Priestley’s Next Calling: Playing an Actor

A devastating auto-racing accident kept Jason Priestley down for a while, but he’s definitely not out.

Fully recuperated from the 2002 Kentucky Speedway mishap that left him with a fractured spine, broken bones and a concussion, the former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star is joining the cast of the Fox series “Tru Calling.” Before his episodes begin airing, he’ll be seen in the ABC Family romantic-comedy movie “I Want to Marry Ryan Banks” on Sunday.

The satire of unscripted dating shows casts Priestley as Banks, an actor whose career suffers from his womanizing. He agrees, on the advice of agent and best friend Todd (Bradley Cooper, “Alias”), to do an unscripted show in which female contestants vie to become his companion.

One contender is a Boston bookstore owner (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alumna Emma Caulfield, who played one of Priestley’s girlfriends on “90210”). Todd ends up falling for her, though she seems destined to be chosen by Banks, generating problems between the two men.

Priestley admits he’s not especially a fan of the unscripted show genre but adds, “My girlfriend loves it. I’ve never been into things like ‘Survivor,’ but I did watch the first ‘Joe Millionaire’ because that was pretty funny. As much as these shows are about ‘real’ people doing ‘real’ things, they’re edited, so someone is getting to put a spin on them before they go on the air. You can create whatever you want; all you have to do is steal a reaction shot here or another shot there. You can create an alternate reality, and ‘Ryan Banks’ gets into that.”

Priestley appreciated co-star Cooper’s presence: “He’s an awesome actor, and what a great guy. A lot of times when you go in to make one of these movies, you don’t know who you’re going to end up with on location for a month. It’s kind of a crapshoot, but Bradley is just first class.”

Priestley knew the score with his leading lady, though: “Emma and I go way back, so I knew what I was getting into there. She’s great. She’s done very well since ‘90210.’ ”

In “I Want to Marry Ryan Banks,” Priestley doesn’t stray far from his Brandon Walsh persona on “90210,” but he has embraced vastly different roles in independent films such as “Love and Death on Long Island” and the recent “Die, Mommie, Die.”

He reasons, “If I played one character for the rest of my life, that would be boring and, to me, not what it is to be an actor. I think that in order to get better as an actor, you really have to push yourself to take chances and tackle things that make you scared. If you do it well, from that success comes greater knowledge and confidence, and a greater understanding of what you’re doing.”

“Tru Calling” will feature Priestley as a new morgue employee who opposes Tru’s (Eliza Dushku) efforts to help people avoid their deaths, and the actor is looking forward to countering his usual image on a more regular basis.

“Tru needs an adversary,” the Vancouver, British Columbia, native said. “I really like shows that are a little dark and twisted -- I still don’t know how I ended up on ‘90210’ -- so for me to go in there and play, for all intents and purposes, the Grim Reaper, will be really fun. I signed a big development deal with Fox, and doing ‘Tru Calling’ is part of that.”

Although it ended with his career reenergized, 2003 was “kind of a strange year” for him, Priestley said. “For the first half, I was still recovering from the accident, but I did go to Canada and make a movie. Then there was the ‘90210’ reunion special, I made two more movies in the fall, and I finished the year off with ‘Ryan Banks.’ I started seeing these [promotional] posters everywhere saying, ‘Do you want to marry Ryan Banks?’ and I just found it hysterical.”

On the racing front, Priestley has reversed his earlier thoughts of getting back on the track after recovering from his accident. “On Oct. 22, my friend Tony Renna passed away at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he was the second really close friend of mine who died in a race car in the past four years. Greg Moore was the first, on Halloween 1999.

“Being 34 years old and on the downhill side of my racing career, I think at this point it just makes more sense for me to leave my smashed-in and bloodied helmet hanging on the wall.

“I sort of feel like I’ve done it. I traveled the world, raced in hundreds of races, held trophies over my head and got sprayed with champagne. Maybe it’s just time for that chapter to close, and for me to get back to the other things I love to do.”

Jay Bobbin writes for Tribune Media Services.

“I Want to Marry Ryan Banks” airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC Family. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).