Hollywood star Jeremy Piven exposes how he deals with haters
Hollywood actor and comedian Jeremy Piven has opened up about how he deals with hecklers and which celebrities do it best.
Confidential
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For some, standing on stage telling jokes would be their worst nightmare.
In fact, some would see it as a dangerous career.
Not Hollywood star Jeremy Piven.
“I think danger would be fighting in a cave in Kabul, storming the beaches in Normandy,” Piven told Confidential.
“I think what I do is get on the mic and tell d*** jokes. I just think in this life if you realise that if you don’t operate out of fear, you’re going to win.
“I can only tell you from my lane creatively, nothing good comes when you operate out the fear. You have to know that you’re enough and respect the space you occupy when you perform. And get up there and be present and be authentic … because when you doubt yourself and you get in your own way, you’re gonna be a shell of yourself anyway, so none of that is useful.”
The actor, best known perhaps for playing Ari Gold in the Entourage TV series, spoke to Confidential from San Antonio, Texas, currently mid way through his tour of the United States.
He’s bringing Jeremy Piven Live to Australia in August, starting at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on the second of the month with dates in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide to follow.
“We are all heckled in life and I am lucky enough to have access to some of the greats in comedy and I asked them a tonne of questions, guys who have been doing it forever, like how do you navigate these incredibly difficult situations?” Piven said of being heckled by audiences.
“There are guys like Jerry Seinfeld who handle it so perfectly and I’m lucky to have these guys as mentors. There are ways to do it and I don’t necessarily want to tell you too much but navigating crowds is a privilege, I really do believe that pressure is a privilege.”
Acting-wise, Piven believes his greatest work to date is yet to be released.
He will be seen next in The Performance, a drama set in 1930s Berlin in which he plays a Jewish tap dancer directed by Piven’s sister, Shira.
Australian Adam Garcia plays a lead role alongside Piven, as does Robert Carlyle.
“I am just lucky that I get to perform and make people laugh and question things,” Piven, 59, said.
“I have the best movie of my life coming out that I’ve been working on for over a decade.”
On the personal front, Piven turns 60 on July 26, days out from the Australian tour.
“I can’t even believe it. I have never even spoke about it,” he said of the milestone birthday.
“We all feel really young so it is hard to wrap my head around that but here we are, I’ll celebrate with you guys.”
JEREMY PIVEN LIVE AUSTRALIA DATES
AUCKLAND — SkyCity Theatre — Thursday, July 31
SYDNEY — Enmore Theatre — Saturday, August 2
BRISBANE — The Tivoli — Sunday, August 3
PERTH — Astor Theatre — Wednesday, August 6
MELBOURNE — Hamer Hall — Friday, August 8
ADELAIDE — Norwood Concert Hall — Saturday, August 9
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