Drama Still Lives Here: The Women of “Melrose Place” Tell All
Drama Still Lives Here: The Women of “Melrose Place” Tell All
Andrea LavinthalWed, April 22, 2026 at 6:00 PM UTC
0
Drama Still Lives Here: The Women of “Melrose Place” Tell All
Long before streaming, Monday nights at 9 p.m. belonged to Melrose Place.The show, a spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210, created by Aaron Spelling, debuted on July 8, 1992, on Fox. The first season was lukewarm, but ratings heated up in season 2 when Heather Locklear became a series regular. Increasingly unhinged storylines helped too, including the most shocking wig reveal in TV history.
From left: Vanessa Estelle Williams, Josie Bissett, Heather Locklear, Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton and Courtney Thorne-SmithCredit: Yu Tsai
At its mid-’90s peak, upwards of 14 million people tuned in each week to see who was sleeping with, blackmailing or attempting to murder whom. Offscreen, the cast was in demand and appeared on every red carpet and magazine cover including this one in 1994.
Thirty-two years after PEOPLE dubbed the show “prime time’s unsung guilty pleasure,” we reunited Josie Bissett (Jane Mancini), 55, Laura Leighton (Sydney Andrews), 57, Courtney Thorne-Smith (Alison Parker), 58, Vanessa Estelle Williams (Rhonda Blair), 62, Daphne Zuniga (Jo Reynolds), 63, and Locklear (Amanda Woodward), 64, to look back at life at 4616 Melrose Place.
For more World’s Most Beautiful content, including cover star Anne Hathaway, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.
Credit: Yu TsaiHeather Locklear
as Amanda Woodward
Seasons 2-7, recurring in season 1
“Amanda was celebrated. People were like, ‘I want to be like her. I want to screw everyone — I mean, physically screw everyone — and I just want to screw them over.’ ”
On Locklear: MOTHER jeans. 7 For All Mankind top. Alevi Milano boots. Melinda Maria jewelry. Samira K ring.
Sitting here together, what feels the same and what feels different? Heather: They all look the same.Josie: Everyone’s kindness is the same.Courtney: What feels different is the lightness now. I was thinking about when we were all together: we'd be working 14 hours a day, then we'd have photo shoots on weekends, and we'd be tired. Now we're like, "We get to go out of the house."
Daphne: We love PEOPLE, but we're like, "We get to hang out." So that's really nice. What's different is that I can't walk in the shoes we wore in the nineties.Vanessa: What feels the same is the joy and how happy I am to be here with my girlies. And what's different is, yeah, we're so much wiser and more relaxed.Laura: What feels the same is that these people still feel like my people. You were always my people.
Credit: Yu TsaiJosie Bissett
as Jane Mancini
Seasons 1-5 and 7
“We were a bit sheltered; there wasn’t massive paparazzi,” Bissett recalls of the show’s popularity. “All I remember is just mostly the working and the driving and living the life. If we had social media, our experience would’ve been completely different. I feel like we were lucky in that way.”
On Bissett: Nili Lotan jeans. LʼAGENCE blouse. Stuart Weitzman shoes.
When did you realize that Melrose Place was a huge hit? Daphne: We didn't know because we were working 14-hour days. Josie: There was no social media either.Heather: I think once we did the Rolling Stone cover, I went, "This is awesome."
Courtney: Heather's too humble to say it, but we were in a lot of danger of being canceled until she came on. And that's when we became a hit.Heather: I did not know that.Daphne: Whenever Courtney brings that up, Heather’s like, "I didn't know you were going to get canceled." Come on.
Credit: Yu TsaiCourtney Thorne- Smith
as Alison Parker
Seasons 1-5
“It was more what I learned not to do,” she says when asked what she took away from playing Alison. “How not to talk to people, how not to be a friend. I learned how not to bring my personal life into every meeting like Allison did at D&D Advertising.”
On Thorne-Smith: MOTHER jeans. AGOLDE top. Aldo shoes. Intimissimi undergarments. Jennifer Behr belt. Jennifer Zeuner necklace & bracelet.
Heather, did you really not know you were brought on to save the show? Heather: I wasn't saving it, I just wanted a job.Courtney: You could see the writers figure it out. They were like, "Oh, we have something here." That was the turn that got more interesting for everybody, us included; it got more fun.
The female characters on the show were known for being really flawed. Why do you think the audience was so captivated by their bad behavior?Heather: I think people like watching catfights. There's a little bit of everybody in all of the characters. So maybe they like seeing a glimpse of themselves and then maybe what they should be doing or not doing. Josie: We were cutting edge as far as that kind of stuff. It’s so tame if you look back on it.
Credit: Yu TsaiVanessa Estelle Williams
as Rhonda Blair
Season 1
After her contract wasn’t renewed for season 2, “my big takeaway was, ‘You are still a worthy, wonderful actor whether you’re on a TV show or not,’ ” she says. "I had to learn real quick, oh, okay, this isn't personal."
On Williams: Free People jeans. Donna Karan top. Charles David shoes. Melinda Maria jewelry.
Did you feel your character was celebrated or judged at the time? Heather: Amanda was celebrated. People were like, "I want to be like her. I want to screw everyone — I mean, physically screw everyone — and I just want to screw them over."Laura: I was probably more judged for my character, because she was more messy than powerful. She wanted to be powerful and she was trying to find her way, but it was a mess all along to get there. Plenty of people would be like, "I hated your character.” I believe it was a love to hate because it's fun to watch. And she was certainly fun to play.
