There's an old saw in Hollywood: "No kid ever said to his dad, 'You know what I want to be when I grow up? An agent!'" But nowhere does it say the same child doesn't want to grow up to play an agent. Especially now, given the unusual success of Jeremy Piven.

On the HBO hit Entourage, the 41-year-old actor plays an unrepentant Hollywood shark described by Rolling Stone as "hilariously ruthless." The role not only won Piven an Emmy but has turned him from a journeyman actor with a long list of stage, television and movie credits into one of Hollywood's hottest stars.

Piven's part in Entourage has launched a cultural catchphrase (his character's oft-repeated "Let's hug it out, bitch") and has brought him a string of roles in upcoming movies, including a lead in Smokin' Aces, with Ben Affleck and Ray Liotta, and The Kingdom, with Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner.

Even with his starring roles in high-profile movies, Entourage remains Piven's main occupation. An ensemble piece inspired by the real life of actor Mark Wahlberg, the show centers on Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier), a studly heartthrob with authentic artistic instincts, and his posse: Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Johnny Drama, Chase's older brother (Kevin Dillon). Murphy becomes Chase's manager and Turtle and Drama his men Friday. Chase's fortunes--boom and bust--affect them all (their finances, their sex lives), and they intersect with real Hollywood denizens such as Scarlett Johansson, James Woods, Ali Larter, Jaime Pressly, Jimmy Kimmel and directors James Cameron and Paul Haggis, among others.

Piven's character, Ari Gold, is allegedly modeled on famed agent Ari Emanuel of L.A.'s Endeavor Agency, who represents the show's creator, Doug Ellin. Gold believes in Chase and promises to make him a star, whatever it takes. The fun is discovering what "whatever" entails and watching Gold carom between industry snake and family man. The characterization could easily have been one-dimensional, but as fleshed out by Piven, Gold is a complex study of humanity and moral ambiguity.

Piven grew up miles away from such heady drama, in Evanston, Illinois, where his parents, Joyce Hiller Piven and Byrne Piven, both actors, ran the Piven Theatre Workshop; attendees included John, Joan, Ann and Susie Cusack. Piven's sister, Shira, went on to become a theater director in New York.

Piven split his high school years between football and theater, mastering both. He graduated with a degree in theater from New York University and then attended classes at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut and the National Theatre of Great Britain.

That education and a healthy fear of mediocrity helped him keep his cool while enduring years--and years--of waiting for his time in Hollywood. Prior to Entourage, Piven put in three years as Ellen DeGeneres's obnoxious cousin on Ellen, and he had his own short-lived TV series, Cupid, on which he was either Cupid stuck on earth or a crazy guy who thought he was. He also played a neurotic comedy writer on The Larry Sanders Show. He recently chronicled his soul-searching trip to India for his reality-TV show Journey of a Lifetime.

We asked Contributing Editor David Rensin, whose book The Mailroom chronicles more than 60 years of agenting lore, to meet with Piven. "We began the interview one evening at his Malibu home and followed up with a meeting at his Hancock Park apartment," Rensin reports. "At first his manner--calm, deliberate, careful--contrasted sharply with his famous character Ari Gold's franticness. It took time for Piven to open up. When he did, I learned he feels his commitment to quality acting has been ignored in interviews in favor of gossip generated by his allegedly energetic, celebratory nightlife. He called this emphasis a tax on success. Maybe, but clearly he finds it a tax worth paying."

next

01 · 02 · 03 · 04