SINGAPORE, Nov 9 — He won the Best Supporting Actor Emmy award for three consecutive years from 2006 for playing a fast-talking, merciless talent agent in the hit HBO series Entourage.
But Jeremy Piven’s achievement has been eclipsed recently by a controversy apparently caused by his love of sushi.
He made news late last year when he missed several performances of Broadway play Speedthe-Plow after announcing that he had contracted mercury poisoning, reportedly the result of his all-day fish diet. He later pulled out of the production altogether.
The 44-year-old actor, who used to eat raw fish and sushi daily before the incident, has since been nicknamed the “human thermometer” by David Mamet, the playwright of Speed-the-Plow.
Chatty like his Entourage persona, Piven says he does not mind the nickname and that he has been feeling well enough to sneak fish back into his diet recently. He is observing how his body reacts to it.
Meanwhile, American audiences are still reacting well to the TV show Entourage, where he plays Hollywood agent Ari Gold, which is loosely based on real-life celebrity agent Ari Emanuel. The show, which debuted in 2004, has been a huge success for the past six seasons and has been signed on for a seventh year.
Speaking to Life! on the phone from New York City, he says this means that the show is getting better and that its actors get opportunities to do things that other dramas cannot do.
“We’ve hit the bar pretty high in Season 6, with lots of investment in each character. The stakes are set very high and I hope we continue on that note in the next season as well.”
Q: You won an Emmy three years in a row for Entourage from 2006 till last year. Even now, does it feel incredible to you?
A: It feels overwhelming. I started out as a stage actor in Chicago and I had never planned for any title success. To me, being able to be a working actor was good enough. Now that I have achieved all these, it feels so fun and so great to be rewarded for all my hard work.
Q: How upset are you that you were not even nominated this year for the same role for which you won that trifecta at the Emmys?
A: I feel lucky to be able to play the role for so long, but it also makes me want to work even harder so that I have something to motivate me. I don’t want to let this affect or distract me. Instead, I’ll focus on making the show better and Season 6 is the best season I have seen so far.
Q: After six years as Ari Gold, you and your character are virtually indistinguishable to fans of the show. Are you afraid you could be remembered for only this role?
A: I am not worried at all. The thing about worrying is that nothing can come out of it at all. I am lucky enough to have played many different roles in my acting career and I believe I have shown viewers that Ari Gold is not the only role I can portray.
Q: Many stars have made cameo appearances in Entourage over the past years. Which star has left the deepest impression on you and why?
A: I love all the stars who come and go in the show. In Season 4, we had Mary J. Blige, who is a great singer and she showed us how a star has to work very hard to achieve so much success. She did an amazing job.
We also had Bono from U2 in Season 6 and he is such a superstar. And being able to work with Matt Damon was good, too, because he is a force to be reckoned with. The shoot with him turned out to be so fun and memorable.
Q: Do you feel like starring in Entourage is a little bit of a dilemma since you are poking fun at the Hollywood system even as you are making a living from within it?
A: The good thing about Entourage is that it is not a documentary, so I don’t need to impersonate Ari Emanuel. To prepare for the role, I observed Emanuel, and because he used to be my agent, I’ve observed him enough to know how to bring out my role.
My role of a celebrity agent is about living the backstage life of Hollywood and I try to make it as authentic as possible for the viewers. It shows that Hollywood life can be glamorous yet boring at the same time, which is why it is so fascinating.
Q: You have acted in both TV dramas and movies such as Black Hawk Down and Smokin’ Aces. Which medium do you prefer and why?
A: Both are very fun and challenging. When acting in a series, I try not to repeat myself, but then, I play the same character week after week.
Acting in a series also means that there is a rare opportunity to grow and get better with the character, and achieving the momentum.
Be it a drama or a movie, it is always about channelling the momentum, getting out of your own comfort zone and not to be self-conscious when acting.
Q: You are slowly putting fish back into your diet after the mercury poisoning incident last December. How does it feel to be eating fish again?
A: I used to live on fish and ate it twice a day for 20 months. Having not eaten fish for the past 15 months, I missed it but I could get by. I guess for now, I will slowly introduce fish back into my diet and see how my body reacts to it.
Q: Complete this sentence. If I could live my life again, I would...
A: That’s a great question. I had been lucky enough to teach a couple of acting classes in the past and that was amazing. So, if possible, I would like to do a little more teaching. — The Straits Times
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
