Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan remember Shannen Doherty and the Charmed legacy at FANEXPO Chicago 2024

Conventions are always a great way for fans to meet their favorite celebs, get a closer look at who they are and what stands out to them when it comes to their projects, and just celebrate some of our favorite shows and movies.

Thankfully this year, there was a Charmed reunion at FANEXPO Chicago 2024 with actresses Holly Marie Combs, who played Piper Halliwell, and Rose McGowan, who took on the role of Paige Halliwell, in attendance. The two stars of the hit show were there to meet fans by signing autographs and snapping pics. And, there was also a special panel.

Holly and Rose both spoke about the late Shannen Doherty, some of their favorite moments on the series, and the legacy of Charmed. Even if you weren't at the con, we were! And so here are the highlights from the lovely ladies' panel.

Remembering Shannen Doherty

Shannen Doherty, who played the beloved Prue Halliwell, was supposed to attend FANEXPOChicago with her fellow co-stars this year. She passed away July 13, 2024 after a years-long battle with cancer. Holly shared her thoughts on Shannen and her passing:

"Well, I'm angry right now so you don't wanna ask. I'm at the anger part in the grieving stage. Because at the moment, I'm really mad at her. Which is completely illogical, but it's gonna happen anyway. I think she did really want to be here [at the con] and she did really enjoy meeting people and I'm glad she got to be with us for the last year doing these shows, because it meant a lot to her. And I think, you know, people have heard me say this before, but she was so in love with the show and her character and the family that it created on screen and off."

At the last convention, Rose and Shannen were there together by themselves without Holly. They got the chance to connect even more, went out to dinner, and were up talking late into the evening until around 2 a.m. Holly is jokingly jealous that they experienced this without her. Rose read out a note she wrote to Holly. We also shared the video above (*Language Warning):

"The great place between life and death is a lonely fog. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Being lost between the worlds is no bueno. Heart with you, sending you strength. You will get out of the fog. It just takes a long time, unfortunately. The greater the love, the greater the fog. Look for the rays of sun in your life. Crawl across glass on bloody knees to get there to the other side. Grief takes deep, freaky courage, which I know you can muster. I know you are tired. Navigating while having to attend the responsibilities in life and animals can build a strange anger when you just want the world to stop so you can catch your breath. But this is what will keep you alive. Keep going. You are alive. It's okay that you get to live. You are allowed. But it f-ing sucks, and it will f-ing suck until it f-ing sucks a little less. I'm always with you my sister. I am here. Ever yours, R."

The legacy of Charmed

• Rose and Holly talk about the sister dynamic on the series. In real life, Rose is the oldest of her siblings while Holly is an only child. It was interesting for them to play the youngest, the middle and the oldest, respectively, on the show that was different from real life.
• Charmed has stuck with people, to this day. So the ladies were asked about what it's like to have that standing with the audience. Holly: "I mean, it's really cool. It's nothing we ever expected to happen because we always felt like the black sheep of the family when it came to the network. But I met a [young] Piper yesterday. She was cute. Cuter than me." Rose: "I love the word legacy, just as a word and its meaning is very beautiful. And there's something about magically, pun completely intended, being woven into the fabric of people's lives. It's an incredible honor."
• Rose liked the message of doing things for no personal gain and there's consequences to using their powers for that. She thinks that translates to real life as well.

What was a memorable episode for you?

Holly: For me the most memorable is the last, there was a lot going on there. I'm really happy we got to wrap it up the way we did. A lot of shows don't get that opportunity. They find out they're cancelled too late. We knew we were being cancelled. So I'm happy we got to do it the way that we did, we got to bring everybody back.

Rose: I think the way they wrapped up the series was really beautiful, a good honoring. I liked "A Paige from the Past," just personally. I like origin stories. I always liked it when they were kind of deeper, dramatic, and emotional episodes. But what was also great about Charmed is then all of a sudden, you'd be throwing a demon against the wall and making a joke. That's just how we roll.

What was the most difficult scene to shoot emotionally and physically?

Holly: I think everybody knows what was emotionally the most difficult for me. That would be the episode we'll be skipping over in the [House of Halliwell] podcast. Physically, I don't know. They were always trying to drown me or set me on fire. Threw me through a wall or two, maybe three. Physically, it was always kinda tough. And when we were young, we thought we were tough. So we were trying to do as many of our stunts as we could, or that they would let us. So thankfully we were in our twenties.

Rose: For me, the difficulty was not so much a single episode as much as sustaining energy across many episodes. That was kind of what the award should be given for.

Holly: Network television is the toughest gig in Hollywood because it's nine months out of the year, five days a week, 12 to 14, sometimes 18 hours, a day. It's a tough one.

What is you favorite power?

Holly: As I said, I'm angry. So blowing up things.

Rose: I've said it so many times and I still, after all these years, I get on the airplane, I'm like, why if I can orb? I'm forced to suffer through this flight Where's my orbing power? That to me was always the best power.

Are there any specific arcs that you wanted your character to explore more?

Holly: Divorce. No, don't get upset. I love BK [Brian Krause]. I know everybody loves Leo. But, you know. There was neighbor Dan.

Rose: I didn't understand why Paige would switch jobs a lot. But what I do love about that was that when I enter the show and the very first day the candles scene, they're like, now you orb. And I'm like, what's that? No one explained it. So I was learning at the same time Paige was learning. And so I thought all of her arcs were actually really kind of perfect for her. The magic school was a little confusing. And the Avatars. But in hindsight, she should have been an animal trainer. There's an episode where they had a bulldog humping her leg. I would be saying my lines. And in between the lines [the trainer is] like 'hump her Harley, hump her." And I'm walking and dragging this bulldog, 'hump her Harley, hump her." I'm like, wtf is my life? [Laughs]

If you'd like to see more videos of the Charmed cast members, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan from FANEXPOChicago, be sure to head over to our X (Twitter) page to watch them all!