Chatting With Jason Priestley

While my print article won't appear until July 20, I just had to share some of my interview with actor Jason Priestley (of 90210 fame, of course). I got off the phone with him literally an hour ago and am still so excited, I just had to share it with you all.

Jason is co-starring in a new dramedy from Lifetime Television called Side Order of Life. I saw the pilot episode last night, and I can tell you that this one is a winner. It was so good. It had everything: humor, pathos, drama, quirkiness -- everything you could ask for in a television show.

Plus, it has friggin' Brandon Walsh!

I asked him how he felt, with the renewed interest in Beverly Hills, 90210 since its DVD release, about the fact that some people will always see him as Brandon Walsh. Like, does he ever get tired of talking about 90210 and answering questions about it?

His response: "I guess a certain amount of people still see me as that. There is no way around that. It was one of those seminal television shows that people related to strongly. It was a big part of my career. So many of the good things in my career I owe to that show. You can't bite the hand that feeds you. You also have to be respectful of people. If someone loved the show, and loved watching you on that show, that is their opinion and you shouldn't take that away from them. 'You liked watching me on the show? Well, thank you!' You know?"

I was so impressed by his realistic and mature attitude about the show. So many actors try to forget what made them famous as they move on in their careers, and they forget where they came from. He knows that doesn't define him, and he came away with lifelong friends and great memories and experience.

Also, he was especially impressed with and happy about the fact that I had seen his movie, The Fourth Angel, where he stars alongside Jeremy Irons and Forest Whitaker. It was supposed to be released in the theatres shortly after 9/11, but because a plane gets hijacked in the beginning of the movie, of course, the studio didn't see it as appropriate to release. So, the movie kinda got swept under the rug. However, it is available on DVD. I rented it from Netflix. It really is an undiscovered gem, and ya'all should check it out. This is truly a departure from Brandon Walsh, that's for sure.

In the meantime, be sure to catch Side Order of Life on Lifetime Television. It premieres Sunday, July 15 at 8 p.m.