Kimberly Shaw blowing up the apartment building at the end of season 4 is a core memory for fans. What do you remember about that scene? Courtney: We filmed it at the end of season 4, but they held it to the beginning of the next season because of the Oklahoma City bombing. So the last episode [of season 4] ended with Kimberly hitting the button, but the explosion didn't happen until season 5.Daphne: When we filmed close-ups of each of us reacting to it on set, we were reacting to nothing. But that's where the acting came in. I just remember us going like, "I wish I'd reacted more." Because then they built the apartment building and blew it up off in the desert or somewhere inside a crater with all these cameras and everything. And so I'm like, "Oh my God, that's what it looked like."
Credit: Yu TsaiDaphne Zuniga
as Jo Reynolds
Seasons 1-4
“When Jo started riding a motorcycle on the show, I started riding a Harley-Davidson in real life,” Zuniga says of how playing the character influenced her. “She was brave and ballsy."
Advertisement
On Zuniga: MOTHER jeans. H&M Studio top. Intimissimi undergarments. Loeffler Randall Shoes. Fox & Bond earrings. LÖF rings. Jennifer Zeuner bracelets
Did you ever get a script and say, "I'm not going to be able to keep a straight face during this"? Josie: We would get the giggles.Laura: It was usually when we were supposed to be really serious and it was like, "Forget it."Josie: There’s a scene where I am on the phone with my mom and she tells me my grandma is sick. And I get off the phone and tell Sydney, "Gram has ammonia."Laura: Forget it. I couldn't finish it.Josie: And then she's like, "Is it under the kitchen sink?"Laura: We literally ruined the crew's day because we couldn't stop laughing.
Many of you dated or even married your co-stars. What was it like to have an onset relationship? Daphne: Josie, you were married to Rob [Estes], who was on it for a bit.Josie: It was fun working with him and knowing that I was about to have a baby with him. I was five months pregnant when the show ended.Laura: I dated Grant [Show] for a bit.Heather: And then you went, “Well, that was fun; I wonder what Doug [Savant] thinks of me. What I think I should do is marry this guy.” [Laura has been married to Savant since 1998.]Courtney: I dated Andrew [Shue]. We tried to keep it a secret. Because you don’t want to date, then break up, then not get along. Luckily we remained friends, and it was fine.Vanessa, your character, left after the first season. What did you take away from that experience? Vanessa: You are still a worthy, wonderful actor, whether you're on a TV show or not. I had to learn real quick, oh, okay this isn't personal, but it feels very personal. It made me just really go within, develop and practice my spiritual practice so that these things weren't defining me. So it was a really good lesson.
Credit: Yu TsaiLaura Leighton
as Sydney Andrews
Seasons 2-5
“She wanted to be powerful, and she was trying to find her way,” Leighton says of Sydney. “People would be like, ‘I hated your character,’ but I believe it was a love-to-hate because it was fun to watch. And it was certainly fun to play.”
On Leighton: RE/DONE jeans. Heidi Merrick blouse. Heirlome tank. The Frankie Shop bra. Sophia Webster shoes.
There have been rumors that another reboot is in the works. What can you share, and what do you think the storyline would be? Laura: I’ll be in flat shoes and a walker.Daphne: And orthotics. But sexy.Vanessa: Your home health guy is a hunk.Heather: Yes, young and lovely.Do you think any of the main Melrose couples — Billy and Allison, Jake and Jo and Peter and Amanda — are still together? Courtney: I like to think Billy and Allison ended up together. Re-watching that first season, we really did have nice chemistry.Daphne: I think Jake and Jo should be together, too. I liked Jo and Jake because he was very grounded and he was a good guy. But apparently, he slept with everyone else after she left.Heather: Peter and Amanda are on golf course somewhere. I don't know. I have no ... I can't because there's a personal relationship. He was always so fun to work with. They had good chemistry.
Where would you want to see your character now?Laura: I don't think Sydney really died. I think she's probably still trying to get it together, trying to have a good life and stay that way.Vanessa: I think Rhonda is a boss lady, she's a real estate mogul and she owns the building now.Daphne: Jo is a trauma therapist. I'm here to help these people heal through the earlier years on Melrose Place.Heather: Amanda went to Hollywood, became an actress, and developed a show based on her life, and it was a hit.Courtney: I can't decide if I want Alison to be sober. She was so much fun to play as a drunk. If she has just become a bar fly and she just wanders around showing up at things uninvited.Josie: I think Jane’s sworn off men, and she's killing it in her career.
From left: Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Leighton, Heather Locklear, Daphne Zuniga, Vanessa Estelle Williams and Josie BissettCredit: Yu Tsai
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Credits
Photographer: Yu Tsai
Cinematographer: Eric Longden
Set Design: Seth Cook
Production: Smith x Union
Hair (Locklear): Dominique Diaz / The Wall Group
Makeup (Locklear): Lisa Ashley
Nails (Locklear): Merrick Fisher / Celestine Agency
Stylist (Locklear): Kelly Johnson / Forward Artists
Hair + Makeup (Thorne-Smith): Genevieve Garner
Stylist (Thorne-Smith): Laura Sophie Cox / A-Frame Agency
Hair (Williams): Adrejhono Lewis
Makeup (Williams): Sherry Owens
Stylist (Williams): Jennifer Austin / The Wall Group
Hair + Makeup (Bissett): Bradford Rogne
Stylist (Bissettt): Laura Farris Schuffman
Hair (Zuniga): Sean James / Celestine Agency
Makeup (Zuniga): Justin Mayfield
Stylist (Zuniga): Laura Sophie Cox / A-Frame Agency
Hair (Leighton): Laura Rugetti / The Only Agency
Makeup (Leighton): Elie Maalouf / The Only Agency
Stylist (Leighton): Laura Sophie Cox / A-Frame Agency
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
