'Charmed' Star Reveals Executives Would Monitor Her Weight Every Season

Despite the global phenomenon of Charmed, Rose McGowan has repeatedly come forward to dispel the illusion that the experience was glamorous, often speaking out about the intense scrutiny and how executives would “inspect their product” each season.

In a recent episode of the We Need to Talkpodcast, the 52-year-old went into a deep dive of how she landed the role of Paige Matthews and how she was kept in line. With the growing fame of Charmed, McGowan admits the “super corporate” dynamics made it difficult.

“[They would] circle around me to check my weight when I came back from season to season,” she revealed while calling their tactic a way to “inspect their product.”

McGowan explained that coming from a predominantly film background, landing a leading role on Charmed, and stepping in as a replacement for Shannen Doherty, put her under intense scrutiny.

She recalls an incident where “five white dodos in their suits” said they fired one of the employees in the art department she was friends with after they were caught smoking “a joint.” McGowan was shocked to hear their response if she ever did the same.

“They were like, ‘If you go work at a pharmacy, we’ll sue you. No matter what job you get, we’ll take your wages for the rest of your life and then we’ll go after your family,'” she recalls.

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McGowan joined Charmed in 2001 and stayed until 2006, with her character having been a maternal half sister to Piper and Phoebe. The Scream actor admits that at the time, someone taking over a major leading role was a big deal when it came to a TV series with a developed fanbase.

When asked if what she experienced on set was normal at the time, McGowan says it was seen as “chill” behavior and “completely fine” at the time. Since leaving Hollywood, she has no idea how the industry has changed.