As a teenager, Vancouver-born Jason Priestley paid his dues throughout the eighties. In most of his early movies, he was given fulfilling and prominent roles such as Boy #2 in Nobody's Child (1986) or Boy on Bike in Watchers (1988). When his characters were important enough to be given a name, such as Gary in The Boy Who Could Fly (1986), his name would be spelt wrong in the credits (Jason Priestly) It wasn't until the TV series "Sister Kate" that he was given a more substantial role.

Priestley made his major breakthrough in 1990 when he was cast in the TV show Beverly Hills 90210. Priestley played Brandon Walsh, a high school student whose family had just moved to Beverly Hills from Minnesota. The show was the product of executive producer Aaron Spelling, who is infamous for Love Boat, Vegas, Melrose Place, and many other similar melodramas. The show was a huge hit within its target audience of teenage girls. Since its inception, the show has shifted from a mild feel-good series to a more treacherous soap opera. As the show continued through the seasons, Priestley’s role increased, growing to include producing and directing episodes.

Now a household name among his mostly teenage audience, Priestley acted in his first major starring role in the movie Calendar Girl. This is the story of three teenagers in 1962 who decide to go to California in order to get a date with Marilyn Monroe. Also starring in the movie was Jerry O'Connell (My Secret Identity, Sliders) and Gabriel Olds. The critics gave this "Happy Days" inspired movie a thumbs down. They believed that Priestley was brought in to attract young female fans to a movie with an inadequate script. It didn’t work, and the movie lost $10 million.

That same year, Priestley played a small role in the movie Tombstone, but it wasn’t until 1995 that he starred in another movie. Cold Blooded starred Priestley as Cosmo Reif, a mob bookie severely lacking in social skills. After his boss dies, he is re-assigned as a hitman. He is then hooked up with an experienced hitman, played by Peter Reigert (The Mask), who teaches him the ins and outs of the business. Cosmo learns quickly, but soon falls in love with his Yoga teacher and tries to find a way out of the mob. Michael J. Fox, who was also one of the producers, made an entertaining cameo as one of Cosmo’s targets. The movie was released to critical acclaim at the Sundance Festival but failed to find an audience.

For his next attempt at movie stardom, Priestley teamed up with John Hurt (Alien, Rob Roy) in Love and Death on Long Island. In an act of self-parody, Priestley played Ronnie Bostock, a teen idol who couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag. John Hurt played Giles De’Ath, a British writer stuck in the nineteenth century. De’Ath becomes obsessed with Bostock after accidentally viewing one of his films. He then goes about collecting all of the information he can on the actor, in the process acquainting himself with modern technology. When given a holiday, he immediately goes to Long Island, where Bostock lives, and stalks the actor, eventually meeting him. The critics raved about the movie but it barely made a splash at the box office.

Priestley now has three new movies that should be released this year: Zigs, Eye of the Beholder, and Dill Scallion. Zigs is a comedy/drama starring Alicia Coppola (Trinity). Eye of the Beholder, which is based on a novel by Marc Behm, stars Patrick Bergin, Genevieve Bujold, and Ashley Judd. This Quebec-filmed movie is about a female serial killer who has been unknowingly shadowed by a private detective for ten years. Dill Scallion is the movie for which the most information has been released. This is a fake documentary (a la Spinal Tap or Hardcore Logo) about the country music industry. Brian Burke plays the title character, a country singer just breaking into the scene. Priestley plays an established country music star who, among other things, has his own line of hair-care products. Henry Wrinkler (Fonz from Happy Days), Willie Nelson, LeAnn Rimes, and Travis Tritt are also prominently featured. The movie was released at the Slamdance Film Festival, where it was nominated for best dramatic feature.

In 1998, Priestley announced that he was leaving Beverly Hills 90210, now in its ninth season. The extra time he has to make movies should be apparent in the number of movies he appears in this year. Hopefully, this will help him overcome his big screen jinx. Every movie that he has played a major role in has bombed, even when it is critically acclaimed. If his big-screen acting career doesn’t pan out, he may concentrate on directing for television. He has already directed episodes of 90210 and The Outer Limits, as well as the video to The Barenaked Ladies’ “My Old Apartment”. Otherwise, he could return to 90210, as Luke Perry did when his film career failed to go anywhere. Whichever way he goes, he probably won’t have to return to playing Boy #2 or Boy on Bike.