Celebrities | TV | Pop Culture | 90s
A Massive Celebrity Crashed On His Couch And 6 Other Facts About 90210's Jason Priestly
There are some characters in television shows that seem to absorb the actor who plays them completely. Brandon Walsh is probably one of the best examples of those characters. While the actor has played countless other roles, he will always be known as Brandon.
The thing is, Jason Priestley is more than just Brandon Walsh. He isn't just a former teen heartthrob, he is a talented actor who has a super interesting life behind the scenes! Check out these interesting facts about Jason Priestly!
He is actually Canadian
Starting off with a simple fact, the actor is from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2007.
He drives race cars
He is super into race cars, and actually owns his own. He has not only done the announcing for IndyCar racing events, but he actually participated in the races as well! He was in a huge accident in 2002, when he crashed into the wall at an Indy Pro Series race while he was going 180 miles per hour.
He's obsessed with the band The Barenaked Ladies
The actor actually helped them get popular in America after offering to direct their music video for "The Old Apartment". He also invited them to play at the Peach Pit on 90210!
He has some dream plans for the 90210 cast
He wants to create a collection with new interviews that he directs. He said "”I think you should be able to buy seasons 1 through 10, and Paramount should hire me to put the whole thing together and do all the [extra] interviews. God knows I directed the most episodes of any director.” He was responsible for 15 episodes of Beverly Hills 90210, including the two-part graduation episode.
He also wasn't afraid to let us know that the behind the scenes rumors were true...
He did confirm that there was a lot of dating between the cast of '90210'
He said there were "various combinations of people [who] slept with each other over the years." He also had his "first full-fledged adult relationship" with fellow cast member Chrstine Elise who played Emily Valentine.
Brad Pitt once lived with him
Before Brad Pitt became a big superstar after Thelma & Lousie, he was sleeping on Priestley's couch! Priestley's roommate at the time was friends with Pitt and had invited him to stay with them for a while. Priestley said "We lived on ramen noodles and generic beer — the kind that came in white cans labeled BEER — and Marlboro Light cigarettes," Priestley recalls. "We were all broke."
For the graduation episode, he wasn't yelling what he was supposed to be
Priestley claims he instigated the joke, but he had everyone yelling "Donna Martin masturbates!" instead of graduates but he only did it because "I knew they were going to go back and reloop this dialogue anyway," he explains, "so it was pretty irresistible."