Jeremy Piven

B.L. What was the chemistry like between you and Annabella Sciorra who plays your partner?

J.P. It was completely real. You have to give it up for Andy Cadiff who directed this because it was all him. Knowing that Annabella is this kind of really sweet, self-empowered hard-edge, opinionated woman, my character doesn’t really know how to relate to women so he tries to make her laugh and she’s not having it at all. She’s perfect casting and I was actually doing the accent that she has naturally – the Brooklyn accent and she was going against her accent so it was surreal at times.

B.L. What was it about this script that grabbed you?

J.P. I just thought it was a really timely piece because you’ve got kids in the White House right now and I can only imagine what it would be like to be under the spotlight like that. You would want to live your life, so I could see it really happening. Mandy is the kind of girl who really jumps in and has a lot of respect for this arena, and she’s kind of new to it but she gives it everything she’s got and that’s a real stage actor. Annabella is the real deal and Andy is a good director. My character has the arch of a leading mean even though it’s an ensemble piece and I get the girl, to be honest with you.

B.L. And Annabella? Not too hard to take?

J.P. No, no. And she’s quite lucky to have been able to kiss me.

B.L. Yeah, did you have fun?

J.P. Did I have fun during the kissing scene. Annabella and I became like brother and sister. So, kissing your sister? No. It was great because she’s totally charming and attractive and perfect for this role so to be honest with you, that scene was really easy to do with her.

B.L. You got to globe-trot in this movie. What was your favorite location?

J.P. My favorite location was definitely Venice because I had never been there before. You can’t believe it’s happening. You can’t believe this city rides out of the water. You can go anywhere you want and the architecture is amazing and so are the museums. It’s a really romantic place and I’m single and I wasn’t with anyone there. It was like being a straight man on a gay cruise.

B.L. Did you have to study at all? Did you learn about secret agents?

J.P. I worked with this guy and I can’t tell you his name because I would literally be killed as soon as I leave this room. They’re amazing people who work their asses off and they literally learn how to sleep standing up because they are continuously guarding the President. It doesn’t ever stop. If you look at their faces they usually have scowls on their faces; they have to be so focused at every moment because they have to be so aware of what’s going on. At the same time they have a great sense of humor to keep themselves kind of loose.

B.L. What impressed you most about working with Mandy?

J.P. Just that she’s a really genuine person. For example, she just released this album of covers and not because she wants to blow up or tie herself to this music, but because she doesn’t feel like her generation is exposed to this music. So, in that way she’s really cool and really wise beyond her years. She has an appreciation for her elders so she respected me, which is why I liked her.

B.L. How much improv do you put into your acting?

J.P. Andy wouldn’t really let me stray too far from the script. I did anyway. Sometimes he would keep it and sometimes he wouldn’t. I always do it completely as written and then I beg for one free take. With my storyline, Andy had the vignettes really clocked out in his mind. He comes from TV and so he knew exactly how to hit these storylines. I talked to him beforehand and he didn’t really want a lot of room for me to explore. That’s the way I’ve made my career, by taking a line or two in a scene and just keep talking. If you were to look at my stuff and then look at the actual script it wouldn’t usually make any sense. But that’s how you stay in the game, because the bigger roles are already taken by the time I’m invited to audition. So I’ve got to kind of turn it out and make something out of nothing which I love doing.

B.L. What was it like working with up-and-comer Matthew Goode?

J.P. We wouldn’t duke it out because he’s a rookie and he would never step to me because I would crush him to be honest with you. Look at him. He’s fantastic, he’s beautiful, he’s 24 years old and it’s his first movie. His name is above the title and he’s on the poster. I think that’s fantastic. But he would never be so foolish as to come in my cage because I would rip him apart. No, I wouldn’t. We had a great time together and he’s indestructible. He’s one of these guys who could drink 27 Guinnesses in a row, 14 shots, snort some human adrenaline, get four minutes sleep and then look like a very pretty boy. I have to drink vegetable juice, wheat grass, seal myself in a tank, get 11 hours sleep just to look like the freak that I am. So, we ran around a lot together and we had a great time.

B.L. Are we going to see you back on another TV series anytime soon?

J.P. Actually, I just shot something for HBO called Entourage with Mark Wahlberg.

B.L. He executive produced that too?

J.P. He did. So, we’ll see what happens with that. I didn’t think I would go back to TV. I haven’t read a television script in years. This thing was really kind of interesting and I had done The Larry Sanders Show, which kind of kicked off regular programming on HBO and this is the backstage life of an A-list movie star and his entourage. So it’s kind of an interesting world and I couldn’t turn down this kind of character because he was so insane.

B.L. So what does he do exactly?

J.P. He’s a Hollywood agent.

B.L. So who did you model after for that?

J.P. I won’t even honor him by mentioning his name. But I will crush him.

B.L. What do you look for when you get a script?

J.P. It depends. I’m really trying not to repeat myself. So if it’s something that I haven’t done, or it’s something I feel like I can’t do, I would love to do it. I grew up on the stage so my best roles have always been on the stage. I’ve been having fun in film and TV but I can’t wait to get to a role where you really get to deconstruct or carry a film. I feel like I’ve been an apprentice in that particular job for a while. So, I’d like to stay with the party a little bit longer.

B.L. Old School II, maybe?

J.P. Old School II, Electric Boogaloo2; maybe in my future. But the problem is I died at the end of the first one.

B.L. No, but people get resurrected, you know that, in film.

J.P. Absolutely, I could be in a coma, break out of it. I could put a hit out on Frank the Tank and Will Ferrell. Is there going to be a sequel?

B.L. According to Will, but I talked to him a few months ago for Elf.

J.P. I wish Will was doing better, he’s just not -- things don’t seem to be working out with him. My brother-in-law just wrote and directed Will in Anchorman and he put my three-year-old niece, Lilly Rose in the movie, and Lilly said, "Here, I had a dream. Do you want to hear about it? I had a dream I was hugging Will Ferrell without his elf costume." I said "Really Lilly?" She said, "Yeah, he had his regular clothes on." So, Elf is everywhere, even my three year-old niece is having dreams about hugging Will Ferrell. That’s when you know you’re famous.

B.L. Do you ever think about doing sketch comedy? Is that something ever that you want to do?

J.P. I would love to do sketch comedy. I’ve done improv since I was eight years old, and I’m doing an improv show on Thursday night so I love doing improvisation. The one thing I’ve never done is sketch comedy, which I think would be really very fun and is completely scary to me.

B.L. Yeah, I think it’s completely kamikaze for people to do stand up. I don’t get it.

J.P. Yeah, because of that I have to try; I just want to really feel what it’s like to bomb, and have people throw things at me. I wouldn’t bomb because my ego’s too big, but I’d steal other people’s jokes just to get them to laugh. You know, I would want to make it original so it would take a lot of work. I’ve been studying it for a while. There are some great ones out there; I think Chris Rock is amazing.