three imaginary girls interview
Jason Leaves His Famous Zip Code
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/1115/220.html
Priestley Says it's Too Early for Bernardo Film
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=8c8aceb32d6635e9
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C87209%7C1%7C,00.html
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5trucalling19w.htm
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/9790677.htm?1c
pics and description of Jason's resort
www.onlinecasino.com interview
http://www.elitestv.com/pub/2004/Sep/EEN415af5cf0435c.html
http://www.amiannoying.com/2002/view.aspx?ID=588
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/talkingmovies_archive_46_2003.asp?pageid=665&co_pageid=5
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/03/12/125623.php
"I Want to Marry Ryan Banks Site"
A Bunch of Articles all in one
http://www.topix.net/who/jason-priestley
interview with his father, Lorne Priestley
http://www.indiewire.com/onthescene/fes_97NYFF_970929-1.html
http://www.starmagazine.com/news/9914"
http://www.tvbarn.com/tickerarchives/017462.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002-08-13-priestley_x.htm
http://bnl.samediff.net/articles/art-007.htm
http://www.newprophecy.net/more5.htm
http://chazm.com/cmb/archives/Detailed/46.html
Jason Priestley heads to couseling
Jason sacreficed on the 11th day
Jason Priestley was no part-time racer
Jason Priestley greets directing in 'Goodbye'
Die Mommie Die review from Zap2it.com
snl script for 'The Life And Times of Johnny Hildo'
Jason Priestley's spine fractured in speedway crash
Saved Internet Articles
These are the articles I saved on my computer and printed out. Now I have copied and pasted them all here for you.
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The Jason Priestley Interview
by Michael Szymanski
February 18, 1998
Get the inside scoop on gay icon Jason Priestley as he talks about his starring role in Love and Death On Long Island, the debut feature film from British gay director Richard Kwietniowski.
Go to the PQ Online Cinema and watch Kwietniowski's 1991 short, The Cost of Love, in QuickTime and RealVideo.
Love and Death on Long Island
Jason Priestley slouches in his chair and sucks from his Marlboro Light, looking more dashingly James Dean-ish than Brandon in "Beverly Hills, 90210" ever has. He fiddles with his silver lighter as he contemplates the question. "Does it bother me if people think I'm gay?" Priestley winces his deep blue eyes and takes another drag. "I don't know. If people think I am gay, yeah, hey that doesn't bother me. Not at all. What would people think? To me I am such a heterosexual guy. It doesn't even, I don't even think about it."
It comes with being a celebrity, especially a teen icon. He's too cute, he's too nice, he must be gay. Rumors follow Priestley a lot. There's the Luke Perry-and-Jason love triangle story when they lived as roommates a brief time, their bar-hopping and dancing together and the speculation of the size of Priestley's surprising appendage during the nude pool scene in Calendar Girl. Priestley puts on his best lispy whiny whisper, "There used to be rumors about me and Luke. Jason and Luke were at a rave last night. They were kissing in the corner. I don't hear so many anymore." He giggles.
"But I did see the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life," he laughs as he describes it. "My sister brought me this card and it was like a greeting card and on the front of the card there was a five-by-seven picture and someone had taken the Dylan doll (Perry's character) and the Brandon doll and put them so the two dolls are kissing. The two dolls are making out in the doorway!" Priestley's eyes are in full wrinkle as he laughs hysterically. "It's the funniest thing I ever saw in my life. I said, 'This is huge! This is classic!' And both of them had their sleeves rolled up -- and the outfits! It was perfect. It was the funniest thing I ever -- both their arms are wrapped around each other and there heads are, oh god, it's very funny."
He composes himself. He takes another drag of his cigarette. "I'm having fun with this interview," he smiles. "It's nice to be able to relate." In Cannes at the film festival reporters grilled him about whether his role in his latest film as a movie star stalked by a bisexual journalist would turn Priestley into an icon in the gay community. "Gosh, I thought I already was," Priestley smiles.
He's far away from his home base near Beverly Hills because he's giving a dozen private interviews in his penthouse hotel room at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting his dark, quirky, delightful film Love and Death on Long Island, opening soon nationwide. Despite pouring his third cup of coffee and filling half an ashtray with butts, the skinny devastatingly seductive actor is finally letting his high- coiffed hair down. He has known this interviewer for years -- sharing cigarettes in the bathroom of an AIDS fundraiser, hanging out at the racetrack when he's driving, visits to the "90210" and Calendar Girl sets, watching him play hockey at charity events, going to the premiere of his most underrated work Coldblooded and bumping into each other at many Hollywood parties. Suddenly, he's talking about fashion, he compares his just-tailored Hugo Boss jacket with this reporter's blue Boss jacket. He likes the shoes.
Priestley's a Virgo, turning 30 this year, and usually a bit self-conscious. Now, he is alone in the room without a publicist and is suddenly fearless about answering the tough questions. What does he do when guys come on to him? "Um, That doesn't really happen to me," he says. "I am not really in situations where that does happen." Aw come on, that's impossible. Guys must come on to him all the time. "OK," he admits, "Sometimes. If it does happen it's fine, but it's not my thing. But, it doesn't upset me at all." Would he handle it tenderly, much like his character does in the film when the older journalist professes his love? "Oh absolutely. Absolutely," Priestley says, proud of his breakthrough film role. "No. It's not like, 'Hey man fuck you, get away from me.' It's more like, 'Hey, thank you but I am not interested.' "
If he were closeted, would Priestley come out? "I think it's great now that we seem to be in an era where it's OK to be gay and I think that the society in North America has had more of a problem with it than any other society," Priestley pontificates. "I think the moral majority and religious right have been shrinking and having not quite as loud a voice in America, and all of a sudden people are coming to their own realizations going, `Joe down the street is gay and he's a great guy.' "
Priestley puts on his best Southern red-neck voice. "I think that when we don't have these people from the moral majority standing up and saying, `These homosexuals are going to burn in hell for what they're doing' then all of a sudden I think people will come to their own realizations that `Wow, I have a lot of friends who are gay and they are all really nice people and I really like spending time with them.' I think that people are coming to that realization all by themselves and I think that that's what is making it OK."
This reporter recalls chatting with "90210" producer Aaron Spelling about all the closeted actors he works with on his shows and how he's encouraging them to come out of the closet now. Spelling wouldn't reveal who. "Of course it's Jason and Luke, I know it," Priestley says.
But could a guy come out and still play a leading man? "That's a good question," Priestley ponders. "Can Ellen now go back and play a heterosexual woman in a movie and have people watch it? I don't know. I would hope so. (He pauses.) I would hope so." The actor has talked to closeted actor friends many times, recently at a dinner. "It's got to be horrible to lead that double life," he says. "I can't imagine what that is like. I can't, that's got to be just not much fun at all. But if a male ever came out and said, `Yes I am gay' would the world accept him then in heterosexual roles? The answer to that is: I don't know. I think it has yet to be seen."
In an interview with In Magazine from London, openly gay director and writer Richard Kwietniowski says he cast Priestley specifically because he was a heart-throb on television, and he wanted the actor to spoof his own persona. "He's handsome to everyone, and he got the self parody and took it further," Kwietniowski says. "I wanted to make this a love story, it doesn't matter if the two characters are men."
In fact, it becomes Harold and Maude if they were opposite sexes, Priestley points out. "I love how the John Hurt character is discovering love for the first time, even though he's been married," Kwietniowski says. "It's like buying a porn magazine for the first time, like being a teenager for the first time." Kwietniowski says it took almost four years to get the project made, and his co-producer finally admits that the director's sexuality perhaps delayed the project. "People are afraid there's propaganda or a hidden agenda somewhere," Kwietniowski says. "I have two other screenplays, and there's some gay content in them, and people say it's hard to tell real stories with gay content. Oh, of course you can make Oscar Wilde or plays like Bent into films because they're proven hits, but not a true, real story." The point of his film, Kwietniowski says, is to make the audience feel, "Oh fuck, I relate to this feeling of being a fish out of water, of being vulnerable, of saying `I love you' when there's no turning back."
Priestley says his character may have it in him to be bisexual, but rejects the older man's advances. "My character of Ronnie was very sensitive about it," Priestley says. "He didn't slap Giles, he didn't just go, `Hey fuck you man' and walk out. I think that Ronnie had a lot of caring and compassion about him."
Meanwhile, Priestley is looking for caring in his own life, after breaking up with a long-term girlfriend recently. Almost whining, he says, "My relationship ended about four months ago man which was devastating, it was tough and I don't think I'm still completely over it."
So he does a 45-minute workout routine every morning: skip rope, hit the heavy bag, speed bike. Then, driving a GT1 race car takes a lot out because it's up to 140 degrees in the car. Things are changing for him at "90210" now that everyone's moved into the Walsh House. It's kind of a Melrose Walsh House Place. Priestly knows, "Someday it's going to end and I'll miss the people. Hopefully we'll stay in touch and continue to be friends."
Meanwhile, the rumors fly. The latest was when visiting his father for a night at home in Vancouver where he grew up. "There was this story that I had been at this bar picking up chicks and I was having dinner with a woman and another woman came in to the restaurant and yelled `How many women can you sleep with in a week?' and slapped me. And the girl I was having dinner with stood up and said, `You dog' and walked out and the two girls left together leaving me alone in the restaurant. I found that very comical."
It didn't happen. His dad found the story on the Internet and faxed him with a note: "When did you find time to squeeze all this in?" Priestley smiles. "He thought it was very funny. He thought, 'Wow, my son, all right. He's with me all night, he had about four hours without me and he squeezed in eight women, that a boy!' "
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Don't call him Brandon
By Amy Reiter
Jason Priestley talks about playing a bisexual rogue in "Die Mommie Die," the car crash that nearly cost him his life and the mixed blessing of his "90210" fame.
Nov. 4, 2003
Talking to Jason Priestley is a little like talking to that sweet, good-lookin' jock we all remember from high school. The actor, now 34 but best known for playing young Brandon Walsh on that '90s show -- that is, Aaron Spelling's now-classic "Beverly Hills 90210," is polite and even bouncily enthusiastic, particularly if the conversation turns to sports, but is clearly uncomfortable thinking too hard or talking too long about himself and his career.
Salon interviewed Priestley during a junket for gender-bender Charles Busch's strange, satirical faux-noir "Die Mommie Die," in which the former TV star plays actor Tony Parker, who is said to have an "11-inch dong" or, as one character puts it, the "biggest cock this side of the San Andreas fault" and who carries on simultaneous affairs with a mother (Busch), her daughter (Natasha Lyonne) and her teenage son (Stark Sands). As the well-endowed Parker, Priestley utters lines like "You can't disregard me like one of your false eyelashes" with admirably solemn conviction.
"Die Mommie Die" -- a curiously campy choice for such a hunky, lunky, mainstream guy -- was Priestley's last film before the dramatic August 2002 race-car accident that almost took him out of commission altogether. While taking practice laps at the Kentucky Speedway, the die-hard driver crashed head-on into a wall at nearly 180 mph and suffered a spinal fracture, a closed head injury, a broken nose and broken bones in both feet. He says he's now completely recovered.
And hey, even after a full day of interviews, Priestley does look healthy, fresh and frisky, shifting around on a chair in a New York hotel suite. He later confesses that he'd much rather have spent the day indulging his latest passion, wakeboarding. He wears a tan suit and sea-blue shirt (no tie), his hair is lightly frosted blond, his facial hair (a Van Dyke) is trimmed just so, his skin is tan and unblemished, and his teeth are super-white and super-straight. His famous blue eyes zoom around the room's accumulated beigeness, as if seeking an escape route. His publicist has ruled questions about "the accident" totally, completely off limits, but after a few minutes of actor talk, Priestley can't help bringing it up himself.
Q: What made you want to play a bisexual rogue like Tony Parker in "Die Mommie Die"?
A: As an actor I seem to be drawn to characters more than anything else. And Tony Parker, to me, was just one of those characters that was so interesting and so different than anything I'd ever played before that I really jumped at the opportunity to play him. I just knew that he was going to be so much fun -- that, in that mid-'60s bad actor way, it was going to be so much fun to play those scenes -- that I jumped all over it.
Q: Do you tend to pick your roles based on what you've done previously and with a sense of where you want your career to go?
A: I sort of try not to repeat myself. I find that it's more interesting not to repeat myself. Maybe that has to do with the fact that I played the same character for 249 episodes on TV and that sort of repetition -- maybe I'm rebelling against that type of repetition. I've always tried to play very different characters in the movies I've chosen.
Q: Do you think the blatant sexuality of the character and bisexuality of the character was a risky choice?
A: Not at all. I don't think so. I thought it was fun. I thought it was great.
Q: Well, I imagine that, at one time, playing a character that dedicatedly -- albeit campily -- participates in both gay and straight sex, might have been considered kind of a risky choice for an actor. When a mainstream, popular actor like you takes this kind of role, does that indicate something of a change in how people are reacting to gay roles on the screen?
A: I think so. I mean, if you look at the success of "Will and Grace" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and of many types of entertainment that classically have been labeled as "gay," they're much more mainstream now. I think that speaks well of us as a society, that we're much more accepting of other things and other ideas and not so judgmental of people that are maybe a little bit different than us. I think it kind of gives you hope for the world, doesn't it? Maybe a little bit?
Q: Of course. When you took this role, was it a conscious decision to say, "You know what? I can afford to do this now"?
A: It never entered my mind that I was doing anything other than that I was playing a really good character in a great movie. It was never even a concern or a worry or anything.
