Jeremy Piven

When we last left the “Entourage” posse, things were looking very grim indeed for hot young actor Vince Chase.

In last week’s “Entourage,” Vince’s dinner meeting with a studio head was going very badly indeed. It looked as though Vince’s pet project, director Paul Haggis’ drug-kingpin drama “Medellin,” was going to be derailed by the “Aquaman” sequel that the studio desperately wanted. Besides, the studio chief declared that he didn’t want his “Aquaman” actor starring in the story of a cocaine-sniffing Colombian drug lord. Enraged, Vince Chase demanded $20 million to do the sequel.

Enter Vince’s agent, Ari Gold. “What’d I miss?” he asked.

So, will the fast-talking, aggressive yet endlessly quotable Ari be able to salvage the situation in upcoming episodes?

Jeremy Piven, who was recently nominated for an Emmy for his bravura portrayal of Ari, wasn’t giving specifics on what Ari would do in an interview on Wednesday, but he did say that “Entourage” will show the reality of the Hollywood roller-coaster ride – which comes complete with peaks and valleys.

“There will be some serious valleys for Ari Gold, that’s for sure,” said Piven.

“There are a couple episodes coming up where I’m very interested to see how they play out,” Piven said. “Ari will stop at nothing at times to get what he wants, and sometimes you need a guy like that on your team, but does a character like that throw the baby out with the bathwater? We don’t know.”

“That’s what’s fascinating about this season in particular,” added Piven, an Evanston native who started acting as a child in his parents’ famed Piven Theatre Workshop. “We’re going to really push it, in terms of his methods.”

Piven, who didn’t have an agent of his own 10 months ago, says that in his own way, Ari’s trying to protect Vince from the nasty side of Hollywood, where careers often flame out just as quickly as they heat up.

“I feel like Ari’s in the know about that, and really has seen it before,” says Piven, who’s been working in film and TV for 20 years. “And they have no idea.”

Piven does know one thing: He’d have trouble convincing Ari to be his agent. “He wouldn’t have a lot of patience for a [journeyman] actor like Jeremy Piven. He just wouldn’t. Now he might, because I have a little heat.”

Piven spoke after an “Entourage” panel discussion at the summer Television Critics Association convention in Pasadena, Calif. During the panel, one reporter asked Piven what he’d be doing at that moment if he really were Ari Gold.

“I would be talking to [HBO CEO] Chris Albrecht to try to have him commit to four more seasons” of “Entourage,” Piven said.

And Piven does have an agent now, he noted in response to a question. He has more than one agent, in fact. “I need to be wrangled like a large bear,” he joked. Of his agents, he noted, “their energies I'll say are so completely different than the Ari character. There's unfortunately nothing that I can take from my present team for the show. … I wish I could.”

The actors on the show were asked how being on the show has changed their lives. “I just bought a house that I can't afford,” Kevin Connolly said.

Piven’s answer to that question: “I was talking to my mom on the phone and I looked up and I saw myself on a poster. I was scared. … [at the network] they are putting a lot of energy behind this. And none of it is lost on us. We are all working really hard, and we really appreciate and love our jobs.”

Executive producer Stephen Levinson was asked if Hollywood actors and directors are clamoring to be on the show (both Paul Haggis and James Cameron have made memorable recent appearances, in addition to a host of A-list actors): “It's a lot harder than everybody thinks. Everybody's got tough schedules. Everybody's always interested in doing something that, you know, will be something they can sink their teeth into, and because of scheduling and everything else, it becomes a lot more difficult.”

Piven on where he was when he heard about his Emmy nomination, and what his reaction was: “I was in bed sleeping. And, you know, I was really blown away. I never have been the popular vote and I never thought I would be, and I was very content being under the radar as I had been. So I was kind of shocked and still am.”

The actors were asked if they have entourages, and it sounds like they don’t. But Kevin Dillon, who plays Johnny Drama, defined what constitutes an entourage: “If they're broke friends, it's an
entourage.”

The transcript of my Jeremy Piven interview is below:

Do you still have a place in Chicago?

“I had a place, I lived at Ohio and Lake Shore Drive, in what they say is the original loft building in Chicago. I loved that building.

“My mom is there, she’s got a great place in Evanston. And we’re doing 20 episodes [of ‘Entourage’], that takes a long time, and I’m lucky enough to work a lot. So when I go home, I hang with my mother. I don’t get there enough. I love it there.”

Obviously, with your family background and training, you have theater in your blood. Is that something you ever thing about doing, or is there just too much on your plate right now to consider that?

“No, it’s really just about what the opportunity is. If I could play Mark Antony at the Old [Vic Theatre in London], if Kevin Spacey would let me do that over there, I would take off and do it. It’s about the role. I’ve never had a very specific plan of action. I just really want to go for the great roles and try not to repeat myself. And work with people that are inspiring to me.”

