90210's Navid Spills New Season Secrets!!

TeenTelevision spoke with tall, dark and adorable Michael Steger when he was just starting his role as Navid on the teen-friendly, trendy CW series "90210". We thought it was about time we checked back in so we called him up (on his vacation) to get the latest on the new season.. starting March 9th.

Michael told us how Navid, who runs the school paper The Blaze, has changed and grown from "gossip boy" to a more caring dude and we learned who Michael's dream guest star is and what he feels is a really relevant teen issue on the show.  

Let's catch up on doings at West Beverly High..... Wazzup besides Adriana getting hot with Gia (Rumer Willis)?  

TeenTelevision: Hi Michael. You are wrapped for the season. Are you going to take a vacation now?

Michael: I went to New York for a week after the show but I've got a few days of free time and I'm enjoying my break.

TeenTelevision: We spoke to you when you were just starting the role as Navid. How has he changed since those early days?

Michael: I think Navid has really found himself and found some backbone. The first season he confessed his undying love for Adriana. He was at a disadvantage and ended up dealing with a lot like Adriana's re-hab and her getting pregnant by another guy and getting knocked down.  

I feel like his natural progression was that he realized his self-worth. He started to stand up for himself. You see him coming into manhood and finding his passion. He's diving into "The Blaze" and is so focused. Now you see his hatred for Jasper but, at the end of the day, he just wants to be an individual.

TeenTelevision: But he's still out to get Jasper.

Michael: (laughs) Oh yeah! He's got a plan to get him kicked out of school.

TeenTelevision: What do you still wish the showrunners and writers would let Navid do?

Michael: Every time I think of something, they always let me do it. I love the quirkiness, the fun, really light, comical side of Navid. Especially him dealing with Adriana and Gia (Rumer Willis)  because I think there's a self-esteem problem. Now Navid is like 'why is she with women all of a sudden?  Did I do something wrong?'

TeenTelevision: Guys always think that.

Michael: Yeah, yeah (laughing).  But I like the comedy in it.  I come from a sitcom background so it's always fun playing with that. You want to laugh as much as you cry.

TeenTelevision: Did you suggest to the writers that they lighten up on Navid's character?

Michael: They just happened to do it and I feel like it's adding a lot more flavor to the show.

TeenTelevision: What happens with Navid in the upcoming March 9th episode "Rats and Heroes"? Is he a rat or a hero?

Michael: (laughs) Yeah. I'm a hero. I have a hero complex and I'm trying to recruit Dixon and Liam to help me with this crazy plan but they aren't easy sells. Me and Dixon get in trouble in this episode and it's pretty interesting.

TeenTelevision: Seems a lot of the show's characters are having trouble with drugs. Is that a theme on the show now and is it there because of real teens' drug problems?

Michael: You know, it's devastating. If you watch TV, the media is telling you to buy drugs whether prescription or not. So these are issues that I think are at the forefront. Kids are way younger now experimenting and that's a problem that not a lot of people are talking about so I think we're showing the downfall of someone who uses.

TeenTelevision: Do you ever interview high school students or sit around in a group with them to get storylines or just see if you are accurately portraying them?  

Michael: The showrunners are always investigating that and I know that they screen shows in front of kids.

TeenTelevision: Do fans come up to you and say the show has effected their lives?

Michael: What I hear is that they are fascinated with the storylines.  I know a lot of people with Bi-Polar disorder very much appreciated that storyline. I'm sure Jessica Lowndes gets it a lot about drug addiction but I don't get too much of that.

TeenTelevision: You were saying back when we first talked to you that some of the cast members were teaching you how to play guitar. Did that work out?

Michael: I did get guitar lessons from someone who was teaching Jessica Lowndes how to play guitar so I started to look for a really good guitar but it's intimidating. I have these ideas that I want to learn but everybody is already at master level like now Trevor Donovan plays and Ryan. Everybody is so talented that I feel like 'okay, it's gonna take me years to catch up'. I try to join in on sessions and I think I'll still try to learn but I haven't really learned yet.

TeenTelevision: What do you excel in that they're not so good at?

Michael:  I'm good with martial arts so I could beat 'um up I guess. No. I wouldn't want to do that.

TeenTelevision: What has been your favorite "90210" episode so far and why?

Michael: I think my favorite episode would be the scene where I interrogate Teddy Montgomery on episode two because, for the first time Navid stands up for himself and interrogates someone that he'd always been jealous of.  

You got the feeling that Navid had this sense of fire about him and it was fun to film that. And then, the following episode you got to see Navid apologize to Adriana so I thought that was very clever.

TeenTelevision: Who are you just dying to see on the show as a guest star?

Michael: Nobody I'd die over. Well, Johnny Depp.

TeenTelevision: Like that's gonna happen. But, hey, he started on TV in "21 Jump Street".

Michael: Yeah. I'd like him to take a break from filming Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and do a guest appearance on the show. He could help me investigate Jasper. He's an undercover cop like on 'Jump Street'.

TeenTelevision: Hey, we're writing this whole thing. Cool!