Q: That's great to hear. What was the actual experience like, working on the film?
A: It was great. It was a great place to go to work every day. Mark Rucker, the director, made it a really, really fun place to go and be creative and to do really fun things and the rest of the cast -- it was such a talented ensemble -- we really all had a great time sort of finding the levels of the scenes.
Q: What was the biggest challenge you encountered while making it?
A: There was nothing particularly challenging. It was really enjoyable. Usually in a movie there'll be one or two scenes where you go, "Oh man, I'm really dreading doing this scene" or "Oh God, I can't believe I'm doing this," but there was none of that on this movie. During rehearsals there was a lot of laughter, but obviously when the camera was rolling we had a lot of work to do, so we just got down to it.
Q: So were there silly, wacky things going on, on-set?
A: We didn't have time. We shot this movie in 18 days, so there was no time for high jinks or anything. We just had to [slaps thigh three times] get to work.
Q: Did you base your portrayal on any specific actors or characters?
A:Yes. Tony Parker was a little Tab Hunter, a little Sterling Hayden, a little Charlton Heston and a little Bill Shatner.
Q: Did you do any research? Watching old films in the genre?
A: No, I'm very familiar with the history of film and with the actors that came before me. And as I was reading the part and finding the character, those were the guys that I leaned on and emulated here and there. I took little bits here and there and made a strange melaaaaange.
Q: And what about --
A: I'm still trying to find a movie where I can just play Van Heflin, because he was awesome. I'm just trying to, like, find that one role where it's like, dude, this is Van Heflin, and then just do it. I don't know. One of these days.
Q: You've been doing some work in the theater -- "Side Man" on the West End with Edie Falco, and this is a very theatrical movie. Charles Busch, who wrote "Die Mommie Die" and stars in it, is primarily a stage actor. Do you feel like you have to prove that you're a serious actor after having been on TV for so long?
A: Yeah, well, that's the battle. Anytime you're on a show like "90210" that was so popular, and so popular with the young people, a lot of people just want to write you off and dismiss you -- "Aw, that's that guy from that fucking show" -- and they don't want to take you seriously. So yeah, you really have to work hard and prove your mettle as it were, all over again. That's just the way it is. People like to categorize everything and everyone. It's very easy to categorize all of us people from "90210" and say, "Oh, those are those kids from that show," whereas I'm 34 years old, you know, and I'm not a kid anymore. Nor was I then; I was a full-grown adult just playing a young person on television. And sometimes it's an uphill battle, but it's one that I fight every day. It's just the way it is.
Q: Do you think you'll ever get to a point where you can stop fighting that battle?
A: At some point I hope I will, where that sort of negativity and negative view of me will end, but I have no control over that. All I can do is what I can do and all I can do is keep working in interesting movies and keep playing interesting roles to the best of my ability.
Q: Do you feel like it's all negative? I mean it's opened doors for you ...
A: It's also closed a lot of doors for me. I mean, a lot of people look at me and all they choose to see is that I played Brandon Walsh on television and that's their thing, that's fine.
Q: You played hockey for a long time. Are you still playing?
A: I just started about a month ago. Obviously my feet were broken so badly in the crash that it took me a while to get back on the ice.
Q: Do you still have a lot of physical effects left over from the crash?
A: No. None whatsoever.
That's amazing!
A: Yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine.
Q: This was the last movie you made before the crash, right?
A: Yeah, we wrapped this movie about seven weeks before the hit that I had. It was my last movie before race season. Because I said to everybody, "Look, guys, I'm racing this year and I've got to take 15 weeks off to go race." And I was third in the championship when I went in. Goddamn it!
Q: Are you going to go back to racing?
A: No, no, I'm not.
Q: You're not? Because you were saying for a while that you thought you might.
A: Well, I was thinking about maybe doing some testing this winter, but no.
Q: Do you feel like the accident changed your perspective?
A: Well, you can't go through something like that without it changing you somewhat. I mean, I know a lot of people, when they go through something like that, they find God or they find religion or they find an acoustic guitar, whatever they find. It changed my perspective on things a little bit, but it really didn't change me on the whole. A little bit, it slowed me down a little bit. Made me a little more choosy about where to expend my energy and where to spend my time.
Q: Do you think it will affect the way you choose roles?
A: Yeah, I'm more careful now about the roles that I choose and the reasons that I choose them. Sometimes in the past I would take movies where I was like, "Ah, whatever, I'll just go to work." Whereas now, if it's not something that I really want to do, I don't do it. I'd rather just stay home. Because time is precious.
salon.com
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ZIP CODE CHANGE FOR JASON PRIESTLEY
A year after the car crash that nearly killed him at an Infiniti Pro Series race in Lexington, Ky., Jason Priestley is still walking with a limp. But that's not keeping the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star down. He's busy house-hunting in the $1.5 million range in Hollywood Hills -- where, in case you're wondering, the zip code is 90046.
Published on: September 12, 2003
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Crybaby Jason Priestley Begs: Don't Arrest Me!
December 21, 1999
After crashing his $100,000 Porsche into a pole - and flunking a roadside
sobriety test - actor Jason Priestley pleaded tearfully with
police not to haul him off to jail on a DUI charge, sources reveal.
"I don't know why these things always happen to me," an eye-
witness heard the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star blubber to cops.
"Do you really have to take me in? It was just an accident. Can't my lawyers take
care of this?" But the moaning didn't make a dent on the LAPD officers. They cuffed him,
loaded him into a cruiser, and took him to the Hollywood station, where he was booked
on suspicion of felony drunk driving. he was held overnight, the released on $50,000 bail.
Priestley wasn't hurt in the 12:15am smashup near his Hollywood Hills home.
But his passenger, pal Chad Cook, 27, an aspiring actor, would up in the
hospital with a broken arm. Priestley's silver Porsche 911
was totaled and a parked car was also badly damaged.
Still, sources at the scene reveal the 30-year-old actor appeared worried only about
himself. "Jason seemed to think that because he was a Hollywood star, he was above
the law," says witness Derin Thorpe, who lives nearby. "At first he acted like he didn't
care about the accident and was just standing there smoking cigarettes and talking on his
cell phone."
Although the speed limit is 25mph, "from the wreckage of his car, it looked´
like he was going much faster," says Thorpe. "The tire marks he left on
the road were about 250 feet long and he hit the other car, a Buick, like
a battering ram. There was broken glass and parts all over the place."
When asked by police to balance on one foot and perform other simple
sobriety tests, Priestley snarled, "I know how to do it!" says another
eyewitness." But his speech was slurred and he seemed very unsteady."
Sources say the actor told cops that he had swerved to avoid a wild
deer in the road. "But deer or no deer," says the onlooker, "he
seemed drunk. One copy at the scene told me, 'The guy was blazing.'"
