Born in 1974, Jay R. Ferguson first received gay teens' attention in the short-lived tv adaption of The Outsiders, about boys falling in love with each other. He had a lengthier tenure on tv series Evening Shade (1990-1994), with Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, a high school football coach in one of those quirky small town that popped up everywhere in the 1990s. Jay played his teenage son, Taylor, who was star quarterback, and as aggressively girl-crazy as most other teenagers on prime time in the 1990s. But for many teens, being "dreamy" was enough.Jay redeemed himself with The Price of Love (1995): he plays a gay hustler who shows the ropes to the "gay for pay" Bret (Peter Facinelli).
His dreaminess quotient decreased when he got a reputation as a hard partier. Even tearing off his shirt during a party at Fox didn't help. Kids like their teen idols wholesome and innocent.
During the late 1990s, Jay did a few buddy-bonding movies.
Blue Ridge Falls (1999), about four friends bonding over a murder. His Shane buddy-bonds with Danny (Peter Facinelli).
Hollywood Palms (2000), about the interconnected lives of residents in the Hollywood Palms apartment complex. Jay plays rocker Riley, who buddy bonds with Dexter (Jeff Russo). Together they try to prevent a murder.
He's still quite muscular, and not averse to stripping down to his underwear.