Jason Priestley

by Jason Priestley

  Rainbow Bridge

  Swifty held on for a week after Ava was born. He was old and sick with cancer, and an untreatable tumor was pressing against his lungs. There was nothing more the vet could do for him. They had told me I would know when the time came to put him down. Until then, as long as he was eating, I should just keep him comfortable and happy. I was grateful to have the warning so I had time to accustom myself to the idea of life without him.

  Ava was less than a week old the day Swifty refused to eat. As we approached the twenty-four-hour mark with no food, I knew the time had come. I called the vet and carried Swifty out to the car with me for the very last time. As I pulled out and headed for the vet’s office, Swifty stood up and looked directly at me. He was giving me a very fixed stare, as though he was trying to hold me in his memory. His breathing became very loud and labored. I knew he was dying.

  I pulled over only a couple of blocks from my house, took him out of the car, sat on the grass, and gave him a big hug. I was holding him when I felt the very last beat of his heart against mine and saw the light go out in his eyes. My Swifty, who had been with me for fourteen years. That dog had seen some things in his life! He had more frequent flyer miles that most people I know.

  That was really, really hard. In the midst of my elation about the birth of my first child, I lost one of my oldest and dearest friends. Swifty was such a good boy. I knew in my heart that he had held on until Ava arrived.

  Warner Ranch

  Burbank

  91522

  I worked frequently as a director because I very much enjoyed taking material on the printed page and taking it all the way through to a finished product on-screen. That was my challenge as a director. Actors have to be very self-involved: worried about their timing, hitting their marks, their motivation, how they look, you name it. Looking at the big picture as director was a very different and rewarding challenge. Many, many actors think they want to be a director until they give it shot, and then they quickly decide it’s too much work. It’s an awful lot of painstaking mundane preparation and a tremendous amount of work for very little glory, toiling in the background to make it all happen. Acting of course is just the opposite—less work, all the attention.

  I’d heard rumors about a remake of Beverly Hills 90210 for a couple of years, and in 2008 it eventually got up and running. Once production became official, an offer came in for me to reprise my role as Brandon, something I had no interest in doing. I couldn’t really see how Brandon Walsh would fit into this new version. Directing, however, was another story. I got booked to direct the seventeenth episode of the first season, so I watched every episode in order to be fully up to speed and know what was going on with the story line.

  The show really had little to do with the original besides the title and original premise. It was a completely different production—a very good-looking show. They certainly had all the toys and bells and whistles to make it look superluxe and impressive—not exactly what I recalled from the original! Jennie was playing Kelly again on the new show. The woman who played her mother, the actress Ann Gillespie, was also back, and she was someone I was very happy to see again after fifteen years or so. It was a quick, enjoyable job but not even close to any kind of reunion; this new show was a completely different production from what I remembered.

  I HAD KNOWN producer Brenda Hampton since her first job writing an episode of Sister Kate. Over the intervening years she’d created the hit show 7th Heaven and had become a powerful producer. Her latest project was a new show called The Secret Life of the American Teenager. I originally signed on to direct two episodes and while I was there, the show was picked up, so I signed on for three more episodes over the next six months. Obviously, the cast was a bunch of young actors finding their way, and I certainly had a bit of experience in that department. I hoped that having me around was a good experience for those guys, and I tried to help them out as much as I could.

  In a great stroke of luck, the show was filmed literally ten minutes away from our new house, and my hours were extremely civilized for once. Brenda liked to wrap up work by 3:00 P.M. every day, so that couldn’t have worked out better. Naomi and I were determined to do it all ourselves, with no outside help, and fortunately my schedule worked perfectly with a new baby. I worked and then came home every afternoon to take care of Naomi and Ava and do all the shopping and cooking. It was an ideal situation for the whole first year of Ava’s life.

  South Kensington

  London

  SW7 5BD

  Vanessa Redgrave slapped me in the face. It was my fault, of course.

