Jason Priestley’s Movie Career

Jason Priestley's WHAT ? Are you drunk, OP ?

Priestly was the Froy of his time.

Lovely to look at, delightful to know, heaven to kiss.

And boring to watch.

I always wanted to see him naked.

R1/R3 He was naked in Calendar Girl (1993), where he plays a young man wanting to score with Marilyn Monroe before joining the military. There is a scene where he and his buddies (Gary Olds & Jerry O'Connell) follow her to a nude beach and get naked themselves. You get to see Jason's butt and a glimpse of his flopping dick as he's running around being pursued by two heavies. I was 13 when it came out and used to jack off to it often.

The only thing of note he did was Love and Death on Long Island with John Hurt.

No, I’m only stoned, R1.

R4 / R5 / R6 - you are a solid gold legend! Looks like he's got quite a nice cock. Yum... I've not even heard of it but I'll go watch Calendar Girl now and drool.

Thanks :)

Watching this now makes me produce actual fucking tears.

This was the first show that ever meant something to me.

Look how beautiful they are together; how easily they play off of each other. The chemistry of the cast made this show what it was.

He had a James Dean look and was marketable enough to be in plenty of ads to sell jeans. He was in a Roy Orbison video with Jennifer Connelly playing a James Dean look-alike. And in some 80s Disney TV show called Teen Angel, playing a 1950s greaser teen. That Calendar Girl movie was set in the 50s. He may as well had played Dean in a biopic.

If he coulda been, he woulda been. And that' show business.

Being pretty is not enough to be a star. Neither is the casting couch. Honestly I really just think it's timing and luck. Audiences have to like you too.

At least he had BH 90210. Some young aspiring actors don't even have the equivalent of that.

He was so hot, and a good actor. But the girls liked Luke Perry more (shose film career also went nowhere). As the show went on, Brandon went from nice/charming to kind of a sourpuss who seemed almost self-righteous. Also, he should have worked out or jogged or something, he got a little doughy and he never had the greatest body.

Did he and Stephanie Beacham do the horizontal rhumba?

*whose

R11, I’ve been watching it again and amazed how little I remembered. I have to say they ruined it with breaking up their central couple. Then making Brenda the villain. It makes even the reruns bittersweet, it was badly done. Show was only really good for 2 seasons. It should’ve ended by S5.

Jason Priestly versatile, you say? Who knew.

I mean, with an ass and a hunk of manhood like that, it makes sense.

I remember being so excited to see Calendar Girl since I was such a big fan of 90210, and then being so disappointed I wasted my time watching that awful shit.

Melrose Place was more entertaining. Beverly Hills 90210 was best during the high school seasons. Definitely jumped the shark by breaking up Brenda and Dylan for the dumbest reason. Dylan and Kelly had no chemistry and nothing in common. And Brenda was treated like a bitch for being upset at the fact her best friend was sleeping with her boyfriend. Kelly was a total hypocrite to David, scolding him because he was looking at other girls out of sexual frustration with Donna. But Kelly was sleeping with her Brenda's boyfriend. Dylan was a total fuckboi and made Steve look morally superior because I don't think he'd sleep with a girlfriend of Brandon or David.

All I can say is that in my scene with Jason in the shed, well, he's every inch a method actor.

I really do love any scene on 90210 where Kelly acts like a total hypocrite, because she’s Kelly Taylor and that is her absolute effing right on this planet.

TV stars always jump at the chance to be in a starring role in a movie, which is always a mistake. Beverly Hills Cop and Die Hard results are few and far between. They should ease in with a supporting role. That way if it bombs, it's not your name that goes down with it. Courtney Cox was the only smart one of the Friends cast who took a supporting role in Scream, which ended up being a huge hit. Her co-stars must have been so ashamed going to the premieres of Fools Rush In and Ed.

Courteney had experience as a supporting actress. She played love interests in sitcoms, music videos and action films before Friends. She knows she's limited as an actress. She never felt too good for TV. Matt LeBlanc was experienced too and apart from the disaster of Joey, he tended to be smart with roles and kept himself to TV. It was mainly David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston who got cocky and tried to do Hollywood too fast. Jen had the Brad Pitt relationship which opened doors, she did some indie stuff like Office Space and the Good Girl but as soon as Friends ended. She hopped on trying to be Hollywood's next big thing with embarrassing romcom after romcom.

