Parade October 18th 2010
Shannen Doherty has not only played more than a few bad girls, she earned the reputation of being one in real life.

Now, the 39-year-old actress, who first grabbed tabloid headlines while playing Brenda on Beverly Hills, 90210, is looking back on her misadventures in her first book Badass: A Hard-Earned Guide to Living Life with Style and (the Right) Attitude.

She tells Parade's Jeanne Wolf about her determination to change her image and learn from her mistakes.

Escaping her past.

"I have a rep. Did I earn it? Yeah, I did. But, after awhile you sort of try to shed that rep because you're kind of a different person. You've evolved and all of the bad things you've done in your life have brought you to a much better place."

Maybe she was born too soon.

"The irony is that, if I was doing the same stuff now, I wouldn't be getting the attention. Like I never did a sex tape. I never didn't wear panties and flash a camera. You sort of stop and go, 'Wow, it's sort of what's acceptable now.' And, then, they always have excuses. When I made a mistake, I would admit to it. These girls don't seem to see their own mistakes, much less learn from them."

Like maybe Lindsay Lohan?

"It's such a horrific situation that I don't even know what to say. I just have kind of tried to tune it out. I totally understand that it's newsworthy, but it just seems so tragic to me. I mean, Lindsay's dad giving a press conference at the end was just like, 'Oh, my God.' I've been acting for 29 years. My parents have never given a press conference, ever. It all seems so exploitative."

Advice to LiLo.

"I think that it's still about having faith in yourself. You've hit some road bumps and maybe they made you fall down and you've got some gravel and asphalt in your face because things are that bad. But have faith because you can get better and you can become the woman that I'm sure you want to be."

Maybe she should read Doherty's book.

"Badass is a little tongue in cheek. But, at the same time, it's very poignant because it's sort of telling the things that I went through and the mistakes that I made when I was in my 20s. I had this amazing career in front of me and because of some things I did, my career really suffered. Thank God that I've had some second chances."

Defining the title.

"You can either be a bad girl in life, or you can become a badass. It means owning who you are and being compassionate and knowing when you've made a mistake and not repeating it. And, also not being afraid to kick some ass and take names."

Why she's avoiding the blogosphere.

"Perez Hilton has been very nice to me, so I clicked on his site recently to see some reader comments about me. The majority of them had really nasty things to say. I was devastated. So I called a friend of mine who said 'Everybody has haters. It doesn't matter how huge of a star you are. People want to take other people down.' My mom has always told me, 'You know what kind of person you are, so hold your head up high and just keep believing in yourself. But it's hard, especially when you click on a bunch of haters."

The woman she loves.

"My book gives a couple of examples of celebrities I really admire who I think are badasses. One of them is Angelina Jolie. When she was in her 20's, she had the vial of blood and the knives and everything. You were like, 'Okay, she's brilliant, she's talented, she's stunning, but what about the weird stuff?' Now, you see the progression that she's made as a mature woman. Angelina is an inspiration."

Just saying no to nips and tucks.

"When I was a kid I would go out in the sun and scrunch up my face. My mom would say, 'What are you doing?' I was like, 'I want crow's feet.' And she's like, 'You're not going to love them when you're in your 30's.' She was right, because I have them and I can't stand them. But I refuse to go get Botox or do any of that stuff because I think it's really important that you actually be able to move your face."

As for the men in her life.

"I've had some bad relationships and two failed marriages. It's like, 'Why did I pick these men?' I guess it was about what I thought I could do to help them. But, in truth, I was only hurting myself. It's like my second husband Rick Salomon. After we split, he was on those sex tapes with Paris Hilton. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't love him even though the bad times sure outweighed the good. But, like any badass, I think I've learned from my mistakes."