Shenae Grimes can't contain her love of Beverly Hills, 90210.

"Oh, my God, if I ever saw Luke Perry, I... I don't know what I would do," the brunette gushes, putting her hands over her face. "Those sideburns! Oh, the sideburns."

Next to her, co-star Rob Estes is observing her outburst with an amused look on his face. The two are in Toronto's Elgin Theatre, having just finished appearing at Global TV's upfronts presentation. They've just come off stage after officially announcing that 90210, the much-hyped spinoff of the original Aaron Spelling series, will be a part of the network's fall schedule. Grimes has landed the coveted role of Annie Wilson, the Brenda Walsh for a new generation, while Estes has been cast as Annie's father, Harry, who also happens to be the new principal of West Beverly Hills High.

Two things are immediately evident: one, the new 90210 is far better than either Grimes or Estes suspected; and two, they are in awe of show creators Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah.

"I read the script and it's really good. It shocked me," admits Estes."“I read some of the scenes, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, I've been wanting to say that.' Harry says what I would want to be able to say to my kids."

"With shows like Gossip Girl and The O.C., they glamorize it so much and it's, like, 'Oh, so-and-so has bulimia today! They cried about it and it's all said and done and wrapped up.' And that’s not reality!” Grimes interjects. "Kids are growing up so much faster now than they ever were before and Gabe and Jeff really want to bring that to life. True drama and not over-exaggerated drama. Not all 'ooooh,' with the long stares and the dramatic drum beats."

Being associated with the original series has been both a blessing and a challenge for 90210. Everyone involved wants to honour the show that was loved by millions, but they don't want to produce a carbon copy of it, either. Show veterans Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty are returning to help bridge the gap between the old and the new, but the cast and crew are being very careful not to rely on the outlandish storylines and over-the-top acting that became synonymous with the first Beverly Hills, 90210.

"Everybody's such a fan of the original, obviously," Grimes acknowledges. "It was a cult classic, so why not run with it and make something new, bring something else to the table? I think we're going to dive a little deeper but it's still going to have that gang feeling that everyone wants."

Adds Estes: "It needed a time change. It needed an age. I think Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah and [Veronica Mars creator] Rob Thomas, who wrote it, they really kicked it into this next generation. It's funny. And I know my generation as a parent has not been represented well yet. I'm so much more involved in my kids' lives in a very different way than either of my parents were and the parents are integral in this and I don't think they have been in a lot of other shows. I think they've been missed."

Producers also managed to lure a surprisingly talented group of actors to the cast, including Arrested Development's Jessica Walter as the alcoholic grandma, Full House's Lori Loughlin as the former Olympic athlete mom and The Wire's Tristan Wilds as the Wilsons' adopted son. At the mention of Wilds' name, Estes is the one who starts gushing.

"Tristan is an exceptional actor. There's something about him, his presence, that's so pure. And they've given him a past. In the script, they've given him some anger problems," Estes says. "I love that it's coming from this pure... and it sounds stupid, but this almost angelic soul, which it is. He just has that. On The Wire, he had that. He's a tough kid. You think, 'I really want him to do well.'"

Estes himself is an Aaron Spelling veteran, having spent six years in the '90s on Melrose Place, another spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210. Since both Melrose Place and the new show take place in the same fictional universe, this means that there are now two people in that world who look and sound exactly the same and yet are not related – prompting some to wonder whether there will be any kind of "evil twin" storyline in the future. Now 45, Estes hopes those plots are behind him.

"No. F*ck, no. I sure hope not," he says, shaking his head. "No, no, no. [Melrose Place] was fun for when it was, but then done and out."

As for Grimes, the 18-year-old isn't a complete stranger to teen shows, having cut her teeth on the beloved Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, playing confused good girl Darcy, a character she admits is not too far off from her role on 90210.

"They're fairly similar characters," says Grimes. "Once again, I'm playing the cute, nice one who's going to mess around a little bit. But Darcy was a good girl because she thought that's what she was supposed to do. I think Annie's a little stronger of a girl, but she's certainly going to get into some trouble."

Grimes also can't resist pointing out the parallels between Annie's life and her own – specifically, finding herself suddenly transplanted into the Southern California setting.

"Hollywood's this big, glamorous place and it's really a foreign world for me - and it's the same thing for Annie," she explains. "She's a Kansas City girl coming into L.A. and that whole transition is very shocking for her and very difficult for her to wrap her head around. It's very true to life right now. I feel her. I certainly relate. I'm still trying to grasp the fact that I'm going to be on the new 90210."

So is 90210 going to live up to the hype?

"We're pretty confident, yeah," says Grimes, grinning. "We're pretty confident."

Estes is adamant that any success the spinoff achieves will be mainly due to Sachs and Judah's involvement.

"With Gabe and Jeff, the way they got their heads around this and the deal they made with Paramount Productions was such that they really got to do it their way. And they knocked it out of the f*ckin' park," he says. "I know 90210 was a juggernaut, but between the script and what I've seen so far, I can completely see that this will be big."


90210 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. ET on Global.

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.