‘90210’ casting news: Is Ethan saying goodbye to the Zip Code?

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‘EW’ is reporting that when ‘90210’ returns next fall for its sophomore season, it will be short one West Beverly High School student. According to the report, Ethan Ward, played by Dustin Milligan, will return for a few episodes to wrap up his storyline before riding off into the sunset for good.

This news is not shocking. Milligan, 23, told the Times in January that he’s been restless playing the popular boy toy and has been disappointed that his character’s back story has not been shared with viewers.

‘There’s so many different characters and storylines and everybody’s storyline has to slowly develop and work,’ he said. ‘For me, a lot of Ethan’s storylines have been centered around Annie—Naomi for a while—but mainly around Annie. But coming up, we have an episode with Aimee Teegarden from ‘Friday Night Lights’ and what happens is that she changes his perspective. She opens his eyes. He was living in his own little bubble, especially with Annie. It’s exciting because I think people are going to start to learn more about Ethan and more about what he wants out of life. He’s going to start to pull away from the whole Beverly Hills excess and extravagance.’

During the conversation at Kokomo Cafe--a.k.a. the ‘Peach Pit’--the Canadian native was very candid about his feelings about the ups and downs in production and the change in leadership, even stating that he didn’t think ‘the network knew exactly what they wanted.’

Did that get him fired? Probably not. Milligan was starting to accept then that ‘90210’ maybe just wasn’t his cup of tea and was taking some valuable lessons from his experience.

‘Teen dramas are not my favorite kind of show,’ he said. ‘It’s not my genre. The hardest thing is staying really excited about it because I’m not always eager to do some of the cheesier side. It’s my own [stuff] and I know it. I just have learned not to judge the content and judge what I do with it instead. That’s just a lesson. Working for network television is not always as creatively freeing as you’d want, so it’s a challenge sometimes to stay pumped about it. But I feel so lucky to have the opportunity. It’s funny because when I was in high school, I wished that this is what high school was like. I mean, Ethan makes out with everybody!’

Not for much longer, it sounds like.

--Maria Elena Fernandez

Photo: CW