Ironically, Priestley is a longtime NASCAR raving buff who was grand
marshal of the MCI WorldCom 200 race in Phoenix, Ariz, in March. And his
90210 character once would up in the slammer after drinking and crashing
his car!
Priestley's real-life bust on Dec 3 occurred just two days after the
problem-plagued star - who sources recently accused of abusing cocaine
and booze - announced his split from his makeup artist wife Ashlee Peterson.
As Globe reported, Priestley told a pal: "I may have made a big mistake getting
married." Now, solo again, Priestley brushes off the DUI charge.
He admits that cops tested his blood for alcohol, but says, "They
do that to everybody, especially if you're a celebrity in this town."
by Chris Doherty for Globe
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26 AUGUST 2002
Actor Jason Priestley has been discharged from hospital less than two weeks after suffering serious injuries – including a fractured spine – when his race car span out of control and hit a wall head-on at 180 mph at the Kentucky Speedway.
Jason spent a week in intensive care following the accident, which took place during practice for the race, and needed series of operations on his back, nose, eyes and feet. Doctors are understood to believe the star will make a full recovery and Vancouver radio has reported that he is currently staying at a physical recuperation centre.
Best known for his role as teen heartthrob Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills 90210, Jason is a member of the Kelley Racing Team. He was practicing for the final of the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series when he crashed, apparently after driving over a section of track where absorbent material “oil dry” had been laid down after another car leaked fluid.
While cars were warned not to drive through the substance, it is thought the actor was not aware it was on the track and ran right through it. His car hit the outside wall in the second turn, heavily damaging it, and then veered across the course and hit an inside retaining wall.
Jason was initially taken to accident and emergency at a Kentucky Hospital before being moved to an Indianapolis hospital. In addition to a fractured back and fractures in both feet, he had a contusion around his left eye and lacerations on the bridge of his nose, left cheek and neck.
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ACTOR/DRIVER JASON PRIESTLEY JOINS ABC SPORTS' INDY RACING LEAGUE BROADCAST TEAM
Friday, March 16, 2001
ABC Sports, the network of the Indianapolis 500, announced today the addition of actor Jason Priestley to it's Indy Racing League broadcast team. Priestley will team with achor Bob Jenkins, new ABC analist Larry Rice and pit reporters Jack Arute and Vince Welch on the seven events broadcast by the network this season.
"We are pleased to welcome Jason to our ABC Sports auto racing family," said John Filippelli, senior vice president of production, ABC Sports. "In addition to his outstanding acting career, Jason has demostrated a great deal of talent as a race driver. His knowledge of the sport will add color and excitement to our coverage of Indy Racing and the Indianapolis 500."
Priestley has starred in more than 30 television series and feature films since his 1986 cinema debut and has made guest appearances on numerous other TV shows, including "Gross Point" and most recently, "Spin City." He is most identified with his role as Brandon Walsh on the hit series "Beverly Hills 90210" from 1990-1998. Priestley who has directed 22 episodes of "90210" from 1993-1997 and produced the series in 1996 and 1997, was named the show's executive producer in 1997. He has served in a similar capacity for several other movies and TV series, including directing the acclaimed documentary "Barenaked in America." Most recently Priestley was cast as Davidson in the british film "The Fourth Angel" which has just completed production.
An active race car driver and life-long fan of the sport, Priestley has competed in GTS, SCCA Trans-am racing, the SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally Championship, the Motorola Cup, the Pro/Celebrity Race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and in numerous other events.
ABC Sports coverage of the Indy Racing League begins on March 18 at 4:00 p.m., ET with the inaugural race of the 2001 season, the Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200, live from Phoenix International Raceway. The prestigious Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 27, at 11:00 a.m., ET. ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 are the exclusive television networks of the Indy Racing League.
ESPN.com
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MODERN ROMANCE
If you're looking for a 21st-century romantic comedy with a tart twist, check out "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks" Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC Family cable.
Jason Priestley, a graduate of "Beverly Hills 90210," stars as a faded actor who only gets starring roles in tabloid exposes. His manager sees a way to exploit his rotten reputation by casting him as the handsome, available object of a TV dating show like "The Bachelor."
The funny part about this movie is the way it shows how such TV series are rigged to play with the emotions of the audience and the people involved. It's worth seeing for that angle alone.
Courier-Journal.com
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PRIESTLEY BACK ON FOX
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Jason Priestley is returning to the TV network that made him famous, and getting a trip home on top of that.
Priestley has signed to appear in seven episodes of the low-rated Fox drama "Tru Calling." He starts work next month in Vancouver, Brirish Columbia, where the show is filmed and where he was born.
The seven-episode arc will be his longest run on a series since he left "Beverly Hills 90210" in 1998. He has worked on numerous TV movies and independent feature films since then, as well as making guest appearances on series, including ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter."
Priestley will play Jack Harper, a forensic attendent at the morgue where Tru Davies (series film star Eliza Dushku) works. Although he seems like a nice guy, he has a secret that may hinder Tru's ability to go backward in time to save people who die unjustly.
He'll next star in the ABC Family movie "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks," with Bradley Cooper ("Alias") and Emma Caufield ("Buffy the Vamire Slayer"). It's set to debut January 18.
ZAP2IT.COM
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JASON PRIESTLEY ON HIS CROTCH, BUSCH AND KISSING A GUY IN DRAG
by Brandon Judell
January 2, 2004
John Hurt drooled over him in "Love and Death on Long Island." Now Charles Busch hungers for his kiss (and his crotch) in "Die, Mommie, Die." The rest of us have been palpitating over him ever since he made his first milkshake on "Beverly Hills, 90210."
Yes Jason Priestley, 32, is still as lovable as ever, even after his recent car crash. In fact, he still looks prettier than most of us who haven't been in car crashes. Is that fair?
The young man decided to let his hair down with Charles Busch and director Mark Rucker by his side the other day at the Regency Hotel
Q: Now, Stanley Tucci had to play someone with a small penis in "The Streets of New York." He said it caused him no problems. Here you have to play someone with an extremely huge penis. Was it a stretch for you?
[Priestley laughs]
Like in "Boys Don't Cry," Hilary Swank went to bed with a dildo.
Priestley: Uhhh. ...No, really. Tony Parker was the role I was born to play. I've been researching it my whole life.
Busch: It seems like this whole thing about your dick is in every paper because of this film.
Priestley: Yeah, yeah. No, no. It started with Details magazine, actually, when i was living Toronto.
Rucker: It's been wispered about for years, but now it's in the forefront.
Priestley: [Yelling] Now it's all come out!
Busch: There are shots of you [naked] in "Calendar Girl."
Priestley: Yes, that's right. That's right.
Busch: On the internet, too. There you can sort of see things a bit. ...
Priestley: It was a nice warm day out in Los Angeles. Fantastic.
