Jeremy Piven’s Entourage character, the walking ego Ari Gold, left an undeniable impression on pop culture. Even though Piven had memorable parts before the HBO series, and has found success since the show went off the air, he’ll forever be associated with Ari… so he’s giving the people what they asked for.
In an effort to promote the upcoming Entourage movie, which hits theaters on June 3, Jeremy Piven has agreed to do all of his press opportunities in character as the brash, insensitive and power-hungry Ari Gold. He warned his followers on Twitter, and even went ahead and apologized in advance for the number of people he might offend:
It didn’t take long for Piven to stir up (mild) controversy. During an appearance on The TODAY Show, anchor Matt Lauer asked Piven… er, Ari about his interactions with "client" Charlie Sheen, to which the actor explained that "Carlos" would be "crazier than a shit-house rat" to leave a television program like "Two and a Half Paychecks." The interaction, particularly Lauer’s face after the on-air kerfuffle, is priceless:
This likely will be the first of many viral videos that spring from Jeremy Piven’s inspired approach to publicity. I’m not saying that EVERY actor needs to do the promotion circuit in character. That would eventually grow too strange for words. But Entourage always has been a peek-behind-the-curtain celebration of the unusual world of entertainment and celebrity, and I think this is a very clever way to remind people that the movie is coming… and it’s going to deliver a whole lot of Ari Gold, a character they grew to love over the course of eight seasons.
The whole crew is actually back for the Entourage movie. From what we can see in the trailer, Ari’s now a studio head, and for his first official film, he wants to be in business with Vincent (Adrian Grenier). Along for the ride are the usual members of Vince’s entourage, including Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), "E" (Eric Murphy) and Johnny "Drama" Chase (Kevin Dillon). As was usually the case with the HBO episodes, there will be a TON of celebrity cameos in the movie as well, from executive producer Mark Wahlberg to Jessica Alba, David Spade, Ed O’Neil and Billy Bob Thornton. And, of course, Ari.
