One of the biggest questions in the '90s was: Brandon or Dylan?
While Dylan was the sexy bad boy, Brandon was the perfect boy next door. Beverly Hills: 90210 took fans by storm during its ten-year run, and all of a sudden Jason Priestley was a teen idol that had thousands of young girls chasing after him in shopping malls.
There might have been a lot of drama on the set, but Priestley never left television, specifically soap's, and reprised his role as Brandon with the rest of the cast in the reboot. They made a pretty penny making it, but that's not all that's contributed to Priestley's $16 million net worth.
But now that BH90210 is canceled, how will he keep that impressive amount of cash?
Priestley Earned A Lot For Playing Brandon...And Later On, Directed Himself
While Brandon was just trying to earn enough money to buy a car working at the Peach Pit, Priestley was earning enough money to buy hundreds of cars playing him.
We don't know exactly what the cast was being paid during their time on the show, but with the level of popularity and success 90210 had back in the day, it's not hard to believe they were getting an impressive amount of money per episode.
They probably weren't making as much as the guys on Friends, who requested a $1 million check per episode. Instead, they probably made closer to what Sarah Michelle Gellar was making on Buffy, which started at about $75,000 an episode and went up to $100,000.
Priestley got an even bigger check than his castmates on more than one occasion too. His directorial debut came in 1993, and he went on to directed 15 episodes of 90210. So it's safe to say that those episodes where he was directing himself earned him a couple hundred thousand.
Brandon was not Priestley's first television show though. He'd been in television commercials in his native Canada since he was a kid and later moved to Hollywood to briefly star in shows like 21 Jump Street, MacGyver, and Quantum Leap.
He played the lead in Teen Angel in 1989 and a 19-episode arc in Sister Kate the same year until he got Brandon Walsh.
During his time on 90210, Priestley also did a couple of films such as Tombstone in 1993, Calendar Girl the same year, and Love and Death on Long Island in 1997.
But after playing the often goodie two shoes on the hit show for eight years, and being nominated for two Golden Globes, Priestley decided to leave 90210 in 1998. He told CNN in 2014 that he did regret leaving the show, but he did it because he thought he'd done all he could. Plus he didn't like that Brandon was going to end up with Kelly.
But once he left, Priestley realized that Brandon was really the only character holding the show together.
"I think there was no more moral center to the show," he explained. "There was no more linchpin. There were no more Walshes in the Walsh house. It kind of didn't make sense anymore. So, I regret leaving the show for all those reasons."
After his write-off, Priestley ended up staying on as executive producer for the show until it ended in 2000 and appeared a couple of times in the last season as a special guest.
Priestley ended up joining the cast of 90210 one more time in the reboot BH90210, which earned him $70,000 per episode with the rest of the cast. They ended up filming six episodes so Priestley really cashed in $420,000, plus another $46,000 for directing one episode.
Shortly After '90210', He Became A Race Car Driver And Continued With TV And Directing
Priestley proved he's a jack of all trades when he decided to become a race car driver in 2002.
"It was another career; I got paid to race," he explained to Sydney Morning Herald. "I raced all around the world, and I stood on a lot of podiums and sprayed a lot of champagne."
But in 2002, he had a serious accident at the Kentucky Speedway that left him with a back injury so he retired shortly after.
When his racing days were over, he returned to showbiz, acting in television and getting behind the camera again. He went on to direct episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Saving Hope, The Lake (which he also co-produced), a Bare Naked Ladies music video and documentary, the Hallmark Channel movie Goodnight for Justice (which starred Luke Perry), and his first feature film, Cas & Dylan.
He had recurring roles in Tru Calling, Love Monkey, Haven, and Call Me Fitz, and appeared in What I Like About You, Without A Trace, and Lifetime's Side Order of Life.
He's also had a recurring role on Private Eyes since 2016.
With all the projects that Priestley has worked on over the years, it's no surprise that he has an impressive amount of money. He's literally dabbled in everything in showbiz and has truly made a name for himself on and off the camera.
It'll be interesting to see what he'll take on next, maybe flying airplanes? Or maybe he'll follow Tom Cruise to space. Whatever he does, he'll only ever be Brandon Walsh in our eyes... but don't tell him that.