Q: [To Charles] When you were writing this screenplay, did you envision someone like Jason playing the part?
Busch: I have a tradition of handsome leading men. Thomas Gibson was my love interest in "Psycho Beach Party"-- eventually there will be a line beautiful goyish guys that make love to me on camera. Jason was an awesome lover. I give him high marks.
[Priestley laughs]
Q: So was Jason more Kris Kristofferson or Omar Sharif?
Busch: Well, they're a little old for me, but I think Brad Pitt is a good comparison.
Priestley: Oh, you're very kind.
Rucker: You should get abs like Brad.
Q: Charles, when you won best acting award for Sundance for "Die, Mommie, Die," did Robert Redford kiss or anything?
Busch: We're lovers. No, I've actually never met him, except when I was very young-- I was his receptionist for a temp work, and i was sent over there, and the messenger came over delivering his aviator glasses from the optomologist around and i put them on. So I've seen the world through Redford's glasses. It's a lovely place.
Q: So Jason, Why did you want to do this film?
Priestley: It's the oldest story in the book--it was the script. I wasn't hip to the Charles Busch phenomenon yet. I got the script, read the script, and the script was so wonderful, and the character of Tony was such a departure in a lot of ways, unlike much of the crap that i get offered every day. It was a refreshing opportunity to play this guy. I signed on right away, then the whole Charles Busch thing, and that made it even cooler. The whole thing was just... It was bitchin', man. It was bitchin'.
Q: How excited were you to kiss Charles?
Priestley: Well, Charles...
Busch: I was all freaked out.
Rucker: Charles was raelly nervous. Jason and I were like "I hope this isn't going to be awkward. This could be a real good thing."
Busch: It was my first on screen kiss...really!
Rucker: Jason took charge and said,"We'll do it like this. I'll go there; you go there. All right, let's go!"
Priestley: Doing what I did for as long as I did, obviously you get very used to it, to kissing women on-screen. "So Charles, left or right? OK, great! here we go." It's all very technical after a while.
Busch: For you maybe.
Q: [to Jason] Did you call Tab Hunter to see how he did it with Divine?
Busch: Hey I'm a little more attractive.
Priestley: Did he kiss Divine?
Busch: Yes, in "Polyester."
Priestley: I didn't know that.
Q: By the way, do you think you're helped or hurt by your longtime TV image?
Priestley: It can be a help at times and a hinderance at others. I think sometimes the fact that I was on such a popular show with young people allows alot of people to just dismiss what I do and not want to entertain the notion of including, they do because of what i've done before. That's fine. That's thier thing, and there's nothing I can do about that.
Q: Can you talk about you accident? Did it give you a new outlook on life?
Priestley: Not really. A little bit, but nothing much.
Q: Did you find God?
Priestley: No, I didn't find God. I'm not a hippie. I'm just me still.
Gay.com
p.s. When I printed this out, it got cut off in some areas, so I'm missing a couple of words, but did my best to remember what they were. OOPs!!
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THE TOP 10 REASONS HAIR LIKE JASON PRIESTLEY WOULD BE COOL
10) You're the prime candidate to found the brach-off of the Hair Club for Men called The Cool Hair Club For Men.
9) You get to sing "Hound Dog" without it getting messed up... no wait, that's Elvis Presley
8) When you get mad at Steve for doing the 15000th thing in his life that effects you as well, your hair will not move out of place.
7) The hair sets you apart from The Beerman at sporting events.
6) It will help propel you to a good movie debut in the film "8 seconds"... no wait, that's Luke Perry.
5) It won't move when you're driving your MG convertable off into the distance.
4) It will allow you to break up and get back together with your girlfriend Kelly 248 times.
3) You'll be asked to moderate the very intense "Mousse vs. Gel" debate in next month's GQ magazine.
2) It won't appear messed up during the surfing sequence in the Intro of the show... no, wait... that's Luke Perry again.
1) It allows you to carry on as you read the same boring mundane script week after week, season after season.
Thursday, April 9, 1998
the funnybone.com
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JASON PRIESTLEY
by Sherry Weiner
Jason Priestley for the last seven years has taken up residence on the highly successful TV show "Beverly Hills 90210." Not only does he star as the hot, good-looking heartthrob Brandon but he produces the show and has even directed some of the episodes. He is now co-starring with John Hurt in Richard Kwietnioski's poignant drama "Love and Death in Long Island"(reviewed in this issue). It was first shown in New York at last year's New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center where it wowed critics and audiences alike. It focuses on a stodgy British writer who becomes obsessed with an American heartthrob that just takes him on a personal journey that proves to be liberating for both of them.
Jason bounces in dressed to the nines in a stylish black designer suit and black shirt. His blue eyes sparkle and his signature light-brown hair has been recently combed to perfection. He looks ready to be in front of the cameras, but he's here just to talk. Later tonight he'll be doing the talk-show rounds. He starts to talk about a mile a minute obviously excited about the film he's here to promote.
UniverCity: With you character Ronnie in this film you're obviously making fun of your heartthrob status. Where you concerned at all about taking this role?
Jason Priestley: Not at all. I am not above making fun of myself on the least... I actually quite enjoy it. The baggage I have as an actor served this project quite well... and it was a good opportunity to make fun of myself- I look for those opprtunities.
UniverCity: What exactly is the baggage you have as an actor?
J.P.: I have a certain profile- a certain celebrity ["I don't want this to sound wrong" he says softly]- That whole "teen-idol thing." You know, a couple of years ago I was Ronnie Bostock on the covers of those horrible magazines and it wasn't something I enjoyed or wanted for my career(he laughs)... so I have that baggage... and people seem to remember that- because there was this crazy hype thing. It's not a time I look back on, for sure, with any fondness.
UniverCity: Do you feel you're still stereotyped as that teenage idol?
J.P.: You know, when you're on a TV show that runs a long time and you play one character for a long time, it's always a crap shoot that audiences and people will accept you in roles outside of that mold. All you can do to try to insure that is to continue to do different projects outside of that- especially projects where you do different things... and I've tried to do that in my career and hopefully it will work- but you never know. If you don't try though you'll never find out- so I work very hard to do different things.
UniverCity: It sounds like people are still trying to hang all that heartthrob stuff on you.
J.P.: It's certainly not as bad as it was. But sometimes people get a certain image in their head and it's hard for them to let go of it.
UniverCity: I understand that you enjoy racing cars in your free time.
J.P.: I've been racing cars for so long. For me racing cars is a challenge- it's so mentally and physically demanding- I have to keep on pushing myself to improve.
UniverCity: What was your most exciting race?
J.P.: Last year I went up to Connecticut and I raced with Paul Newman- it was thrilling- and he beat me. He's 71 years old and he beat me- can you believe it- but it was exciting.
UniverCity: Does racingpresent any insurance problems for you?
