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 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 bath water? 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 persuading 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 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: “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 as if they don’t. But Kevin Dillon, who plays Johnny Drama, defined what constitutes an entourage: “If they’re broke friends, it’s an entourage.”
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