Jeremy Piven talks shop, Entourage and why he’s a shameless showman

FROM the brash Ari Gold in Entourage to the audacious Harry Selfridge in Mr Selfridge Jeremy Piven tells how he swapped the fast lane for sedate period drama.

IT comes as something of a shock when Jeremy Piven declares he isn’t the type to booze it up with his actor mates and “wake up naked in front of the stove” like a scene out of The Hangover movies.

From the man who played the ultimate Hollywood high-baller Ari Gold — who worked hard and played harder — in the cult dramedy series Entourage, you’d expect that just a hint of that excess might have eked its way into his private life.

His industry reputation to that effect certainly proceeds him, with The New York Post once headlining him as “the biggest jerk in showbiz,” while his continued bachelor status has earned him the nickname “the Pivert” by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.

But even when the ensemble cast reunited last year to start filming a big screen adaptation of the HBO production, Piven made a point of stating, for the record, that any male bonding they did before the cameras rolled was an entirely civilised affair.

“I’d been shooting (Mr Selfridge) in London and really wanted to reconnect with the guys, so I took ‘em to dinner at a (Los Angeles bar and restaurant) called Laurel Hardware and we had a blast.”

Scene from the Entourage movie.

So no booze-fuelled binge fests in Las Vegas, no midnight trips to tattoo parlours or a raunchy rendezvous at Sunset’s seedy strip joints?

The 49-year-old almost apologises: “I’m just not that guy, I would be very disappointing to you.”

If playing aggressive agent Gold put Piven on the cultural map, taking the chance on his next role in a more sedate English period drama playing American retail pioneer Harry Gordon Selfridge was a brave (or perhaps necessary?) career detour.

Admitting he knew little about the department store revolutionary before being offered the lead in Mr Selfridge, Piven says “there was no way I could walk away from it” when he read into the history.

As the first two seasons of the series has explored, Selfridge tested the British establishment when he had the audacity to plunge over a million dollars into a grand plan to transform the dead end of London’s now famous Oxford High Street into a luxurious shopping mecca.

STRICTLY EMBARGOED to MAY 10, 2015 Sunday TV Guides first use. Hannah Tointon, Jeremy Piven and Kara Tointon for Mr Selfridge. Supplied by Channel Seven

A self-starter who began his working career as a stock boy, Selfridge would swiftly win the loyalty and love of his English staff by treating them as equals, ignoring the restraints of the UK class system and willing to give anyone, from anywhere, an opportunity to shine.

You get the impression Piven has something of a man crush on his character, who he describes as a “true original.”

“Like (circus showman) PT Barnum, he loved putting on a show and entertaining people,” Piven says. “He was the first man-made celebrity and believed in using advertising to get people in store. He made (shopping) an event but also made sure that everyone was treated as special guests.” (It is Selfridge who is credited with popularising the business maxim “the customer is always right”).

The private affairs of this “risk junkie,” however, weren’t always as successful as his business ventures: taking up with a dizzy show girl in season one; only to have to fight his way back into the heart of his beleaguered wife, Rose (Australian actor Frances O’Connor) by the end of season two.

Early in season three, Selfridge is mourning her death from pneumonia, but will soon find comfort in the arms of a new love interest (played by Kelly Adams).

ITV STUDIOS PRESENT. MR SELFRIDGE FOR ITV1 Pictured: FRANCES OCONNOR as Rose. Embargoed until September 17th Copyright: ITV This photograph is (C) ITV Plc and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Plc Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itvpictures.com For further information please contact: [e-mail] 0207 157 3044 Picture: Supplied

O’Connor has since gone on to critical acclaim in another British TV series, The Missing for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a mini-series or telemovie.

Piven hails his former Aussie co-star as a “genius” and “a complete professional … who works her butt off and I’m just glad to see her being celebrated for her work now. She’s earned it.”

Not unlike Selfridge, the actor is not adverse to doing his own self-promotion — active and engaged on Twitter, plugging episodes and answering questions from his 2.5 million followers.

“I really have no choice,” Piven explains, “you have to be a one-man show these days. We’re released in the United States on PBS (a network which relies largely on public donations for funding) and their challenge is getting the word out. So it’s up to me to really respond and tell people about the show. If someone is out there (online) in praise of Mr Selfridge, I will jump on the bandwagon. I’m shameless.”

THE NEW ENTOURAGE

03/12/2008 Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Eric (Kevin Connelly), Johnny (Kevin Dillon), Vinny (Adrian Grenier) and Ari (Jeremy Piven) in Foxtel drama Entourage. NO RESTRICTIONS, SUPPLIED BY FOXTEL FOR DEC 10 CONNECT TV Picture: Foxtel Supplied

While the Ari Gold shoe may not fit in real life, Piven is pretty confident fans of the TV show Entourage will be pleased with the movie instalment (due out in June).

He won’t go as far as co-star Adrian Grenier’s brash promise to refund tickets to filmgoers who don’t like it, but Piven believes they have hit their mark.

“It was a very filmic series and we pick up about six months after we left the gang. Ari has accepted a new role, which is the head of studio and his first order of business is to get Vinnie Chase (Grenier) to be the star in a movie. Vinnie tells him he doesn’t want to act in the movie, he wants to direct. Can he direct? Well, we don’t know,” Piven teased. “And so it goes.”

MR SELFRIDGE

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