Shannen Doherty may be a bitch but she can act and her role as Brenda was incredible. She played her more complex than the other actors who were lightweight. Having experience as a child actress and Heathers certainly helped.

R23, you're forgetting Celeste, played by Jennifer Grant, daughter of Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon. I guess, though, she wasn't really Brandon's girl, he just had eyes for her, but she chose Steve.

I hated Brenda, but I've always loved Shannen.

The show went down the drain when the Valerie character came on.

R31 She got old very fast. Refreshing at first with her outbitching Kelly and replacing Brenda. But the show became a bootleg Melrose Place with her on. And I think the show would have been more entertaining with Brenda and Valerie facing off

Kelly is not having a very good day, okay?

Was t Jason hideously deformed after a car wreck?

I mean, he looks pretty good to me considering he basically had the skin torn off of his face.

I don’t see why Jason couldn’t have made movie like se7en for instance where he plays some sort of police detective. He was hot enough for a movie career.

Luke Perry was cute but not all that looks wise. I think they really wanted him to be the breakout star of 90210 and he was in movies like the original Buffy with Kristy Swanson. I thought Jason Priestley was better looking. The guys on Melrose were hotter than most Hollywood A-listers.

Perry had more presence than Priestley.

R38 True. Priestley was light on charisma.

He and I had major eye contact in an elevator in a Baltimore hotel about a decade ago.

Luke Perry was great as doomed bull rider Lane Frost in 8 SECONDS. He received good notices, but the film didn't do so well.

Malcolm Forbes’ favorite actor.

I see a resemblance to Brandon Flynn at r41.

Watch this series (well, they have Seasons 3 and 4) and you'll see Jason in a completely different light. Funny as hell.

Who is Brandon Flynn?

Jason’s SNL monologue.

Didn't one of the guys from that show die?

Yes, R47. Luke Perry.

Shit…he looked so good in “Die Mommie Die.”

I agree, R49. Very sexy and was seduced by the twink if I recall.

R50, he actually seduces the lady of the house and both her "children." It's a nod to TEOREMA.

Jason was always petite (he’s about two inches away from Scott Caan-land), but he had a nice enough body for someone his height.

R52, I loved that episode. Brenda and Dylan forever (sniff, sniff). What I don’t get is why didn’t they just make Brenda and Dylan together in that reboot? I remember most fans wanted them together. Instead they made him and Kelly have a child and he was an absentee father. What was the point on that?

He was great…and hot in Die Mommy Die.

He was a pretty good actor - and was gorgeous too (still looks pretty good) and yet still had a warm approachable quality which is rare in someone with his looks. It was hard to break out of that 90210 type casting though, so I’m not surprised he didn’t have much of a movie career.,

It’s kind of hilarious that he took himself that seriously, but I guess that was around the time of the John Hurt movie.

“Here’s something you can put in and Jason will have to live with it. Toward the end of “getting rid of Larry,” for the 2-hour final [in season 7] I was writing with Phil Savath. We had to have a group for the after-graduation party and I worked it around–this was like 1997–and I got the Spice Girls. I had the Spice Girls. And I go to Jason who is directing and I go, “I’ve worked this out. They’re fans of the show. We’re going to have the Spice Girls!” And he went, “I’m not doing the show.” So they wound up getting The Cardigans. Like did anyone know who The Cardigans are? Terrible misstep. It was going to be huge. Then he threw this [Roaring] 20s thing on me, which I never understood. I never understood what that meant. A 20s theme? I have no idea. At that point I realized I was dead. I liked the episode; I was happy with it but, again, J was trying to take over and insert his own style and stuff. So we didn’t use the Spice Girls, which would’ve just been goofy and campy and fun and made the show that much bigger. But instead we had something that was smaller and hipper at the moment but didn’t really last. I mean, does anyone know who The Cardigans are today? LoveFool? They were alright. It was one of the weaker groups we had. And, again, J was directing that and he wanted to insert his stuff and that 20s theme. I’ve never understood it.“

At the time, a lot of actors who wanted to be taken seriously would put/turn down big budget Hollywood movies or anything that was popular.