Speaking of “Entourage,” do you have input into it? Is it a collaborative environment, or is their vision very specific?

“They have a very specific vision. I wish I would have come on as a producer, because I just love to collaborate. I don’t even want a producer credit, I just love collaborating. I’ve been around for a while. So I’m a hired gun, and I suggest things, and we kind of go from there. I do what I can.”

Are there times when you say, “I don’t think Ari would do this”?

“There have been moments like that. They do listen. But I do have a lot of trust in them. Doug Ellin has been writing and doing this for a while, [executive producer/writer] Steve Levinson has been a manager for 20 years. So they know.”

To me, what the show is, what Ari’s character is – it’s a case study of someone under an enormous amount of pressure. And as much as Ari can be very aggressive and abrasive, he’s also I think trying to hang on to a shred of being a human being. Is that kind of how you see the character?

“I think that you definitely hit it. You can’t judge your characters. I can’t judge him because a guy like myself wouldn’t necessarily understand Ari. He wouldn’t have a lot of patience for an actor like Jeremy Piven. He just wouldn’t. Now he might, because I have a little heat. But as a journeyman actor all these years?

“Everyone has a shadow and lives in the light and lives in their shadow and they go back and forth. And that’s the fascinating thing about this character. He’s incredibly abrasive, speaks his truth as he knows it, loves his wife. One may perceive him as greedy, another person may perceive it as, he’s trying to live the American dream.”

He’s not amoral, though, do you think? He might shave the truth or manipulate things his way, but in his mind, he wants what’s best for his client. And he might screw up, in the way that he imposes what he thinks is best.

“You’re right. There are a couple episodes coming up where I’m very interested to see how they play out. In ‘Apocalypse Now,’ when Willard goes down to kill Col. Kurtz -- when Marlon Brando [who played Kurtz] says [to Willard], ‘Do you think my methods are unsound?’ And Martin Sheen [who played Willard] says, ‘I don’t see any method at all, sir.’ It’s like Ari will stop at nothing at times to get what he wants and sometimes you need a guy like that on your team, but does a character like that throw the baby out with the bathwater? And we don’t know. And that’s the fine line that I walk, and I think that’s what maybe makes it compelling to watch.”

That is what makes for the dramatic tension – in Vince, you have this character whom Ari has really protected from all the ugliness that goes on, or at least a good chunk of it. Having that whole posse sort of protects Vince. But when does Vince’s relative innocence come into conflict with Ari’s goals, which may not always be Vince’s goals? That’s really the core of the show -- Where do you draw the line, morally? How do you treat your friends?

“But that’s kind of what goes on in Hollywood. Different agents, everyone operates differently. You can have [someone] who professes to be a straight shooter. And their greatest fear is that they’re revealed to not be a good person. And they do everything they can to cover that. Their dealings with you can be on the up and up, but the reality is, they will do anything to get what they need.

“I’m not saying Ari is that way, he isn’t. I’m saying there are people like that. That’s what’s fascinating about this season in particular. We’re going to really push it, in terms of his methods.”

But the show wouldn’t be real if it didn’t have that. And also so much uncertainty about each character’s career. Tell me if I’m wrong about this – if this is not the reality – but for people in Hollywood, you’re on a razor’s edge all the time. Even if you’ve achieved a certain level of success, it could go either way. Every single person on the show – they’re poised on that razor’s edge. They could fall from that perch any time.

“Yeah. And I feel like Ari’s in the know about that, and really has seen it before. And they have no idea.”

In a way, he’s trying to protect them from that.

“You’re absolutely right.”

I think a really interesting arc for an upcoming season would be if Vince’s career goes on that downward trend. I mean, how many times do you see that – one day, one actor is the hot actor, he’s THE guy, and then suddenly he’s not.

“I think you and I are on the same page. I pitched that to Doug. I think he’s mulling it over. It’s interesting, because we’re in Season 3. The rug could be pulled out from anyone at any point. We know that. I think that would make for really compelling stuff. I hope they do that. I hope they do it, it’s realistic.”

It would be realistic, to have those peaks and valleys.

“There will be some serious valleys for Ari Gold, that’s for sure.”

This season?

“Yeah.”

One thing that’s great is how much Ari loves his wife. Had you guys always planned to bring in that angle, or did it just sort of evolve? Where did that come from?

“It came from collaboration. It came [partly] from Perrey Reeves, an actress I think that has depth who can really contribute. And from the reality that that exists. There can be a powerful [person] who can be a certain way in the [Hollywood] community, and then they get home and it’s a totally different relationship with the wife. That duality is compelling and great.”