By Hannah Powling
The hugely successful HBO hit series Entourage ended four years ago and made its leap to the big screen earlier this year. The movie is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD for you to enjoy the movie again in its full glory… Didn’t time fly by?
The Entourage boys are back in their film debut with Vincent Chase leading the pack; and reprising his role as A-list star is Adrian Grenier, an actor just as laid-back and beloved as his character. Born in New Mexico and raised in New York, Grenier began acting in 1997, and swiftly made an impression in the industry, gaining a role in Woody Allen’s Celebrity. Even so, his winning role of Vince changed his career.
To celebrate Entourage’s release on DVD and Blu-Ray; leading star Adrian Grenier answers some questions on his career, the crazy things he’s witnessed in Hollywood, and why he reckons the show’s creator and movie director, Doug Ellin, has a time-machine…
Q: It’s been four years since the show ended. Are you surprised how long it took to get a movie of Entourage off the ground?
A: If you ever watched Entourage, you know that’s the nature of the business. Is it going to happen? Is it not going to happen? Who is going to finance it? Is there a script? It just seemed par for the course in my mind. And I always had a lot of faith, like Vince does, that it will all work out. You just gotta manage your expectations and keep chugging along.
Q: When you got back on set, was it like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes, playing Vincent Chase?
A: I wasn’t sure that it would fall into place, as it had for so many years. But, yeah, it was exactly like that. Acting is reacting, and when you’re in a scene, playing iconic characters – Johnny Drama, E, Turtle – you don’t have to do much but be present and respond to what they’re doing. It’s really this symbiotic rapport that makes it so seamless.
Q: Entourage often seems to have pre-empted Hollywood trends, like the upcoming Aquaman, for example. Did that always amaze you?
A: I’m convinced Doug Ellin has a time-machine! So much that happens in the show comes to life in reality; Aquaman and The Great Gatsby, and Ronda Rousey, who was a relative star in MMA, and now is a superstar…he just has his finger on the pulse. Even Kanye…before Kanye was the Kanye we know today, [he] was on our show. And the soundtrack often predicts what’s popular, or helps to define it. That’s the symbiotic relationship. He’s prophetic!
Q: Is the movie different to the TV show or more of a continuation?
A: I think it’s more of a continuation than not. But it really gave us an opportunity to display and present Entourage the way people had always wanted to experience it: in large groups. People would get together on Sunday night and bring all their friends and watch it if they were at a movie. They’d watch multiple episodes. So they wanted more of it. So this is just more for the fans, shown in a way they’d always wanted; it’s a raucous experience in a communal setting.
Q: You started your career, oddly, in Woody Allen’s Celebrity, credited as one of the Leonardo DiCaprio character Darrow’s entourage…
A: Yeah, interesting. Brandon Darrow was his name. I was in Leonardo DiCaprio’s entourage! Have you ever seen my documentary Teenage Paparazzo? Have a look. I think you will enjoy it. I break down celebrity obsession, from a deconstructed inside look of my experience of becoming famous by playing a famous person in a show about fame. It’s pretty cool. But I do talk about getting my start in Celebrity, in an entourage. It was my fate!
Q: What are the crazy things that you’ve seen in Hollywood? And how much is it reflected in the show?
A: It’s really a weird blur between fiction and reality. Sometimes the show is exaggerated, based on something true. And sometimes the reality is too crazy to put in the show.
Q: The film’s party scenes look great fun to shoot…
A: Well, we take great pride in being able to make the lines feel improv’d and the rapport to show good chemistry. Sometimes they’re a lot of fun, but at the end of the day, we’re working twelve hours. We have to be there and we make it look fun.
Q: How do you think Vinnie is like you and not like you?
A: Well, we have this effortless point of view; you’ve got to remain a little bit Zen. We coast. We don’t sweat the small stuff. We don’t get burnt out by the business. But we’re very different. I would certainly have driven a hybrid [car] a lot sooner than he did. I would never have driven a Hummer. I’m looking to bring some attention towards conscious consumption, whereas Vin and the boys are more about conspicuous consumption.
Q: How do you feel about your time on Entourage?
A: I have a great sense of responsibility to our fans. We made a decision, a pact, to do a series. It was successful. People liked it. And you’ve got to take it seriously. We defined an era. We inspired a generation. Now there’s a new generation that were too young to watch; a massive group of people that perhaps didn’t have HBO or just missed the show. And we’re committed to our commitment; the loyalty that the Entourage boys have with each other, I feel for our extended entourage, which are our fans.
Q: Would you like to get back together with them again?
A: Absolutely. We’re here as long as there is demand.
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