As a child actor in the 1970s, he endured teasing from his peers for appearing in commercials. At 17, he left home for Los Angeles, sharing a cramped apartment with two other aspiring stars. He rose to fame, becoming a household name, but today, he’s nearly unrecognizable and largely absent from Hollywood.

At 55, he looks markedly different from the image that once defined him—gray hair, wrinkles, and a changed face that has drawn direct comments from fans online. Once a widely recognized television star, his appearance today follows a high-speed crash, extensive facial injuries, and a shift away from public life.

From Vancouver to the Center of Teen Television

Born on August 28, 1969, in Vancouver, British Columbia, he began acting at age five in local productions and commercials. His early start in the industry came with challenges. He later said being a child actor in Canada meant “I got beat up more than normal kids.”

At 17, he moved to Los Angeles, where he shared an apartment with actor Bernie Coulson. Another young actor, Brad Pitt, occasionally crashed on their couch during auditions.

His breakthrough came in 1990, when he landed the role that would define his early career: the clean-cut lead in a new network drama set in Beverly Hills. The series became a primetime sensation, running for 10 years and earning him two Golden Globe nominations.

While working on the show, he also started directing and producing, gaining credits across television dramas, music videos, and documentaries. But by the end of that decade, his name would make headlines for an entirely different reason.

A Wrecked Car, a Broken Arm, and a Mugshot

In the early hours of December 3, 1999, he was behind the wheel in Hollywood when his car veered into trash cans, struck a power pole, hit another set of trash cans, and finally crashed into a parked vehicle on Canyon Drive.

It was around 12:30 a.m., and he had a passenger in the car—27-year-old Chad Cook, who suffered a broken right arm and was treated at a local hospital. Police at the scene reported visible signs of intoxication. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and causing injury, a felony.

He posted a $50,000 bond and was released from the LAPD Hollywood Division later that morning. A spokesperson confirmed that blood-alcohol test results were pending at the time.

He would later plead no contest to a misdemeanor DUI charge and complete an alcohol counseling program. The incident resulted in his Porsche being totaled and marked the beginning of a string of high-impact crashes over the years, none more severe than the one that would follow just three years later.

A Crash at 180 MPH and the Aftermath

On August 11, 2002, during a practice session for the Infiniti Pro Series at Kentucky Speedway, his race car slammed head-on into a concrete wall at nearly 180 mph. The crash occurred as he exited the second turn of the track.

Witnesses said he had driven through a patch of “oil-dry,” a granular material used to absorb fluid from an earlier incident, despite warnings for drivers to avoid that area. The impact left him with multiple critical injuries.

He sustained a spinal fracture in the middle of his back, broke bones in both feet, and suffered a closed head injury. He was flown by helicopter to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in Lexington.

At the hospital, doctors placed him on a respirator for sedation, though he was breathing on his own and able to follow commands. Medical staff confirmed that he was alert, with stable vital signs and no signs of paralysis.

He had been involved in other accidents before, including a 1995 rally crash in Olympia, Washington, and a 2002 powerboat crash in Miami, but none matched the severity of this one. This was the worst crash of his life, and it left him facing an uncertain future.

Rebuilding a Shattered Face

In an interview after the crash, he described waking up in the hospital and not recognizing what had happened to his body. Speaking to Barbara Walters in early 2003, he said the injuries were so extensive that his face had been smashed almost beyond recognition.

He also feared he might not walk again, recalling thoughts of Christopher Reeve and racing colleague Sam Schmidt, both of whom had suffered paralysis. “I was really, really terrified that that was gonna be me,” he said. In a later interview with Piers Morgan, he detailed the extent of his facial trauma.

“I broke my spine and I shattered both my feet, and I did a lot of damage to my face too. I ripped my nose off my face, and I broke my orbital bone, my cheekbone, and my ocular mantle. They actually had to take my eyeball out and rebuild part of my skull,” he said.

Recovery was long and difficult, and it took considerable time before the damaged side of his face regained full function. The crash marked the end of his professional racing career.

He confirmed that the two years following the accident were the hardest of his life. They were focused entirely on physical rehabilitation and regaining his footing, literally and professionally.

Work That Went Unseen in Hollywood

In the years that followed his recovery, he gradually returned to the entertainment industry. By 2013, he was promoting his role in the Canadian series “Call Me Fitz,” a show he also produced and occasionally directed. The series aired in the U.S. on DirecTV, though he acknowledged it did not receive widespread attention.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “I still have this incredibly active and very successful career that is virtually unseen in Hollywood.” He made clear that he didn’t want to rely on past fame to stay relevant and believed trying to do so would be “pathetic.”

Instead, he focused on honing his skills and building a body of work that extended across TV series, films, and stage plays. His acting career had started in early childhood, but it was as a young adult that it became intense.

Looking back on his start in the industry, he said, “When you’re young like that, you feel like a hamster on a wheel. All you’re doing is spinning that wheel and your world. You have a bunch of people telling you how great you are, so it’s really easy to just start believing it after a while.”

By the time he reached his 50s, his career path and priorities had shifted once again, this time toward a quieter, more family-centered life, far from the Hollywood scene that had defined his youth.

Leaving Los Angeles Behind

By 2024, Jason Priestley had quietly stepped away from the city that defined his rise to fame. After spending more than 30 years in Los Angeles, the former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star relocated to Nashville with his wife, Naomi Priestley, and their two children.

The decision to move came after they found a school in Tennessee that felt like the right fit for their daughter Ava, then 16. Their son Dashiell, 14, was also accepted. “My wife and I just said to each other, ‘If the kids get into the school, we’re going to Nashville!'” Priestley recalled. “And lo and behold, they both got in, so we moved and we love it.”

Priestley later explained that life in Nashville was easier to manage and that the city’s seasonal changes helped bring structure to their daily lives. The consistent weather in Los Angeles had made it difficult to keep track of time, but the four seasons in Tennessee gave a clearer sense of rhythm.

Ava attended her junior prom that spring, while Dashiell became involved in school plays and voice acting. With nearly two decades of marriage behind them, Priestley and his wife settled into the new pace.

Though he was no longer a regular presence in the entertainment industry, he remained active in other areas, and it was through one of those pursuits that fans got a glimpse of how much he had changed.

When Fans Saw His Face Again

In a recent Instagram post, Priestley reappeared in the public eye to promote his wine label, Oak and Priest Wine Company. The caption announced the launch of a new “Friends and Family Wine Club,” offering discounts on their small-production wines, which had previously only been available to private collectors and select restaurants.

But it wasn’t just the business announcement that drew attention. In the photo, Priestley’s appearance was noticeably different from the youthful image many remembered. His hair and beard were visibly gray, and his face showed the natural wrinkles of age.

Fan reactions were immediate and mixed. One user commented, “I will never get used to him looking like that.” Another wrote, “May have to start drinking again…”

Others defended his unfiltered appearance, with one comment reading, “Cheers 🍷 and stop the ‘he’s aging’ [expletive]. We all do – we all will age. It’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s good to see people without all kinds of procedures done to their face [sic]. Our face shows the life we’ve lived.”

Priestley’s current image marks a clear contrast to the heartthrob persona he carried during the height of his career. But even though the boyish look that made him famous has faded, his image remains unforgettable to those who grew up watching him.