Gabrielle Carteris lied about her age to land her role in 'Beverly Hills, 90210'.
Gabrielle Carteris
The 58-year-old actress was 29 when she was cast as 16-year-old Andrea Zuckerman but told producers she was only 21 on the advice of her lawyers - and show bosses later suggested she wouldn't have got the part if she'd been truthful.
She admitted to People magazine: "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.' "
In season four of the teen drama, Andrea fell pregnant with her daughter Hannah and Gabrielle - who has daughters Kelsey, 25, and Mollie, 20, with husband Charles Isaacs - admitted she'd asked for the storyline because of her own desire to start a family.
She said: "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."
But the storyline did cause some public backlash.
Gabrielle recalled: "Somebody wrote an article about, 'How dare Andrea get pregnant? It's high school, she's supposed to be a smart girl.'
"I responded back in an editorial, 'You know, smart people make mistakes. Smart people make decisions about the choices they make in their lives, and this is real life.' "
Tagged in Aaron Spelling