Gabrielle Carteris lied about her age to win the role of Andrea Zuckerman back in the day. Now she is opening up about what it was like for her to lie to get a role on the hit Fox drama.
The actress was 29-years-old when she became part of the Beverly Hills 90210 cast. Fans will recall Andrea was a 16-year-old sophomore in high school.
It is common knowledge Carteris was older than the rest of her costars. However, the actress is now revealing she was not taking any chances when it came to her winning the role of West Beverly genius.
“When I got the role, a lawyer told me I could sign a contract and state a different age, as long as it was over the age of 21. When my real age did come out, the show was just starting to take off, and my character was established enough that they did not fire me. But a producer did say to me, ‘You’re lucky we didn’t know your age when we hired you,’” the now 58-year-old shared with People magazine.
By the time Carteris’ real age came out, she and her husband started to realize it was time to expand their family. The actress made another bold move and went to producer Aaron Spelling to tell him her demands.
“Before I got pregnant with my first child, I went to Aaron [Spelling] and said, ‘My husband, Charlie, and I would like to start a family, and I’d like for you to write it in that Andrea gets pregnant because I don’t want to hide my pregnancy. I want my baby to know I was proud and share it with the world. Aaron was so shocked, but he said, ‘Yes, we’ll do it.’ So Andrea was full-blown pregnant,” stated Carteris.
Fans will recall Andrea quickly lost her virginity as a freshman in college, not long after she became pregnant. It was a controversial story because Andrea was still a teenager. Beverly Hills 90210 endured a slew of backlash over the storyline, especially because Andrea was such a “smart girl.” The actress admitted she would continuously remind fans that even smart girls make mistakes.
BH90210 star Gabrielle Carteris finally got candid about lying to producers regarding her age when she booked the role of Andrea. It was a choice she does not regret, but one she also knows could have ended differently. She could have easily been fired when her real age came out. Thanks to her talent, though, it all worked out in the end.
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Almost 30-years later Carteris is still reeling from the success of the choice to lie about her age.
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