PLAYBOY: After 20 years of mostly secondary roles on TV and in more than 30 movies, you're a star. Has it been difficult to adjust?

PIVEN: Jamie Foxx called me a star the other day. It was very weird. My father always told me being a star simply means you have choices as a creative person. A nonstar has to schlep into the Valley and audition for one line on Home Improvement, even if he can play every role in King Lear with his arms and legs shackled. So yes, I guess I've got choices. Until now my life has been, "Get the next job. Get it, get it, get it. Kill in it. Kill in it!"

PLAYBOY: Kill in it?

PIVEN: I never figured out moderation in performance. I've always invested everything I can possibly give until I just kind of crawl off. In a play you'd see me at intermission, drenched, on my hands and knees, like, How am I going to make it through tonight? There's no coasting for me. It's going to be interesting to see how things evolve in my roles to come. Many times it's been up to me to create the energy and madness the other characters react to. They'd say, "We need someone to plug this hole." Now I'd love to be the one doing a little of the reacting.

PLAYBOY: Were you just underrated before Entourage?

PIVEN: That's a leading question. [laughs]

PLAYBOY: Well?

PIVEN: I felt I had so much more to contribute than I was being allowed to. It was frustrating. It just wasn't my time yet. While looking for that great part, though, I wanted to be around real artists. I'd take tiny roles working opposite anyone from Morgan Freeman to Dustin Hoffman, just to be around them. Also I'm just cocky enough to take something that's kind of a blip on the screen and try to turn it into something bigger. I have that kind of aggressive stupidity. I was smart enough to know I could learn something if I could be around the greats.

PLAYBOY: What did you learn from them?

PIVEN: To keep my head, thank God. To never get ahead of myself. It's like the old joke: "How do you make God laugh? Tell him your plans."

PLAYBOY: Entourage is an ensemble show, but you broke out as a star. Has that caused tension with the rest of the cast?

PIVEN: In the pilot, my character as written had one scene, then popped in later in the episode. I signed on based on that one scene. But it's my job to come to every scene fully prepared. I'm full throttle. Once, in a movie, I was supposed to run into a pole. I did it three times, then I said, "Let me just do one more," and I ran as hard as I could into the pole. I'll do anything to get the authenticity of a part. I'm like the journeyman sports figure who comes in for a limited time in the third quarter. I love to get the ball when the clock is ticking down. I love it! If someone has been practicing his job his whole life, if he loves to contribute, smart money says at some point the journeyman will be onto something.

PLAYBOY: Is Entourage a competitive place to work?

PIVEN: No. And comparing and contrasting isn't healthy. Plus, we're all completely different from one another.

PLAYBOY: Do your co-stars cheer you on?

PIVEN: Kevin Connolly is such a decent guy. He's a hardworking journeyman himself. He was one of the first people I saw after I won the Emmy. He was so proud of me. And I'm proud of him. He knows my success will never take away from his. Ever. I want everyone to have this success.

PLAYBOY: What has made Ari Gold stand out as a character?

PIVEN: The more love I infuse into Ari, the harder it is to dismiss him.

PLAYBOY: How do you do that? He's hardly lovable.

PIVEN: Here's an example. In one scene from the first season I dress down a young agent at the Malibu house. I call him "Josh Weinfuck, the pen-stealing lightweight fuckface." I tell him I'm going to steal all his clients. I say I'll crush him. Then my boy Vinnie Chase is pretty upset with me. I tell him there is a method to my madness. I say I want to make him a lot of money. I say, "We'll get you the lunch box. And an action figure with a huge cock." Then as I'm walking away I look into his eyes and say, "I love you." I improvised it. Adrian said "I love you" back. It's a human moment. Yes, Ari's a shark and a liar. He has attention-deficit disorder. But he loves his wife. He's a family man. He loves Vince. He bounces back and forth between being this charismatic, freakish pig and a caring and devoted husband. He has a fascinating duality.

PLAYBOY: Do you know any real agents like Gold?

PIVEN: This isn't a documentary. We're taking dramatic license, but I think it's pretty authentic. These characters exist. There are agents whose ADD is more advanced than Ari's and some who are total mensches. Some are sharks, but sometimes you need sharks. I just don't like sharks who also eat their young.

PLAYBOY: Would Gold represent Jeremy Piven?

PIVEN: He wouldn't have had any patience with me when I wasn't on fire. As Ari says, "I represent temperature, not talent. You're not hot, so why the fuck would I talk to you?"

PLAYBOY: Do real Hollywood agents think you're bad for their image?

PIVEN: I thought I'd be getting some sort of backlash, but I'm not. The comment I hear the most is "It's so great that people back home have a reference for what I do." I was sitting with my agents recently; they said they watched the episode in which various agencies are trying to tell Vincent he can become a brand. They were engrossed. The character is a charismatic wrecking ball. There's something horrifying and maybe a little sexy about that.

PLAYBOY: Do people expect you to be that charismatic wrecking ball in real life?

PIVEN: Yeah, but if I had to run that hot all the time, I'd burn out. I have highs and lows. Mostly I love to observe. When people meet me they're usually disappointed that I'm not that abrasive, fast-talking guy. When they saw Journey of a Lifetime, the reality show about my spiritual search in India, they wanted to know who that character was. I said, "That's me." They were like, "That's you?" Yeah, that's me.

PLAYBOY: Who, exactly?

PIVEN: Just a hardworking stage actor from Chicago.

PLAYBOY: Who has hit it big--way big. How do you celebrate your success? Some would suggest you are a regular at Hollywood hot spots.

PIVEN: I'm not one of those people who can't leave the house and live in fear of interacting with others. I don't let that paralyze me.

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