J.P.: (he laughs)No, it doesn't... but i bet if you ask Aaron Spelling he'd have a different answer for you.
UniverCity: Do you think your fans from Beverly Hills 90210 will come to see this film?
J.P.: Beverly Hills 90210 viewers don't generally go to the movies for some reason. TV and movies are two entirely different things and the crossover of a fan base from one to the other sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. So I don't try to second-guess what my fans will and won't do. I just try to do projects that interest me and inspire me. I think that's the only way you can have successful films. We all see those films that try to fill a formula... like science fiction fans want to see this... and then no one goes because it was never anyone's passion... it was just done painting by numbers. Even if no one goes to see this film- it doesn't cost $200 million- that's why all the more interesting films nowadays are on the indipendent market. I seem to have found a home in independent films.
UniverCity: A lot of actors do independant films to show their credibility as an actor. Is that a factor for you?
J.P.: I do them because I like the material and because it's where I can do interesting things. The studio system doesn't have room for me in it. Scripts that I get have already been passed over by Brad Pitt and Christian Slater and you go down the list. By the time a script reaches me it's obviously something you don't want to do [he laughs]- so I've luckily found a good home in independent films and I'm very thankful for that. Besides they seem to inspire me the most anyway.
UniverCity: Were you nervous about working with John Hurt?
J.P.: Not at all- I was very excited about it actually. He's one of the greatest actors of our time and to get the opportunity to work as closely as I did with him was an unbelievable experience.
UniverCity: What brought you to this film?
J.P.: The script- it was so smartly written, so intelligent... it was funny and it dealt with sensitive subject matter carefully and thoughtfully. It was a great read. And then when I met Richard [Kweitniowski] he's a very interesting guy- he's such a cinemaphile. I felt I could trust him and make a movie with him... and feel comfortable that he's going to make a wonderful piece... and i think my instincts were correct.
UniverCity: How many more years will "Beverly Hills 90210" be around?
J.P.: I don't know [he smiles]- we just got picked up officially for our 9th season a couple of days ago.
UniverCity: Doesn't it get boring week in and week out playing the same character and doing the same thing?
J.P.: Oh-yes! Tedium has set in.
UniverCity: Will you be back next season and if so, in what capacity?
J.P.: I'll be involved [he sighs]- I'll be there. Im not sure yet what I'll be doing- acting, producing, directing- I'm sure I'll be there doing all of it.
UniverCity: How was growing up on TV?
J.P.: Well, I was 21 when I started the show, so it's more accurate to say I've grown old on TV [we laugh]. I'm 28... I'll be 29 this year... my arthritis is worse... my neck is bad... my teeth are falling out... [he laughs]... so I feel I've grown old on TV.
UniverCity: Do you read your fan mail?
J.P.: Not really... I work so much and I have so little time. If I read my fan mail I'd have to give up sleeping. But sometimes letters from sick children get brought to my attention. Children are very special. We try to do what we can with the Starlight Foundation which bring terminally ill children to our set all the time. We try to make a big deal over them and give them some happiness. If TV does one thing- it does that for these children. If we've given one child a happier life then all the other bullshit we have to put up with is worth it.
UniverCity: What do you think Ronnie learns in the film and if there was a sequel what would he be doing?
J.P.: This has been the topic of many long conversations between Richard, John and myself. I think Ronnie's better for his experience with Giles. As strange as the whole thing was he learned alot from Giles and he grew up alot... as for the sequel that would have to be where Joel Silver hires Ronnie to do some big action picture and something happens... maybe Ronnie loses a piece of his ear. [Jason having a good time with this whole senario, I really haven't taken it much past that.]
UniverCity: Would you watch "Beverly Hills 90210" if you weren't on the show?
J.P.: um-mm... [he hesitates... then laughs out loud] No I wouldn't. I like shows like "Homicide" and "The Profiler"- shows that are a little more complicated. It's not that I think "Beverly Hills 90210" is a bad show- I think it's a good show for what it is. There's a very broad television audience. I seem to like other type of TV shows myself... I love television- I've had a great experience in television.
UniverCity: Would you like to direct a film?
J.P.: I would love to but I need to find the right piece of material. It takes such a big chunk of your life- this film took 7 years of Richards life. I have enough respect for the medium to wait until i find a project that inspires me- then I'll take the time and commit myself to it and hopefully make a great film.
UniverCity: How much does the gossip in the tabloids affect your life?
J.P.: Not at all now. Thankfully they have left me alone which is very good.
UniverCity: What is the most outrageous story written about you?
J.P.: I don't know... the phoniest one was that i was really 40 years old and I kept myself young by wiping soiled diapers on my face and drinking urine. That popped up in the Globe. Actually, I found that one quite funny.
UniverCity: You recently broke up with your girlfriend of five years. Are you seeing anyone else now?
J.P.: I guess you could say I am unattached. I'm not really looking for anyone right now.
UniverCity: Do you have any other projects coming out?
J.P.: I have a whole slew of project coming out- but I'm not sure when- Hacks, Standing on Fishes, and Dill Scallion.
UniverCity: How do you like coming to New York?
J.P.: I love it... I come here and I walk around all these streets- there's alot of history here- especially when you compare it to LA. LA's a disaster- it's unbelievable, but it has great things too- I've lived there for 11 years now.
UniverCity: Do you ever think of leaving LA?
J.P.: I think about moving all the time.
UniverCity: Where would you live?
J.P.: That's a good question. I like London alot and I like Northern Italy, maybe I'll pick up and move to Europe.
univercity.com - 1997
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Priestley lights up FX drama pilot 'Dope'
June 3,2001
by Jill Feiwell
FX has signed up talent to topline the cable net's drama pilots, "Dope" and "The Barn," both vying for a series order to be announced in August.
Heading up the drug drama "Dope" will be Jason Priestley, the thesp's first series commitment since he parted ways with the Fox meller "Beverly Hills 90210" in 1998. Also on board are Jacqueline Obradors, Doug Hutchinson, Kieth David and Grayson McCouch.
The ensamble drama follows the path of a kilo of herion that bands together a desparate group of characters.
"The Barn" will feature Michael Chiklis, CCH Pounder, Jay Karnes, Michael Jace, Catherine Dent and Benito Martinez.
John Patterson ("The Sopranos") will direct "Dope" (Daily Variety, May 20), a xollaboration between ATG and Columbia TriStar Television Distribution. Chris Brancato penned the script and will exec produce with Berk Salke. Dawn Steinberg and Eric Tannenbaum will oversee for ATG.
"The Barn," which concerns a battle between good and evil inside a police precinct as well as on the streets, will be directed by thesphelmer Clark Johnson (star of NBC"s "Homicide"). Show was written and will be exec produced by Shawn Ryan, along with co-executive producer Scott Brazil, in association with Fox Television Studios.
