Jason Priestley returns to TV on Sunday with HBO Canada's new comedy series Call Me Fitz, which sees 90210's golden boy go bad to play morally bankrupt used car salesman Richard 'Fitz' Fitzpatrick.
Priestley says he welcomes the opportunity to leave his Brandon Walsh image behind.
“I was trying to break out of that mold when I was still in it,” he says. “It’s important to forcibly do other things. As an artist, you have to be willing to put yourself in situations that maybe aren’t that comfortable, because that’s how you get better."
Priestley, who had to audition for the role of Fitz the old fashion way, says he's glad to see there's a place for such unconventional shows on television.
"It's great to see (Canadian cable networks) doing this stuff," he says. "As the (broadcast) networks keep showing more and more reality programming, because it's cheap to produce, a lot of really creative people -- actors, directors, writers, producers -- are migrating to cable, because that's where you have the freedom to tell the stories you want to tell. And it's nice to see that it's happening in Canada, as well."
The premiere episode of Call Me Fitz is now available for streaming on HBO Canada's website.
If you prefer to watch television on an actual TV set, tune in to HBO Canada on Sunday at 8 p.m.