  I got offered a part in a BBC miniseries, called Day of the Triffids, that was to shoot in London. The series was based on the famous science fiction novel by British author John Wyndham, about a postapocalyptic London terrorized by flesh-eating plants. The story had been filmed before, several times; it was a classic B movie in the 1960s, as well as an earlier BBC production in the early 1980s. This new version updated and modernized the story while staying fairly true to the original material in the book.

  The cast was all-star: Dougray Scott, Joely Richardson, Eddie Izzard, Vanessa Redgrave . . . and me! We were off to England for ten weeks. Naomi and I set up house in a rented flat in South Kensington. The work went well. I had one memorable scene that called for Vanessa to try to hit me; I was supposed to catch her hand before any damage was done. I felt pretty confident about my superior reflexes. “Go on, Vanessa, try to hit me. I’ll get my hand up there and stop it.”

  Of course there were a bunch of extras all around us, filming in close quarters, and my arm got stuck. I couldn’t get my hand up in time so I got smacked. She’s quick! She was quite apologetic, but it was completely my fault. I was happy to take my licks from a legend!

  During production there was a freak snowstorm in London, with about eighteen inches of snow on the ground. It was absolutely beautiful, though the storm shut the city down. City officials simply did not know how to handle it and everything was basically crippled. Production went on, however, and it made the set stunningly beautiful: London, covered in snow, looking very Dickensian and classically British.

  Our year-old daughter was going through a phase where she was mad about dinosaurs—she just could not get enough. We were only a couple of blocks from the Natural History Museum, so we used to take her nearly every day to their world-famous dino exhibit, which absolutely transfixed her. Ava adored London—riding the tube everywhere, visiting her beloved dinos, eating Chinese food at Mr. Chow’s. She was already quite a foodie, our once-colicky little daughter now a fearless eater, never picky. It was a wonderful trip.

  BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER was an American, I wanted to be absolutely certain that I could always be guaranteed to get back into America from that point on. I was also anxious to finally vote. I’d left Canada before I was of legal voting age, and in the decades I’d been in the United States, I’d had work permits and green cards and all kinds of different statuses. If I became an official citizen, I could finally have my say in the political process, which of course seemed much more pressing. I think it’s true of anyone who has a child: you suddenly become much more concerned about the kind of world your child will inherit, and you get quite a bit more involved in various issues and causes.

  I’d been here for so long, lived in two of America’s greatest cities, and had traveled through almost every state. It was exciting to make it official. I took my test, became a citizen, and now thoroughly enjoy being part of the democratic process!

  “Pleasantville”

  USA

  Oh, the things you learn once you become a member of the parenting club! One night Naomi said to me out of the blue, “Want to have a boy?”

  “That would be great!” I answered.

  “Okay then, now’s the time!” We got busy, and her promise was borne out by the ultrasound several months later—there was our boy. Naomi was that in tune with her body. I learned that male sperm are quicker and lig
hter than female sperm; they reach the egg fast but are weak. Female sperm are bigger and stronger and live longer, but move more slowly. Some people believe that by conceiving on the day a woman is actually ovulating, you should have a boy. By conceiving on a day before ovulation, you should have a girl. This natural plan certainly worked for us!

  Naomi was working as the makeup artist for a production company during her second pregnancy. One of their productions in 2009 was the HGTV television show Design Star. She was approached by a producer one day, who asked if she would consider allowing them to redo a room in our house for a special celebrity edition of the show. Each of the three show finalists would redo one room in a celebrity’s home. Naomi, of course, would be perfect for a nursery.

  “Sounds great,” Naomi said. “Who else are you thinking of for the episode?” She knew they needed at least two other celebrities to appear on the episode.

  “I don’t know, you’re the first person I’ve approached,” the producer said. “Why, do you have any suggestions?”

  Immediately, Naomi said, “How about Tiffani Thiessen? I know she’s looking to have some work done on her house.”

