the Wind," but hadn't read the novel. For homework, she read "three thick books" about the author. Her conclusions:
"She has so many different facets to her personality. She didn't have very high self-esteem. Even as a child, she always wanted to write. She was groomed by an upper-class, society-minded mother who wanted her to be a doctor. She rebelled against that constantly.
"She went to Smith College and was miserable there. When her mother died, she came back to the South and started to pursue her writing. After she got married to her first husband, she started writing at the Atlanta Journal. Her stories kept getting better and better.
"After she married John Marsh, she sat down and wrote `Gone with the Wind' with his encouragement and support. I think she was scared of success. The reason she didn't write another book was that `Gone with the Wind' was so huge that she thought it was a fluke. She really thought of herself as a failure, that she could never ever top `Gone with the Wind.' So why should she try?"