PODCAST: Jeremy Piven admits he portrays a 'wrecking ball' on 'Entourage'
In our podcast chat, I accuse Jeremy Piven of becoming the Ari Gold of the Emmys. While marching through two wins as best supporting comedy actor over the last two years, crushing all opposition, he appeared very much like the combat-lusting Hollywood talent agent he portrays on "Entourage."
But Jeremy Piven is eager to remind us of the duality of the character of Ari Gold — "the humanity of this guy," he says. CLICK HERE to download the MP3 file and listen. Note: You may need to hold down your computer's control key while clicking.
A vulnerable side to aggressive Ari does shine through in the sample episode of "Entourage" that Jeremy Piven submitted to Emmy judges this year, a stand-out of the TV season that makes him a good bet to repeat another win.
In "The Day F***ers," we see haughty Ari crumble when his son's application to a private school is rejected. Desperate to save his boy from a mediocre education in a public school, Ari, as usual, will resort to anything to get his way, even if it means having to swallow his ego.
"Yes, he's a wrecking ball," Jeremy Piven admits about Ari. "He's incredibly abrasive. He says the unthinkable and the unsayable, but he's a monogamist man who will do anything to help his family. In this particular case, he's gotten in the way of his son's education and he finally has to go — literally — to the doorstep of the headmaster in the middle of the night and grovel."
Addressing Ari's monstrous side, he admits, "You can't get away with this in our society and yet people do and so it's fun to watch this particular ride. It's just so juicy to dig in there and get into the belly of the beast with this guy."
Jeremy Piven has flashed his own tender side by bringing his mom as his date to the Emmys in the past and invoking the spirit of his deceased dad in an acceptance speech. Both parents were actors and drama coaches who taught him his craft while operating a workshop theater in Illinois. Nowadays he's eager to acknowledge them, and he shares endearing (and wild) stories in this podcast about what it was like growing up amidst a thespian troupe.
But, beware: Piven warns that he probably won't bring his mom to the upcoming Emmys: "I think she's a little over it. She's loves being at home, dressing casually, viewing it that way."
After all, his award victories are becoming a bit old hat, but not the circumstances under which they occur. When he won the Golden Globe earlier this year there was — remember — no ceremony due to the writers strike, so he ended up reaping the prize rather humbly.
"I was in the middle of shooting a movie with Will Ferrell that Adam McKay had written called 'The Goods,' " he recalls, "and we were doing a night shoot and I found out that I'd won the Golden Globe. It was one of those great moments I'll never forget. Later I was presented my Golden Globe in my driveway. The gentleman who presented it to me took a picture on his camera phone and it was just the two of us and that's how I received my Golden Globe! I thought, 'Wow! It's just the two of us! In my driveway!' "
(L.A. Times photo by Lawrence K. Ho)