  Naomi was excited; me, not so much. I felt a great deal of trepidation when Naomi approached me with the idea that night. Since my 90210 days I had guarded my privacy so fiercely when it came to my home; it’s the one area I’d always tried to keep off limits. I felt that whatever small amount of privacy was afforded me had to be very carefully guarded. As I got older, though, I mellowed and relaxed a bit. I began to think I had made too big a deal out of it all when I was a kid. And so it came to pass that the four of us were two of the three celebrity couples featured on the “Make Over a Room in a Celebrity’s Home” episode. Kathy Griffin was the third. Her staff office was redone, while Tiffani got a new guest bedroom.

  Naomi, Ava, and I stayed at a hotel near the beach in Santa Monica for a few nights while they redid the room. Ava was in heaven. Ever since she was the tiniest little girl, she thought hotel life was the best thing ever. The three of us had so much fun. We drove down to the beach every day and went out for meals. Tiffani and Brady came over one night and joined up with us because they were out of their house as well for the same few days. Of course, we all speculated about what they were doing to our houses and if this had really been a good idea or not. The show gave us a nice chance to catch up.

  We came home to discover that Design Star Dan Vickery had done a fantastic job on our nursery. It was beautiful, restful, and sophisticated, not at all babyish. We couldn’t have been happier with the results—and his redo was quite convenient as our son, Dash, showed up pretty shortly afterward.

  The second he arrived, I was once again weak at the knees and simply lost—he had the cutest little face. In fact, Dashiell was gorgeous! This time I was able to stay with Naomi and Dash the entire time they were in the hospital, without having to leave for work. Right from the start, he was such a good little guy, good eater, good sleeper, very little trouble. This time, we were far more on top of things. When we got Dash home and the colic started, we knew right away what needed to happen.

  It was diet time for Naomi again. I have to give her credit—once again she lived uncomplainingly on chicken and arugula nonstop for months and months. Once in a while she might have a Trader Joe’s egg roll, which she could get away with. Again, she stockpiled her Cadbury. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and don’t eat chocolate, which is a good thing, because to have indulged while she was prohibited would have sparked a riot!

  I had to head off on location for a short time, so Naomi’s mother showed up to help while I was gone. It was hard for me to leave at that time. I could not, in all good conscience, have left my wife alone with a toddler and a newborn. I raced home as soon as I could to return to my disgruntled daughter and adorable son. Ava was not amused by her brother’s arrival, and for the first six months or so of his life she basically pretended he wasn’t there. Maybe she was hoping he would go back to where he came from. Eventually, begrudgingly, she faced the fact that he was here to stay and from that point on has been perfectly cheerful.

  They are the whole world to me.

  The Lot (Again)

  90046

  Over the course of directing a web series called The Lake for Warner Bros., I became friendly with the show’s two writers, Meredith and Marcy. While we edited The Lake, they both kept talking to me about a writer named Sheri Elwood and a pilot she had written called Meet Phil Fitz. I had to read this script, they kept telling me. I had to meet Sheri. I was perfect to play the lead . . . and so on and so on.

  Nine times out of ten, when somebody talks up a writer or piece of material to this extent it’s a big disappointment. I’d heard stuff like this for years. But these women were relentless. After hearing about this pilot for weeks nonstop, I gave in and said, “Have Sheri e-mail me the pilot. Jeez, I’ll read it, okay? Just send it to me.” This was just another thing I had to do; I certainly wasn’t excited about it.

  A couple of weeks later, a script landed in my in-box. I opened it immediately because I wanted to get this over with, and then I realized that this was, hands down, the best piece of material I had read in years. Richard (Fitz) Fitzpatrick is the son of Ken Fitzpatrick, founder of the family car dealership, Fitzpatrick Motors. Fitz works alongside his father, selling cars. Just like his father, he is an alcoholic, rageaholic, sex-addicted, beyond-deluded guy who thinks he is absolutely awesome. In his mind, he’s perfection; in reality he is completely morally bankrupt. Imagine the absolute polar opposite of Brandon Walsh, times ten. Naturally, this made it an even more appealing role for me.