Production begins both pilots this month.
variety.com
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Killer Pic Creates Canuck Controversy
December 18,2000
by Tamsen Tillson
TORONTO--Controversy is swirling inthe Great White North over a proposed film based on the rape-and-torture escapades of serial killer Paul Bernardo and then-wife Karla Hornolka.
The film's not yet been announced, nor has casting officially started, but already there is an uproar over a film project based on "Invisible Darkness," a book about the evil deeds of the duo.
Rumor had it that "Beverly Hills 90210" star Jason Priestley was pegged for the role of Bernardo. Several agents subsequently speculatedin the Canuck media thatthe film's producers would have trouble finding actors willing to play Canada's most-hated couple.
The Ontario goverment has even introduced legislation to prevent criminals from profiting from selling the story of their crimes, duplicating many of the elements of a law already in effect. Critics have suggested that public funding and filming permits for the project should be withheld due to its heinous subject matter.
Ontario Premiere Mike Harris has pledged that no public buildings would be used in the making of the film. "I'm going to sleep better for this," deadpanned Peter Simpson, chairman of Toronto-based Norstar Filmed Entertainment and producer of the proposed film.
Simpson acknowledged he has held the film right for the book, written by journalist Stephen Williams, since shortly after it was published in 1996. He had six actresses invited to discuss the role of Homolka all turned up to do so, and he also admitted Priestley has read the script, "but that's all there is."
Both Bernardo and Homolka are in prison, Bernardo indefinitely as a dangerous offender, and Homolka serving out a 12-year sentence.
variety.com
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Rumpus.com Readies Web Pic 'America'
June 14,2000
by Marc Graser
Netcaster and toy shop Rumpus.com is readying production on it's second animated Web pic, "The Day I Saved America," with Amanda Bynes, Jason Priestley amd Todd Louiso providing the leading character voices.
Pic, skedded for a 45-minute running time, is about a young girlnamed Harriet, who, together with her friends Verne the horse and Cincinnatti, a bald eagle, foil a plot by the British to kidnap George Washington after the Revolutionary War. Along the way, she invents baseball, rock 'n' roll and apple pie. A toy line for the characters is already planned and will be available for purchase through the site.
"America" bows on Rumpus.com on Sept. 9 and becomes the New York-based company's second feature animated feature to hit the Web after Easter's animated "Herschel Hopper," which attracted more than 100,000 viewers without advertising. A third pic, "The Red Bison," is planned for Christmas.
As with the first pic, Rumpus founder and prexy Larry Schwartz is scripting, with Jeff Roda producing.
Bynes is the popular star of Nick's "The Amanda Show," a runaway hit on the kids cabler, and Rumpus hopes her participation will attract young auds to it's programming. Louiso recently appeared in "High Fidelity," while Priestley was long the star of "Beverly Hills 90210."
Other celebs are expected to fill out the cast. Creative Artists Agency reps the company.
Originally started as a toymaker of unique interactive plush characters, Rumpus is now transforming itself into an animation powerhouse on the Web to create a library of programming--based on it's toys--that can later be sold as homevid, television and films.
variety.com
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Priestley Sues Former Partners
March 2004
Former "Beverly Hills 90210" star Jason Priestley is suing a vacation company after using his name to endorse rhier packages without permission.
The actor claims bosses of the Cabins at Terrace Beach are cashing in on his good name and "violating his right of publicity."
Priestley helped to promote the cabins in remote British Columbia, Canada while he was recovering from a car crash in 2002, but alleges the business continues to use his name after he walked away from the deal last year.
The actor is demanding $2 million from his former partners.
wokr13.tv
here's a link to that company...see for yourself
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You Don't Know Jack on 'Tru'
March 25,2004
Jason Priestley's a bundle of energy on the phone, talking in rapid-fire about his new Fox gig.
Viewers will remember that Priestley once ignited another Fox show,"Beverly Hills 90210," and now the network honchos hope lightning can indeed strike twice.
Priestley appears tonight as a mysterious drifter who wants to work at the morgue, but the primary thrust of tonight's episode is getting viewers up to speed with the main character Tru (Eliza Dushku), her family and the mystery surrounding the death of her mother.
Which is good news for the people who haven't gotten a chance to testing the "Tru" waters yet. Despite the hockey name and derivative nature, this series is about a young woman who can speak to dead people--and often restore their lives after reliving the past 24 hours in "Groundhog Day" fashion--is a ripping good drama.
That's something Priestley has known for a while.
"I'd been a fan of the show before they asked me to come on ," says Priestley on a shooting break. "Fox kept sending me pilots, becouse we've been talking about me coming back to series TV, but 'Tru' was the only one i thought was really interesting."
Drawn to the pulsating action and visually engaging nature of the show, Priestley says he watched the show from the beginning when it premiered last fall and felt he could fit in.
He will play Jack Harper, a new forensic attendant who will work alongside Tru. According to the press material, Jack carries a dark secret that may impede Tru's ability to save those who die before their time.
While Priestley says he can't divulge the nature of his character on the show, he does say that Jack has a definite purpose.
In tonight's episode, viewers--if not Tru--discover who murdered her mother. Tru was a child when a stranger came into her home and shot her mother while Tru cowered in a closet. In earlier episodes, we learned that Tru's mother had the same gift of hearing the dead speak--and changing the day so that they could live. But there's always a price to be paid for meddling.
Tonight, the first sequence of events has Jack applying for the job and not getting it. But when Tru changes history by saving her stepmother (Laura Leighton, another Fox alum from "Melrose Place"), Jack's suddenly in.
And he doesn't seem like a nice guy to me.
"Jack's an interesting guy,"Priestley says, making sure he doesn't reveal too much about the character. "We spell out the reason why he's there in the final episodes, and it's pretty cool."
New viewers should step aboard this wild ride now.
"I'm really digging it and if people watch this show closely, they'll be able to see some slight indications of who Jack is and why he's there," Priestley says.
Jack reveals that he was once dead for more than three minutes. Strangely enough, on Aug. 11, 2002, Priestley also came close to death during a race car accident. In fact, Priestley was technically dead for about 45 seconds.
"I actually checked out," he said in a 2003 interview with Barbara Walters. "And for some reason I got sent back. I got returned."
Interviewers were warned by the publicist setting up the interviews not to talk to Priestley about the accident. But when I met Priestley face to face in January during a press party, Priestley looked none the worse for the traumatic incident.
Now, he simply says that he met with the show's producers and fleshed out the character using alot of his own input. One assumes that means the checking out incident.
"I've always enjoyed television. It's a medium where the pace of work and intensity isn't for every actor," says Priestley, who has been doing films, suck as the independant flick "Die Mommie Die," since his "90210" days. "But for the kind of person I am, I like going to work with the same people everyday, working 15 hours a day. I've been away from TV for five years and for me, it's really fun and refreshing to be back."
