Brian Austin Green understands at this point that not a lot of people are going to be feeling too sorry for him, given that he attained great fame beginning at the tender age of 17 on an iconic nighttime soap opera called Beverly Hills, 90210, which took him through his late 20's and nearly 300 episodes.  He has, by all accounts, led a charmed existence, having had relationships with three extraordinary beautiful women and fathered a child with one.

He is also – drum roll, please – the longtime on-again, off-again boyfriend (and occasional fiancée) of an actress named Megan Fox, who may well be Hollywood's reigning sex symbol and "It" Girl.

So shed no tears for Brian Austin Green.  At 36, he continues to have the world by the tail in many ways.  He is still together with Fox, for one thing, making him the envy of men of all ages the world over.  But that also doesn't mean that Green's life is always a piece of cake, either.

For instance, the decade from 2000 to 2010 hasn't been quite so professionally thriving as was the decade previous.  There have been recurring roles on the sitcom Freddie starring Freddie Prinze Jr. (2005-06) and on the drama Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-09), along with other cameos and a few film gigs.  But in the main, there has been nothing to approach 90210.

"That isn't to say that Beverly Hills was 100% an amazing experience," Green maintains.  "Overall, it was great.  We were a really tight family.  There was a bond there even through all of our differences and hating and loving each other.  I still talk to Luke (Perry) all the time.  It's one of those things you feel you'll never really be able to duplicate."

That has indeed turned out to be the case.  The intervening 10 years have been far less consistent, more like a typical actor scrapping to land work.  And while Green looked to find himself, there were relationships with 90210 costars Tiffani Thiessen (1992-95) and Vanessa Marcil, to whom he was once engaged and has a son, Kassius (who turned eight on March 30).

But forgetting the past, Green now has a promising present and future both personally and professionally.  While his relationship with Fox continues to grow and evolve, his career also has shifted gears.  He is finishing work as the lead in the indie horror flick "Last Stop," and he stars next in the period drama The Wild Girl, a Hallmark Network Presentation, which premieres on Hallmark Movie Channel, Saturday, April 24 (8pm ET/PT, 7pm CT).

In Wild Girl, set in the 1930s, Green portrays Ned Giles, an aspiring photojournalist who winds up entangling himself in a mission to rescue the kidnapped son of a rich Mexican landowner. The film costars the great Oscar-nominated actor Graham Greene ("Dances With Wolves") and is based on the novel The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles, 1932, by author Jim Fergus.

"It's far more than just a cowboys-and-Indians story," Green says of The Wild Girl.  "It's an amazing story that's set during a time when Native Americans were being completely annihilated, telling of a group of young adults who randomly end up on this journey to rescue a boy who's been taken and in the process find themselves and figure out who they are.  It depicts humanity at its best and at its darkest."

Green points to how much fun he had on the film's month-long shoot in Toronto, and "how terrific it was to play the guy who anchors things, rather than the guy who blows his top all of the time or sits back and lets things happen.  I got to portray a photographer who appreciates humanity, who sees the beauty of people and the world through a lens.  For my character, it's about standing up for himself and becoming a man."

This isn't to say that it was all work and no play for Green during filming.  He describes how actress Lola Tash, who in the film portrays the wild Apache girl Chideh, had the legs of her sweat pants sewn shut during one lunch period – by him.

"I did it so perfectly, too," Green recalls. "It was something I learned while working on (the series) 'Freddy.'  It's one of those things you hold onto.  I'm just so proud that I'm beaming right now.  Really."

Another thing that leaves Green beaming is any discussion of his son Kassius, named for the legendary boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali (who originally fought under his birth name, Cassius Clay).

"I think it may intrigue me more than anything in life to ponder what my son is going to become as a man," Green admits.  "As much as I don't want him to get any older than he is right now, I can't wait to see the person he becomes.  That just fills me with excitement more than I can even say."

One thing Green admits he can do without is the tabloid media and paparazzi, which have driven him slightly bonkers since he began his relationship with Fox in 2004.  It has resulted in his being the subject of Twitter hacks claiming their engagement and years of being chased by paparazzi that's continued to build along with "Transformers" franchise icon Fox's fame.

"For me, it's become sort of a balance of freedom of the press vs. human rights and the right to privacy," Green admits.  "I get it that these photographers need to make a living.  I understand that they want pictures of me with Megan.  If we go to a premiere or a restaurant, we're subjecting ourselves to their shutters.  But when they follow me out the front door of my home and in cars when I pick up my son from school, that's really the line for me.  I just don't understand that.

"When they start taking shots of me taking out my garbage in the morning, I mean, what's that about?  To my mind, the law on that needs to be changed to help make for a safer environment for actors and celebrities."

It all comes down to the tabloidization of the media that's made being a renowned performer a potshot opportunity for anyone with a keyboard and a blog, Green believes.  "Stars used to be these people we looked up to," he adds.  "Now, it's all about who had this crazy affair, who beats their kids.  That's why I feel so badly for Tiger Woods.  The man almost singlehandedly made golf what it is today. Now, because of the media, we see him only as a joke."

This, to Green's mind, qualifies as the negative aspect of celebrity.  But there's a uniquely positive one as well, one that he tries never to forget.  A lot of it involved the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the organization's arranging for dozens of severely ill kids to come by the Beverly Hills, 90210 set to have their dream come true before it was too late.

"I would just imagine that we were a big enough deal that kids would make visiting us their one thing to do – and that's beyond humbling, beyond words," he says.  "As much as we tend to get caught up in our jobs and our lives, we need always to remember what's really important in life.  Having the ability to give back, to help in places like Haiti, for example.  That's what makes performing and celebrity worth everything, that one moment when you can use it to help someone else."

The Wild Girl World Premiere on Hallmark Movie Channel, Saturday, April 24 @ 8 pm ET/PT, 7 pm CT.

To get ready for the premiere, check out these photos of Brian Austin Green on the set and then watch the embedded video below and go behind-the-scenes: