After spending the first six episodes of the season trying to get closer to Kelly Taylor, Ryan Matthews (Ryan Eggold) is finally started branching out last night on 90210. The hot, young teacher went on a date with a vapid actresses and flirted with Little Miss 21 Jump Street.

BuddyTV spoke to Ryan Eggold during our 90210 set visit. The star spoke about working with Jennie Garth, connections between 90210 and his previous series, FX’s tabloid drama Dirt, and the likelihood of a romantic liaison with a student, real or otherwise. Continue reading for the details and to watch our exclusive video interview.

Aside from being quite fond of sarcasm, Eggold is also excited to be on 90210 not just because the original was so iconic, but because of the new version’s great writing and young cast.

Coming off FX’s Dirt is a huge change for Eggold, and while he was sad to see that series get canceled, he’s just as happy to be working on a new show. Dirt, which dealt extensively with tabloid journalism, may have shaded Eggold’s view of the press a bit, as he feels it gave him a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes and how it’s all about selling magazines, so Eggold has no desire to become a celebrity, he just wants to be a good actor.

Eggold provided some unique insights into to his fellow cast members: Tristan Wilds is a jerk, Shenae Grimes is awful, Dustin Milligan smells and Jessica Stroup is an odd duck. But on a serious note, Eggold is getting along with everyone, particularly Stroup, who he was friends with before 90210 even came into their lives.

In his scenes with Jennie Garth, Eggold’s only real concern was their first kiss, because not only is she married, but in the original Beverly Hills 90210, Kelly made out with almost all the male stars. “I was kind of nervous to live up to the Perry, Priestley, Ziering standards of smoch,” he said.

In last night’s episode we saw the start of a very unconventional relationship between Mr. Matthews and one of his “students,” Kim. As Eggold said, “We don’t want it to be that typical, boring thing that you’ve seen before of just a teacher and student sleeping together.” The fact that Mr. Matthews’ inappropriate relationship is with an undercover narc posing as a student certainly qualifies as different.