His role as Brandon Walsh in the hit teen drama Beverly Hills 90210 made him one of the most recognisable faces on the planet.

That face hasn’t changed much. The boyish good looks are still there despite Jason’s 34 years, as is the seemingly immobile wavy hairdo, while a small scar in the bridge of his nose is the only sign of his near-fatal motor racing crash two years ago.

And when Jason stepped onto the set to begin his latest role in Sky One’s fantasy drama Tru Calling, in which he co-stars with Eliza Dushku, he was soon reminded of his days as a schoolgirl fantasy.

"Eliza told me she had a poster of me up on her wall when she was younger," he says of the show’s 23-year-old lead. "

It made me feel so old," he laughs.

"Goddamn, when did I become the old guy? When did that happen? I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve walked on set and looked around and realised that, wow, I’m the oldest guy here by a long way. That’s a first."

Jason’s arrival to the series is set to shake things up a bit for Eliza Dushku’s heroine Tru. Thus far the adventurous morgue attendant with the ability to go back a day and save the lives of those who come into her work place has been successful in her ongoing task.

But Jason’s Jack Harper, who comes to work with Tru at the morgue from Tuesday July 20, hides a dark secret that’s going to make life even more difficult for our heroine.

"I think Jack leans more towards my personal sensibilities," says Jason.

"As an actor I enjoy playing characters that are darker because they tend to be more complex. Some characters I’ve played are just very one-sided, they become very tedious after a while."

Jason happily admits that Brandon Walsh was one of those characters.

"He did get boring occasionally," he says.

"That’s why Luke Perry left, he just couldn’t take playing Dylan any more, but for me, leaving just didn’t seem to be the thing to do.

"So in order to keep myself involved mentally and emotionally, I started producing and directing the show."

Jason has other grumbles about life as Brandon.

"When you’re a 21-year-old actor just starting his career, to be saddled with all the teen magazines and all that rubbish they write, you can see your career heading off to David Cassidy land," he cringes.

"You try to hang on to some semblance of something serious. I mean the halls of the Screen Actors Guild are littered with the bodies of last year’s teen idol."

Tru Calling is Jason’s first TV role since Beverly Hills, 90210. Since he left the show in 1998 he’s concentrated on film with varying degrees of success.

But these days Jason seems to be frustrated with film, saying he much prefers the faster pace of working on a television show and the fact that his work gets out to the audience more quickly.

"So many people watch television," says Jason.

"It’s a great place to work and to entertain and do what we actors do."

There was a point almost two years ago, however, where it was unclear whether Jason would return to any kind of screen. A successful professional race car driver as well as an actor, he was practising for the Kentucky 100 in Indianapolis when his car span out of control and hit a wall at 180mph.

He had to have surgery on his broken back and his feet and suffered moderate concussion, three skull fractures, a bruised eye socket and cuts on his face and neck. Jason remembers nothing of the crash.

"It happened in eight tenths of a second, boom," he says, clicking his fingers.

"That’s all I had. It was a big one.

"I don’t remember any detail. Nothing. All I know is what they told me. I don’t remember two days before or three weeks after. It’s just gone."

Jason is keen to underplay the incident, even though it nearly cost him his life. He says it hasn’t changed his life at all, apart from the fact he no longer races.

"Just physically I can’t," he says.

"Another big hit like that would be a big problem.

"But I’d seen countless friends of mine go through injuries like that," he adds.

"It was just the deal and it was my turn to have a big hit. I got out of the hospital really quickly and got back to my life. That’s all."

Jason now plays ice hockey as a replacement because it’s "not as dangerous".

"I’ve left racing behind completely," he says.

"It would be hard to be around it all the time. I’d find that difficult because I still just want to get back in a car.

"But that’s all right. I did 11 years, man. Stood on a lot of podiums, sprayed a lot of champagne. There comes a time when you have to close certain chapters in your life and it was time to close that one."

The crash was one of a few post-90210 events in Jason’s life that saw him hitting the headlines. His short marriage of less than a year to make-up artist Ashlee Peterson ended in 1999. And not long after they separated, Jason crashed his car and was charged with drink-driving.

"I made a mistake," he says of the incident. "Drunk-driving is like a national pastime in Los Angeles. I’m not the first one and I won’t be the last believe me. But you’ve got to be a man about it."

He was sentenced to five days in jail and ordered to undergo counselling.

"Oddly enough going to jail wasn’t the worst experience I ever had," he says.

"There was a lesson I needed to learn in that and I learned it."

Jason’s personal life now seems more settled, although he doesn’t like talking about it. He’s engaged to British make-up artist Naomi Lowde, who he’s said to have met while working in the West End.

"I’m not telling you anything about my wedding plans," he says with a mischievous laugh.

"But I appreciate you asking."

Apart from marriage, the future holds a second series of Tru Calling for Jason and a UK mini series called Colditz with Damian Lewis.