Tori Spelling is spilling the tea on why she believes Hilary Swank was unceremoniously booted from her time on Beverly Hills, 90210. The 51-year-old actress played Carly Reynolds, a pivotal character in the show's eighth season, who was conveniently written off after 16 episodes. Speaking to Jennie Garth on the Friday, November 21 episode of their 90210MG podcast, Spelling, also 52, revealed that Swank was "signed on as a full-time cast member."
She added that it wasn't Swank's acting chops that didn't push the character forward, but rather the show's writing. "I didn't think the writing was great in this episode," she said, referring to the first episode of season 8. Garth echoed her sentiments, saying, "No, no, I didn't either."
Podcast producer Amy chimed in with her long-held belief that "Hilary Swank wasn't good" on the show. However, upon rewatching the episodes, she had a change of heart: "It's not that she wasn't good. She actually is good. It's that they wrote her so ridiculously. Like, she comes in hot. She's kind of awful from the start."
Elsewhere in the episode, Amy noted that Swank's dismissal from 90210 actually worked in her favor—as it paved the way for her to land her Oscar-winning lead role in Boys Don't Cry. "Because she gets let go from this show early, and that's why she got Boys Don't Cry, because she was free to audition," she explained.
Swank herself opened up about her unceremonious exit from the show in a 2024 interview with Guy Raz, saying she felt "discouraged because I thought, 'Wow, I'm not good enough to be on this show that's way past the heyday with Luke Perry and all the hype.'" But she added, "The funny thing is...it was a beautiful reminder that fate doesn't work in such mysterious ways. And if you trust—really trust—what's happening when one door closes...I got Boys Don't Cry two months later."