Also, see Johnny Depp's career throughout the 1990s, until the behemoth success of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN on his 40th birthday made him change his tune.

Grosse Pointe, which was a parody of BH 90210, created by people who'd worked on that show, was pretty funny.

The "Brandon" character is a very cute young actor. The actor who played his dad on the show was constantly trying to get Brandon undressed.

I assumed that a similar dynamic occurred behind the scenes on 90210.

The last movie I saw Jason in was "Love and Death on Long Island."

But I just looked at IMDb and he's had a very long and busy career.

I liked all those racy Italian and French "art" flicks Jason did.

[quote]Luke Perry was cute but not all that looks wise.

And he had no ass.

[quote]Yes, [R47]. Luke Perry.

What am I? Chopped liver?

[quote] At the time, a lot of actors who wanted to be taken seriously would put/turn down big budget Hollywood movies or anything that was popular.

It doesn’t seem the 90210 set were being offered much in the way of big budget Hollywood films though. I’m sure they would have taken something if they had been.

He’s Canadian? I always thought he was related to Elvis Priestly.

His ass looks decent to me, R61.

Are we really going to act like Luke wasn’t good looking? I mean, he wasn’t as perfectly handsome cute as Jason, but still, there are degrees here, people.

His personality was warm and wonderful.

I remember in the '90s, Luke Perry being a frequent guest on Howard Stern (at the height of both of their popularities) and being quite chill and candid and overall likable guy.

One time, Howard got him to talk frankly about masturbation. I wish I could find a video or transcript, but all I could manage was a mention of it in the Entertainment Weekly article below:

I think there was a big gap in his career due to snapping his spine while driving a race track at 200 mph or so. Not to mention it gave him a brain injury, and he also needed multiple surgeries to repair the damages.

IIRC, he was hospitalized a long time.

Luke was a more intense actor than Jason. He was good in Normal Life opposite an excellent Ashley Judd.

[quote] He and I had major eye contact in an elevator in a Baltimore hotel about a decade ago.

He was frightened you would pounce, dear. His little frame couldn't take 300 lbs being flung at him.

If anyone has facebook, there's a photo of him with Colin Mochrie and some hypnotist, and Priestly looks HORRIBLE. Like a raging alcoholic.

Priestly was in the running for the role of Dt. Munch on Homicide before losing it to Richard Beltzer. NBC wanted Priestly and he campaigned for the role.

Of course he lost it. But you cannot wonder how his career would have been different if he had been cast.

This is one of those pieces of TV trivia that no one ever believes, no matter how many times Tom Fontana or journalists repeat it.

I could see him as a handsome cop during his peak years.

Shannon, Luke, Jason and Jennie were the best actors on that show. The others were okay.

R72 Its too much extrapolation to assume if Priestley got the role he would have had Belzer's career with it.

Also someone mocked FOOLS RUSH IN. It's a pretty high quality romantic comedy and more than made its money back.

[quote] nothingburger

OP, please kill yourself.

R75, he would not have had Beltzer career, but he would have had a different one than he did.

What about shannen’s movie career. After Heathers she should have had more luck. Both she and Kim Walker stood out in Heathers. after Mean Girls the careers of Amanda Seyfried and Rachel McAdams eclipsed Lohan’s who was meant to be the star.

R78, Shannen had GREAT luck after Heathers. She starred in two popular television series and became a household name.

How much more luck would you expect her to have?

And Shannen would have had a stronger career if not for her personal demons.

He (Priestley) was SO BAD in one of the VC Andrews Lifetime movie series. Max Irons as Malcolm Foxworth BAD.

[quote] She starred in two popular television series and became a household name.

I’m pretty sure she would have preferred a movie career which probably added to her frustrations with the grind of television - particularly Aaron spelling shows which were not known to be particularly high brow.

R82, seriously? Not many people become popular film actors. And given the level of her abilities and appearance, Shannen did spectacularly well.

She ain't no Rachel McAdams.

At least Miss Doherty was directed by an Oscar-winning director in this masterpiece, also featuring Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and DL faves Antonio Sabàto, Jr. and Adrienne Barbeau!

He played a very different character in Tombstone. Nerdy local who seemed to crush on traveling actor Billy Zane. There were a lot of big showy actors/roles in that movie, but Priestly had a memorable small role.