HE WAS a teen idol on Beverly Hills, 90210 with a number one single who was engaged to one of the hottest stars of the 90s - actress Drew Barrymore.
With a twinkle in his eye, Jamie Walters looks back fondly on his exciting 20s; long days on set, red carpet events, and jet-setting around the world.
![The former actor was engaged to Drew Barrymore [seen here at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/lactrice-drew-barrymore-et-son-874595966.jpg)
But his career ended up going in a surprisingly different direction after he fell out of love with acting, and he decided to pursue his real dream - becoming a firefighter.
Leaving the unpredictable world of showbiz behind, he swapped Levi 501s and microphones for bunker gear and a hose.
Jamie gave an exclusive interview to The U.S. Sun about his past career, his iconic scene when Tori Spelling fell down the stairs, and how he once ran into former co-star Luke Perry on the job.
"A lot of years have gone by and I don't think people are expecting when the fire department shows up that the guy in uniform might be somebody from a TV show in the 90s," he laughed.
"I'm thankful that I was able to switch gears and do something that I'm proud of and that my kids find interesting and cool.
"I still have a lot of friends that are in that business, but it's a tough business. Unless you're doing well, it's a struggle to raise a family."
But Jamie, a single dad of four, has no regrets and has since been working as a dedicated fire-fighter paramedic saving lives with the Los Angeles Fire Department for more than 20 years.
He said, "I started having second thoughts about this career path, and I’d always been interested in becoming a firefighter. The more I researched I was like, oh man, it's hard to get this job. This is really competitive.
"It took like three years, the process, from the time you take the written and you have medical exams, background checks, psychological, more physical agility checks. I finally got my job offer to come to the training academy in 2003."
He is now a well-respected fire-fighter in Los Angeles and young rookies are stunned to discover he is most well-known for starring as aspiring musician Ray Pruit on Beverly Hills, 90210, alongside his onscreen girlfriend, Donna Martin, played by Spelling.
Jamie previously appeared in the movie 'Shout' with John Travolta, followed by a stint on the TV show, 'The Heights,' during which he released a hit song, 'How Do You Talk To An Angel'.
He thought his new role on 90210 would open even more doors, but Ray's character arch resulted in a backlash from fans after he was typecast as 'Donna's abusive boyfriend.'
In one iconic scene, Donna is seen tumbling down a flight of stairs after an argument.
Jamie, now 54, recalled, "Her falling down the stairs? Notice how I say falling down the stairs. I didn't push her down the stairs!
"You get the script, but not very early. They don't want to let too much stuff out, so sometimes you only get your parts, they won't give you the whole story.
"You only get it like a couple of days before you shoot to start learning your lines, and I'm like, what the hell is this? Like, this is not good, this is not good for my career.
"And I talked to Aaron Spelling [the producer]. He was always really cool with me, he was a supporter. But he was like, ‘We think this is a really interesting direction for your character because it's going to bring up some really important topics about domestic abuse’ and all this stuff. And I'm like, ‘Okay, uh, I'm not sure how people are going to receive that.'"
Jamie recalled the backlash from fans afterward being "pretty immediate," and some viewers struggled to distinguish between the actor and character.
"I'd go shopping and people would be mad at me at the grocery store. 'What are you doing to Donna? Like, you can't treat her that way. She's important to us, you know?’
"Hey man, it's a show. I'm a character on the show. It's not real life, you know. But they were angry."
He received hate mail and found the situation "tough," as he later left 90210 when bad boy Ray went on tour and never returned.
Jamie began to fall out of love with acting having got into it accidentally while studying at NYU in New York.
But he insists he still loved his time on the show and got on with all of his castmates, appearing on 40 episodes until 1996.
"Tori was a lot of fun. We just had a good time. We got to do some traveling together for promotional stuff around the country, some stuff overseas, and so I have really good memories."
Asked if they were ever romantic, he replied: We were good friends, but we both had relationships already outside of the work."
Jamie was dating none other than Drew Barrymore at the time, who spoke about their relationship on her chat show last year with guest Tori Spelling.
Remembering when he first met the 48-year-old actress, he said, "We had the same agent. My agent was like, 'Hey, Drew Barrymore is interested in meeting you, and she invited you to this party.'
"So, I went, met her, we ended up hitting it off, and we were together for a couple of years and had a great time.
"We ended up living together and were engaged for a little while. That was a fun time in my life. She was great, we had a great relationship together.
"In my 20s, I didn't have any kids, I wasn't married, so I was only responsible for myself. And so it was a fun time to like be in Hollywood doing that kind of work. It was pre-internet, things were just different."
The pair began dating in March 1992 and got engaged that June, but split two years later.
Asked what happened between him and Drew, he said: "I think we were just both really young and we were busy with our careers and that's why it didn't pan out. But I have really fond memories and I'm glad to hear that she has the same."
He said he was "very proud" of how her career progressed and friends sent him a clip of his ex and Tori chatting about him on The Drew Barrymore Show.
"Oh my god, Jamie Walters! My boyfriend at the time," Drew exclaimed when Tori brought him up. "I totally dated Jamie Walters. I was engaged to him!"
Tori joked Drew was the "OG Donna Martin" and praised her former co-star, describing him as "such a good guy," which Drew agreed with.
Jennie Garth, who also appeared on the show and starred on 90210, gushed he "still is," and remembered his cameo for the reboot in 2019.
"He looks exactly the same," she added. "He has a family, a daughter who plays soccer."
Jamie was pleased to hear the praise from his ex and co-stars, saying: "I'm flattered that she still thinks highly of me. I’m glad people think I haven’t aged much, I disagree!"
But he's still recognized on the job and revealed he once had a run-in with Luke Perry, who played Dylan McKay on the FOX show, before his sudden death from a stroke in 2019.
"In this job, you run into people from all walks of life," he said. "I was on a call one day for a traffic accident and Luke Perry was driving by in his car, very slowly because the police were slowing everybody down.
"And he kind of looked over at me and he's like, ‘Jamie!’ We had a cool moment together where I had kind of moved on to this career and he was impressed to see that."
Reflecting on his career, he said: "I've been with the fire department now for twenty years and I'll continue with this until my body says I can't do it anymore.
"And I hope to continue playing music, which I still am very involved in. I would love to get back involved in acting if the opportunity arose when my time with the fire service comes to an end."
For more information about joining the Los Angeles Fire Department, visit https://www.joinlafd.org.
