Beverly Hills, 90210 star Jason Priestley: My heartthrob days are over

Actor Jason Priestley joked his days of being a heartthrob are over and said he will follow George Clooney into the director’s chair.

Priestley shot to fame in the early 1990s playing pinup Brandon Walsh on the hugely popular teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210.

The 51-year-old is back on TV in series four of comedy drama Private Eyes, which he stars in as well as directing multiple episodes.

Clooney, 59, recently said he was becoming too old to be a leading man after starring in and directing The Midnight Sky.

Priestley revealed he too has one eye on going behind the camera more often.

He told the PA news agency: “I identify with that 100%. I feel like my days of playing a young heartthrob are definitely in the rear-view mirror.

“I’m just trying to maintain some sort of semblance of attractiveness so I can hang on ever so slightly to a career in front of the camera but eventually I’m going to have to give it up and retreat to the director’s chair like my friend George.”

However Priestley added he still very much enjoys acting and said: “I seem to split my time pretty evenly these days and I’m going to continue to do that for as long as I can. I’m very happy on both sides of the camera and I find that both both jobs complement each other so I’ll continue to do both.”

Priestley stars in Private Eyes alongside Cindy Sampson as an investigating team solving cases in Toronto, Canada.

He plays Matt Shade, a former professional hockey player turned PI. Priestley said the show’s success may be down to it being easy viewing during years of tumult in the real world.

He said: “We have a unique easy going style that I think, certainly in difficult times like this, our show is the perfect escapist television. It’s very blue sky and it’s very aspirational and it’s not too taxing.

“And it’s the kind of entertainment that people need right now. Certainly given where the world has been for the last four or five years and where it is right now, I think everyone needs a little escapism and our show delivers that.”

Priestley reunited with his Beverly Hills, 90210 co-stars for a 2019 reboot, which has so far only aired for a single series.

The actor said there are no plans for another. “There is nothing on the horizon as of right now, I am sorry to report,” he said.

Private Eyes returns on Sky Witness at 9pm on February 4.