Speaking to E! News in an exclusive interview, “Beverly Hills, 90210” actor Jason Priestley explained why he and his family left behind Los Angeles after three decades of living there, moving to Nashville, Tennessee, instead. Priestley is originally from Vancouver, Canada.
Particularly, Priestley pointed to the lack of seasons in Los Angeles and how quickly live moves there, saying that he enjoys living in Music City because it is a good bit slower-paced and that the “ease of operation” in the red state city is a good bit better compared to how things were in Los Angeles.
In his comments to E! News, Priestley said that he, his wife Naomi, and their two children moved to Nashville in part because it’s so much easier to manage, he said, “It’s just ease of operation.” Continuing on the same point, Priestley then explained, “It’s so much easier to navigate your life here. And it’s a cool, interesting place.”
Building on that, he commented on how Nashville actually has seasons, unlike LA, which stays the same temperate temperature for pretty much all of the year. He said, “We get four seasons instead of one season. Because you have markers, and you know what time of year it is, it seems to make time go a little bit slower. There was something about the homogeneity of Los Angeles, where it was, ‘Is it March or is it October? I don’t know, I can’t really tell.'”
Connecting that to living with his family, Priestley explained that he wants time to move a bit slower, so he has more time and memories with his children, something the turn of the seasons provides. He said, “So time just kind of evaporates. Whereas living here, with four very distinct seasons, you have to take advantage of what the season is offering.”
He added that he and his wife Naomi decided that they would only pull the trigger and make the move to Nashville if their two teenaged children got into good schools in Nashville, which they did. He said, “My wife and I just said to each other, ‘If the kids get into the school, we’re going to Nashville!’ And lo and behold, they both got in, so we moved and we love it.”
He also commented on how his kids aren’t that into the flicks he used to star in, saying, he’ll try to show them his movies “like, ‘Look, guys, I used to do that, look at how cool I was.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, whatever, Dad.’ It’s sad, but I know as a parent I’m not alone in this. There just comes a point where you’re not cool to your kids anymore.”
Naomi, commenting on how she met Priestley, said, “I met Jason whilst I was working for a new media agency after recently graduating from University with a BA degree in Fine Arts (painting). Jason and I became inseparable and when his job came to an end in England, we took the jump, and I moved back to New York with him….then Vancouver, Calgary, Indianapolis, Toronto, LA….ok, you get the picture.”
Featured image credit: By Eva Rinaldi – Jason Priestley FX, Naomi Lowde-Priestley, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24795569
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