It's been years since Jason Priestley rose to fame on the original Beverly Hills 90210 but he's always found a way to keep busy both in front of and behind the camera. Having honed his directing skills on 90210 in the '90s, Jason went on to follow the popular Barenaked Ladies for his documentary Barenaked in America before directing episodes of Scrubs, 7th Heaven, and now The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Since 90210, Priestley has also found time to act in such shows as Tru Calling, Without a Trace, Masters of Horror, and now My Name is Earl on November 13 at 8pm, playing Earl's cousin Blake, a catalogue backpack model, who arrives in town for a party.

How does Jason Priestley feel about stepping on to the Earl set? How does Jason feel about the new 90210 series, and will he be reprising his role as Brandon anytime soon? We hopped on the line on Tuesday to catch up with Jason Priestley before fans will see him play Earl's cousin.

THE DEADBOLT: I noticed that your character’s name on My Name is Earl is also Brandon. Was that a coincidence or intentional?

PRIESTLEY: You know what? It was Brandon then they changed it because I think they thought it was just going to be a little too cute.

THE DEADBOLT: What is his name now?

PRIESTLEY: What did they make it after all? Christ, I can’t even remember. It was a while ago that we shot it... His name is Blake.

THE DEADBOLT: What's Blake actually doing in town?

PRIESTLEY: Blake came into town because he got invited to this party. Oh, yeah, so he came into town just for the party.

THE DEADBOLT: You also mentioned that you’re going to be directing an episode of the new 90210. Is that just a one-off or are you thinking about getting back into [directing] a bunch, like on the original?

PRIESTLEY: Well, yeah, you know. For this season it’s just going to be the one. I’m doing episode number eighteen. So after that they’ve only got a few more episodes and they’re done for the season. You know, we’ll see what happens next season with them but it’ll just be the one episode this season.

THE DEADBOLT: You’re directing quite a few episodes for The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

PRIESTLEY: Yeah, I’ll do five this season.

THE DEADBOLT: Are there any documentaries that you’re looking at?

PRIESTLEY: No, not right now.

THE DEADBOLT: So you’re not going to chase The Barenaked Ladies around again?

PRIESTLEY: [laughs] I should really go down to Syracuse and cover that whole thing with Steven Page. That would be the thing to cover. No, I've got no plans for that. I think we’re going to try to actually release Barenaked in America, like do a big DVD release this next fall. It’s the ten year anniversary of when it opened the Toronto Film Festival and I think we’re going to try to do that this fall. So keep looking for that.

Other Conference Call Highlights:

Jason Priestley on his character for My Name is Earl:

"I play Earl’s cousin, who’s a professional backpack model and, you know, Earl and his cousin have a very combative relationship. They’ve always been in competition with each other ever since they were little kids and that competition has never subsided as they grew up. So, you know, watching two grown men competing like that is obviously very funny. And Jason [Lee] is such a funny guy and Earl is such a funny character. It was a real pleasure for me to go over there and work with him and just sort of be in the presence of comedic greatness.

"And my character and Jaime Pressly’s character had a sexual liaison at a certain point in time, and that of course sent Earl off into - Once Earl finds out about that, that really sends him off. So the comedic sparks start to fly at that point in time. So just to be able to work with Jaime and Jason and the work that the tree of us did together I think is pretty funny."

Priestley on the Karma angle of the show and righting your wrongs:

"Well, I’m a firm believer in Karma myself, and the fact that I am a firm believer in Karma gives me a lot of hope. I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoy watching My Name is Earl just as a fan. I just think that a show about a guy who discovers Karma so late in life, that’s just such a funny concept to me. I mean the rest of us grow up with Karma being a part of our moral fabric, and the idea of a guy who discovers Karma so late in life is a little bit of comedic genius on Greg Garcia’s behalf."

On his character being more successful than Earl:

"Well, I play a wildly successful, professional backpack model. You know, J Crew, L.L. Bean, you’ve seen him in all of the top outdoor catalogs. I know it’s a little bit of a niche, but a very profitable niche if done correctly."

Jason Priestley on whether there’s anything that could bring him back to TV full time:

"Absolutely. Since 90210 I’ve done four or five other television series that have gone for one or two seasons and just sort of haven’t gotten over the hump. I really enjoy doing episodic television. I enjoy the pace of the work, and I just enjoy the work. You know, I enjoy going to work with the same group of people for long periods of time. I just enjoy episodic television. I think there’s a lot of great work being done on television these days. It’s really just a matter of finding the right show that strikes a chord with an audience and can stay on the air for a long period of time. But I’m certainly always looking for that material all of the time."

Priestley on his decision to direct new episodes of 90210, but not appear as Brandon Walsh:

"Well, they simply - You know, there really wasn’t anything interesting to do as Brandon on that show and I just didn’t feel that there was anything interesting to it. And yet as a director, and the director who directed the most episodes of the original show, I felt that I had more to offer as a director over there. And apparently so did they."