He's been around for decades and acting since he was 8, but for Jeremy Piven, it was his role as Ari Gold, a manic Hollywood agent on HBO's "Entourage," that won him critical acclaim and three Emmys.
The 44-year-old actor learned his craft at the Piven Theatre Workshop, run by his parents in Chicago. Last year he drew flak for pulling out of the Broadway show "Speed-the-Plow" after the media reported he had mercury poisoning from eating sushi. His latest movie, "The Goods," opens in theaters Friday. The comedy also stars Will Ferrell, Ed Helms and James Brolin. Piven plays Don Ready, a sale-at-any-cost car liquidator.
Excerpts from an interview:
Q: OK, when was the last time you had to deal with the hard sell from a motivated salesperson?
A: You know, I think we can all finesse a hard sell and smell it a million miles away. That's what's so fun about this movie, it's like how do these people, who are professional, figure out a way to sell at all costs? It was just completely ridiculous.
Q: You do these high-energy types so well. Are you at all like that off-screen?
A: It's funny, because I kind of am the complete opposite. I grew up in Chicago, a stage actor, and I like to lay pretty low. I guess it's a testament to the great writing and directing and performing that people associate me with my character. It's gotten to the point where it's actually comical, like major publications actually writing about me as if I actually am Ari Gold. It's funny to people that know me. It's funny to me, because it's not me.
Q: I've heard you say you want to direct. Why do so many actors want to do that?
A: I think it is, for some, very much a natural evolution. With me, I think it probably should have been an evolution a long time ago. I know what it's like to have to get yourself in a state where you feel very comfortable and supported in order to do your best work, even though that may not be the atmosphere. So all I'd like to do as a director is make actors feel really great and safe so they can do their best work.
Q: Have you ever used your acting skills in your private life, knowing that you can, to perhaps get out of trouble when you were younger?
A: That's probably the best question I may have heard in my entire life, and I'll tell you why. Because, first of all, it's incredibly insightful for you to have asked that question, and the answer is, unequivocally, no. I haven't even thought of doing that. I just haven't been that guy. I don't even think in those terms. I think other people might think that you do. That's where you might be misunderstood. I remember talking to this woman and she was like, "I don't know if I can trust you. You're an actor." It just makes me laugh. My reference for actors is my parents, who were together till the moment my father passed away. I am from a hardworking Midwestern family of actors.
Q: Have to ask: Have you stopped eating fish since your episode of mercury poisoning?
A: Yeah. There were a couple of misconceptions. No. 1, that I got it from eating sushi. I had given up for some 23 years all meat. The only protein, or my source of protein, was from fish. I was eating fish twice a day for 23 years. It's a manmade problem. Mercury is a serious problem, and we are learning more and more about it. I was diagnosed within the first week of rehearsal with Epstein-Barr (virus), and a resting-heart rate of 47, which is alarming if you're not a professional athlete.
Unfortunately, and this is my own fault, I hadn't stopped working in a couple of decades. I come by it honestly; the idea of turning down work is sacrilege, you know? So I didn't and I hit the wall in rehearsal for this play and I thought if I can just make it to opening ... and then if I can just make it another month and then another two months. I dropped on-stage the fourth month of a six-month run and ended up in the hospital. I was told by three doctors I had to stop.
I followed doctor's orders. People need to sell papers and it turned into a little bit of a "Sushi-gate." It is what it is, and I'm not a victim. What I do for a living speaks for itself. I love to act and am onto season six of "Entourage." The better news for me is on the 14th of August "The Goods" comes out. I am insanely proud of this movie, and if people want to be angry with me about a play that I was asked by my doctors to leave a year ago, then please hold onto that. But if you are interested in being entertained, I've got some fun stuff coming at you.
(Patricia Sheridan can be reached at psheridan(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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