Tori Spelling Originally Turned Down the Lead Role inAbducted in the Everglades— Here's Why She Later Took It on (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Tori Spelling in ‘Abducted in the Everglades.'.Photo:Lifetime

Lifetime

Tori Spellingsays she originally turned down the lead role in her latest film, Lifetime’sAbducted in the Everglades.

“I was offered this movie, but it didn’t line up because I was doingDancing with the Stars, and I was committed to that. You never know how long you’re going to be on for,” the actress, 51, tells PEOPLE exclusively of her stint on the reality show’s season 33, during which she wasvoted off early on.

“I didn’t expect to be eliminated the second show, and I was like, ‘Oh, goodness,’ but the silver lining, the Everglade lining, was this movie was still there, and they were like, ‘Oh, we really wanted Tori to star in it,’ and I was available,” she continues. “So I went right after being eliminated [fromDWTS] and dove right into the movie.”

“I believe there [are] no coincidences in life, and everything happens when it’s supposed to happen, and it’s your journey,” theBeverly Hills, 90210alum adds.

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Tori Spelling in June 2023.Andrew J Cunningham/Getty

Andrew J Cunningham/Getty

Abducted in the Evergladesfollows Indiana mom Beverly, who travels to Florida “when her college-aged daughter goes missing while on Spring Break down in Miami,” according to a plot synopsis.

There, she teams up with “rugged boatman Ray as they search the vast Everglades,” the synopsis continues.

According to Spelling, this role was perfect for her because “I love a good woman in peril movie, and it’s nice to know that I can still be, like, kicking butt and doing my jam on a Lifetime movie. I loved it.”

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Spelling tells PEOPLE that she would “send picturesto my kidsdaily, and it looked like movie magic.” (She shares five children — Liam, Stella, Hattie, Finn and Beau — withDean McDermott.)

“I think 70% of the entire movie we filmed actually in the Everglades. I did all my own stunts. I got to drive an airboat. It was amazing,” she adds.

Disney/Eric McCandless

Spelling says the movie also “spoke” to her as a mom, explaining, “What this mother goes through in this movie is every mother’s worst nightmare.”

“It was a great script, and everyone connected to it,” the star adds. “We all became instant friends. It was just like one of those projects where you’re like, ‘Gosh, I’m so glad this worked out. This is exactly what I needed.’ It was just like a magic of a production.”

Abducted in the Evergladespremieres on Lifetime on March 2 at 8 p.m. EST / 5 p.m. PST.

source: people.com