Priestley adds that he enjoys doing almost every form of acting.
"I would enjoy doing a West End play. I would enjoy doing another independent film," Priestley says. "I tend to respond more to characters, so whenever a great character comes up, whether it's in TV, film or theater, I'm there."
timesstar.com
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Iconic '90210' actors around but no longer red hot stars
March 25,2004
By R.D. Heldenfels
It's Brandon-and-Brenda double bill on TV tonight.
Jason Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh on "Beverly Hills 90210," joins "Tru Calling" on Fox at 8 p.m. He plays Jack Harper, a new forensic attendant in the morgue where Tru (Eliza Dushku) works.
Then at 10 you can see Brandon's TV sister Brenda--that is, actress Shannen Doherty--as she hosts "Scare Tactics" on the Sci Fi channel.
Nor are they the only members of the 90210 alumni society working in prime time. Tori Spalling--Donna on 90210--is now in the sitcom "The Help" for the WB. Jennie Garth--Kelly--is a regular on "What I like About You," the WB sitcom currently on a break. And Vanessa Marcil, who did a season on 90210 late in it's run, is now on NBC's "Las Vegas."
Now, where 90210 produced an Oscar winner (Hilary Swank, another single-season performer), the prime-time credits aren't all that prestigious. "The Help'" for one, is dreadful. "Scare Tactics" is in the lower echelon of reality shows. And "Tru Calling" is a middled mix of fantasy and soap opera; tonight's episode often feels 90210-ish, and if you don't see two of the plot twists coming, then you don't watch much TV.
Still, there are worse things than having a steady gig on TV. You could go off like 90210-er Gabrielle Carteris (who played Andrea) to your own talk show and then to "The Surreal Life," a repository of whatever-became-ofs and who-is-thats. Judging from his resume on the Internet Mivie Database, Ian Ziering (Steve) is spending alot of time doing voice work; he might have finally lost that battle of the hairline he fought during most of 90210.
The last time I saw Brian Austin Grenn (David), he was at an NBC event--as the date of Vanessa Marcil. Mansfield's Luke Perry (Dylan) has done some interesting work, including cable series "Oz" and "Jeremiah," and the big-screen movie 'Normal Life'; but his movie stardom proved brief.
That stardom was based partly on the belief that he was a hot young star. The tabloid antics of Spelling and Doherty also carried the suggestion that they were new Hollywood, and the usual rules of behavior did not apply.
Unless they are frozen in memory by a spectacular demise, young stars eventually get old. The core actors on 90210 are now mostly in their 30s; Carteris is in her 40s, and Ziering turns 40 next week.
Now they find themselves working with performers who are similarly hot, but much younger.
For many viewers, the real star of "What I like About You" is 17-year-old Amanda Bynes, who first found stardom with the Nickelodeon generation. Priestley is about a dozen years older than Dushku, a former child actress who gathered a following as Faith on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
But men are sometimes allowed to get older on camera in a way that women are not. At 34, Priestley is only a year younger than "Melrose Place's" Laura Leighton, who is also in "Tru Calling" tonight. He is playing a peer od Dushku's--young-looking, cool and a bit swaggering. leighton has to play a maternal role--as the second wife of Tru's father.
Still, almost 14 years after 90210 premiered, the actors on it are still as important, especially to the young people who grew up with Brandon, Brenda and their friends. When Spelling skipped a press conference for "The Help," one of the first questions was about her wgereabouts. And Fox has promoted the daylights out of Priestley's joining "Tru Calling."
ohio.com
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Priestley 'Calling'
March 25,2004
You'll be happy to know (well at least I was) that one of the cute boys from the old "90210"-Jason Priestley-is back as a regular on the tube. And yes, he's back in another teen favorite despite the fact he's no longer a teen.
Tonight, Priestley begins a seven-episode gig as Jack Harper, a forensic attendant (whatever the heck that means) at the morgue where Tru (Eliza Dushku) works. The fact that it's the only morgue in the world that is so dark that you don't know the living from the dead is, I assume, besides the point.
The good news is that Tru can see things no one else can, so she can probably see better than the rest of us in that morgue she calls an office.
At any rate, Tru's dad (Cotter Smith) is in town with his wife (Laura Leighton), who is throwing his a 50th birthday party, and she wants very much for his kids to attend.
She has lunch with Tru and her sibs. At the lunch, Tru tells her that since dad hasn't been around her last 10 birthdays, she doesn't see why she should be around for his.
Wait! So if she's 22 and the mother's been dead for at least 10 years, then who the heck raised these kids? I'm very confused.
At any rate, back at the morgue, Jack the wannabe morgue attendant comes in for an interview, and Tru forsees that he's not what he appears, and oh, yes, she also forsees that Jordan (the step mom) is about to be killes during a mugging.
The good news is that Tru has stopped running from place to place like a marathoner on anti-depressants. She still seems to have no ability to use a phone however and must show up everywhere to have conversations.
The other good news is that Priestley, although not used much in this episode, is back on TV, giving credence to the show. The guy's just got a great TV presence, and while he certainly isn't a big teen draw anymore, he's got my grown-up vote.
Even though Priestley's introduced in this episode, the focus is really on dad and the mugger, Carl (Wade Williams). Why does he show up at the dad's birthday party after he tried to mug his wife?
Why does Dad know him? Did he have something to do with her mother's death? Is dad really Daddy Dearest-which they don't know since he seems to have gone off somewhere and had a new family?
Look-it ain't rocket science, but it's fun and novel. Kind of like a "Six Feet Under"/"Alias" for teens and those who just wish they still were.
nypost.com
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From 90210 to 'N Sync: 10 Years of Hot 'n' Heavy Heartthrobs
March 31,2004
It seems like yesterday...and a million years ago.
Think you don't miss the '90s already? Think again, dude, because one look at this fantastic funfest known as "Teen Idols of the "90s" will have you wallowing in Y2K nostalgia. All your favorites from the decade get a long, loving look. And we've got all the shows that launched the stars that defined the time--"Beverly Hills 90210", "Melrose Place", "Dawson's Creek", "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", "Party of Five" and more.
This special gets you close up to the talents of the time. Just take a look at some of the talent we have on display: Britney Spears, Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Will Smith, Neve Campbell, Joshua Jackson, 'N Sync, Brandy and many, many more.
Do you want to miss this? No you do not. You want to be transported back to the age of boy bands, Britney and "Beverly Hills" high schoolers. So, tune in, and take a trip back to the last 10 years of the 20th century. You won't want to miss it.
eonline.com
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Magazine Articles
These are aricles that I have collected from magazines through the years,
I hope you all enjoy, there will be more of these, as I get them.
©Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. Alexandra Campbell Websites... Jason Priestley Photo Fansite. All pictures are from other sources on the internet/movies and are copyrighted to them. All articles belong to the magazines/sites that make them.