  I sent Sheri an e-mail literally titled “OMG—Best thing I’ve read in years.” In it, I hit her with a bunch of questions. What’s the deal with the show? Is it set up anywhere? How is the casting coming? How do I meet you? What do I have to do to play this guy?

  Her e-mail back explained that the show was set up at HBO Canada and that she was coming to L.A. in a couple of weeks to hold auditions. She asked if I could come in and read. Of course I could! I told her that I would be wherever, whenever she wanted to see me. We sent a couple more e-mails back and forth about the character over the next two weeks as I prepared, and then it was audition time.

  Amazingly enough, I met Sheri at the Lot, on Formosa and Santa Monica, where I’d gone to audition for Beverly Hills 90210 twenty years before. I hadn’t been on that lot since! It’s a tiny little facility, not a huge studio lot like Paramount or FOX with their acres and acres of land and hundreds of stages and offices. Nothing ever shoots there. It’s an unlikely little location, nearly hidden, and in all the auditions I’d been on since then I hadn’t had one reason to go back.

  This is where Aaron’s office used to be, I thought as I drove onto the Lot. I took this as a good omen. The audition for 90210 had turned out well; hopefully my luck here would hold.

  I heard that Sheri was being assisted by a casting director who specialized in finding Canadian talent in Los Angeles. When I walked into the office, I realized it was none other than Libby Goldstein, the casting director I had used on Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, so that was one friendly relationship in my favor. I read for Sheri, running a few scenes a few different ways, and then put it all on tape. Sheri was excited at the end of our meeting and told me how much she appreciated me coming in.

  “You’re the one for this, Jason. I just have to send this up to the network in Toronto so the HBO execs can sign off on you.”

  “Great,” I said, and we shook hands as I prepared to leave. She held my hand for an extra second, looked me right in the eye, and emphasized, “Really, I think you’re perfect for Fitz.”

  I left feeling very high. The whole meeting had an eerie déjà vu feeling—from the location, of course, but right down to that happy hopeful feeling of knowing I not only had killed my audition, I also had Sheri firmly in my camp . . . just as Aaron had been on my side so many years before with Brandon.

  Two days
later, I got the call. I was going to play the role of Richard Fitzpatrick. Next came a bunch of chemistry readings on the Lot to find the rest of the cast . . . including the crucial role of Larry, who plays Fitz’s conscience. When Ernie Grunwald came in, that was that. We hit it off immediately; we just had so much fun playing off each other. It was shaping up to be a fantastic project and I could not have been happier. I had a new son and a new role.

  Wolfville

  BP4 1E8

  One day at a casting meeting on the Lot, Sheri idly mentioned that they were finalizing where Fitz would shoot. One of the possibilities was Wolfville, Nova Scotia. At that time, Nova Scotia was giving out huge tax credits to attract the film and television industry, so there was a big incentive to shoot there.

  “I’m quite familiar with Wolfville,” I told her.

  “No way! No one’s ever even heard of the place,” she scoffed. “I mean that itty-bitty little town in the middle of the Annapolis Valley—”

  “Yes, where they produce wine,” I interrupted. “It’s the heart of wine country for Nova Scotia. I have most certainly been there, looking for wines.”

  Sure enough, that’s where we wound up shooting. It came down to the fact that there was an abandoned Kia car dealership at the end of one street. The owners had moved everything to a new dealership a mile away, and the empty place left an absolutely perfect set for Fitz. The tiny little town where the abandoned dealership lay was named New Minas. It stood in for Anytown USA, with its big box stores, fast-food restaurants, and boring main strip. Just your typical little drab small town with Walmart as the biggest retailer and the local car dealer at the end of the main drag. It was the absolute perfect location for Call Me Fitz.