Citations

Les Dents de la mer (1975) was, and still is, an incredible, monumental film. Not just for its time, but even today it really stands out.. That film changed everything for all of us. I was afraid to swim in the ocean for years after watching that. And growing up in Vancouver, I lived on the ocean.

[on Beverly Hills (1990)] I knew working on that show was going to be a great opportunity for me to learn as much as I could from Aaron Spelling. I thought I would be able to talk him into letting me direct an episode and - lo and behold! - he did. And now, looking back, I can't figure out for the life of me what the old man was thinking, turning the show over to a 23-year-old kid. But I'm very thankful that he did because he gave me one episode in the third season. The fourth season he gave me two; the fifth season he gave me three; and, in the sixth, he gave me five. He just kept giving me more episodes and I just kept shooting them. And that sort of ambition led me here.

[on hanging out with ex-90210 cast members] No. Luke and I are the most friendly and try to get together a couple of times a year.

[on Tru Calling] I do like playing bad guys, especially baddies like Jack. He was a complicated guy and I really liked the interplay with he and Tru in that show. Shame when that one got the axe.

[on what work he's most proud of] Wow... that's a tough one... Call Me Fitz, Tombstone, Love and Death on Long Island, Coldblooded...

[on his decision to star in a Masters of Horror episode] The decision was made by the fact that Joe Dante was directing and Elliot Gould was the co-star... I believe I said yes before I even read the script.

[on his departure of 90210] In retrospect, I do regret leaving. Understanding what I do now about story and character, I believe that [Aaron Spelling] was pushing the story in a direction that would have had Brandon and Kelly end up together at the end of the show and I think I probably should have stuck around to its fruition. I think my departure also hurt Aaron's feelings. Aaron and I had worked very closely together for a number of years. He gave me a lot of opportunities, and I feel like my departure hurt his feelings and I never meant to do that.

[on Shannen Doherty being difficult] No, she wasn't. I had a lot of good times with Shannen. You know the tabloids blow everything way out of proportion, and they certainly did with Shannen.

[on his early fame] When I look back, I am surprised I made it out. It was hard, being a young man in LA. I never had the temerity to consider that [level of fame] was a possibility. Nobody would expect that; you'd be an idiot to expect that.

[on leaving 90210] When I left the show, it was so anticlimactic, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. It was the fourth episode of the ninth season. I did the first scene of the morning - literally with this actor who was brought in to replace me - and that was it. I hugged the crew, picked up my box of stuff, went to my car and drove away. There was no party, no nothing. I felt like I'd wasted nine years of my life.

[on his character Brandon Walsh] I hated him even when I was playing him! But I feel like my life and my career moved on, and thankfully, I never got stuck playing that guy over and over. But judging from some of my Twitter followers, a lot of other people got stuck on him!

[on his falling out with Brad Pitt] Our careers went in such different directions that we sort of lost touch with each other. Brad went off and was making movies all over the world, and I was sort of stuck in one place making a TV show.

[2024] Shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of my friend Shannen (Doherty). She was a force of nature and I will miss her. Sending love and light to her family in this dark time.