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MANHATTAN-BRED actor/filmmaker/musician Adrian Grenier
was ‘slumming it’ down in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula
trying to pick up some Spanish when he received the call
from his manager Stephen Levinson about auditioning for
the role of an almost-famous movie star for an HBO
pilot. But just like the talented, principled and
just-slightly-aloof character that he would soon play,
Grenier wasn’t overly eager to jump at just any project,
and left the suits hanging for a while. “I was doing my
own thing,” he says. Laughing. He eventually answered
Hollywood’s siren call—or at least his manager’s frantic
e-mails—and now he’s glad he did. “This show is
amazing,” he says. “I mean, we basically get paid to
have fun all day long, to enjoy ourselves, to indulge.
I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t have wanted to have this
exact job all along.” The job is, of course, the
award-winning HBO Original Series Entourage,
which is seen on HBO Asia around these parts.
At
first, you weren’t interested in the part of Vince. Why
not?
I wasn’t
entirely interested in the project because, initially, I
thought it was a little superficial. But I’ve learned a
lot about enjoying myself more since Entourage.
The show has actually taught me how to laugh and enjoy
life in a way that I never could before.
You made
yourself hard to cast. What was that about?
I didn’t
make myself too available for much auditioning. I kind
of came in at the end, and I think that worked to my
advantage because whenever you see actors come in and be
vulnerable in a room, suddenly they lose that sort of
celebrity mystique. I was almost larger than life in the
eyes of a lot of the people casting, because I made
myself more mysterious. And I think that intrigued them.
I feel like I gave them the character. I didn’t try to
act the character—I was the guy.
How are
you and Vince alike?
Like
Vince, I’m not going to jump for any opportunity, you
know? I’m very content where I am and have a secure
sense of self. I think that’s important for this
character, because despite all the influences of the
business, he still manages to maintain a certain
groundedness. But in general, I am not low-key and
down-to-earth.
In the
earlier versions of the pilot, you didn’t see Vince a
lot. But you helped to make him a more central
character.
I sort
of insisted. I said, “Look, I don’t want to play just a
pretty face, I want to be in the show. I don’t want to
just be the guy who’s just sort of there, you know? I
want to be in the show.” I also expressed that I thought
they were over-thinking that whole notion of celebrity.
They built it up too much. He’s not trying to be cooler
than anyone else. He’s just one of the guys. The show’s
not about Hollywood. It’s not about making a lot of
money. It’s about friendship, period. So after talking
to Doug [Ellin, the creator of Entourage], when I
finally did come out for a meeting, we worked on a happy
medium.
What’s
up with Vince’s game with the ladies? He seems like he’s
getting less play these days.
Apparently, he doesn’t have any game anymore. E’s got
all the game. E gets the threesome. He’s getting all the
play these past couple seasons. I don’t know what
happened. I mean, Vince is established. Vince has
nothing to prove. He’s getting his fair share. The first
season or two, every other day I’d walk on to the set
and there would be new girl that I had to do a scene
with. And then since the first two seasons, I don’t
have any scenes with girls anymore. But you don’t have
to see Vince succeeding with the ladies. You know he is.
We want to see if E can actually succeed with the
ladies.
When the
four of you go out together in real life, are you
competing for women?
We’ve
never really have that problem. I think there was maybe
two seconds during the first season when we were all
single, and then it got pretty ugly. But we all have
completely different taste in women. And Kevin Dillon is
married now. So he’s no competition.
Do you
still go out to the clubs?
Yeah.
Occasionally. Sure. When I’m really lonely (laughs).
What’s
it like working with the guys?
It’s
amazing. All the guys are so down-to-earth and so
unaffected. All of us guys are just totally appreciative
of our position and of each other’s company. I show up
and I’m set all day long doing what’s expected of me and
laughing the whole time. These guys, whether we’re doing
a scene or not doing a scene, there’s just such a good,
happy, content feeling. And everyone feels the same way.
Although Kevin Dillon always said (in Drama voice), “I’m
going to teach you how to play golf, man. I’m going to
teach you how to play golf,” and I was like, “Ok, big
brother,” he never taught me how to play golf! I’m
friends with the guys. I always say that Kevin Connolly
was miscast. He should have been Vince. He’s more like
Vince. He knows everyone in Hollywood. He goes to clubs,
flies in private jets. See, I’m acting when I play
Vince. I’m actually more E.
***From Entourage: A Lifestyle is a Terrible Thing to
Waste, HBO and Pocketbooks. |
