Entourage: Boys Will be Boys- Pickup or Inquiry?

Boys will be boys
By Genevieve Loh, TODAY | Posted: 13 April 2009 1155 hrs

SINGAPORE : The smile was small but sincere. The eyes a clear “trust me” blue. But it was what that familiar gravelly voice said that confused me: "What are you doing later?”

I had just come out of the washroom and was about to re-enter the official HBO after-party for the 66th Golden Globes awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles earlier this year when Kevin Connolly - 2008 Best Actor nominee for his role as the tightly-wound best friend/manager Eric Murphy, in HBO' series "Entourage" - enquired about my after-after-party plans.

All this terribly articulate reporter could come up with was an oh-so-eloquent: “Oh ... I’m working!”

The few friends who I’ve shared this incident with have since informed me that I had missed out on my own True Hollywood Story - one that I could at least have made a few bucks off selling to the tabloids.

None of them could see my reasoning that the cute-as-a-button actor could simply have been making polite conversation with a foreign journalist who had interviewed him just the day before.

“What did you think he wanted to do? Form a book club?” they sniggered. “A come on is a come on. Plus, you’re his height!”

“I’m sure he was just being a nice guy,” I said, defending the diminutive actor to deaf ears. “He’s just like E (as his character is known as on the show) - sweet, well-meaning and always making the group happy!”

My most assured declaration then got me thinking. As a fanatical follower of five seasons (and counting) worth of shenanigans courtesy of the brotherhood from Queens living it up in Hollywood, I’m more than aware that these easy-on-the eye boys chase tail, spend money like it grows on trees, painting the city of Los Angeles red in a bright yellow Hummer until ... Well, until the half-hour is up and the credits roll.

Is Kevin Connolly really Eric Murphy minus the short jokes from Ari Gold? Are the boys just like the characters they play on this hilarious, self-referential send-up of Hollywood power play? Is real life for the "Entourage" guys anything like reel life?

It's Just Acting

Back at the HBO party, I had a conversation with four-time Emmy- and three-time Golden Globe-winning actor Jeremy Piven, who plays super-agent Ari Gold. After I had accosted him at the buffet line, of course.

Boldly enquiring how he felt about losing the most recent Globe, I was all prepared to duck a barrage of curses masquerading as a reply, Ari style. Instead, he said: “What can I say? There is no better way to lose than losing to someone like Tom Wilkinson.” The friendly actor then put his arms around me for a photo.

Hang on. Where was the obscene, foul-mouthed, assistant-abusing, cliché-spewing, money-grubbing, power-hungry agent on TV? Nowhere in sight - especially not when he was genuinely expressing interest in perhaps visiting Singapore one day.

It was the same with Jerry Ferrara, who plays the group’s potbellied, marijuana-smoking mascot Turtle. Meeting the actor, I couldn’t for the life of me find a smidgen of the hard-partying, booty-loving, fun-seeking bum. After all, Turtle would never have arrived - after an open-bar party - at an interview the next day looking fresh as daisy.

“Hey, I remember you from last night!” he greeted me, cheerfully. “How you doin’? Did you have fun at the party? Man, it was good one, wasn’t it?”

In fact, Connolly himself told me the real Ferrara couldn’t be further removed from his character. “Jerry doesn’t smoke weed. Jerry’s in a relationship - Jerry’s very domesticated. He’s probably the most different from his character. He’s like 180 degrees in the opposite direction,” he said.

Maybe I was wrong about the "Entourage" boys, I thought. Maybe they weren’t like their characters at all.

And then I met Kevin Dillon.

On The Other Hand ...

Sometimes, as art imitates life and life imitates art, the line between what’s reel and real gets a little blur. Give or take a few drinks. Case in point: Kevin Dillon channelling perhaps a bit too much of his character Johnny Drama.

Don’t get me wrong - I love Dillon’s over-the-top, overbearing, hilariously desperate portrayal of Vincent Chase’s C-list actor half-brother. Which, perhaps, is why I didn’t mind the over-enthusiastic bear hug, seeing as I was the one who requested for the picture. My feathers weren’t even ruffled when he drunkenly whispered in response: “I thought you’d never ask ...”

But what I really didn’t appreciate was being called “a cute little Chinese thing”. How very Drama. Looks like the mirroring of reel life/real life up-and-down careers is not the only similarity that Johnny and Kevin share.

Asian-American actor Rex Lee, who plays Ari’s long-suffering assistant who endures his barrage of homophobic abuse, was very open about being very similar to his character.

“You know what? I always have a long hard think when people ask me if I’m anything like Lloyd in real life,” Lee told TODAY. “I think I’m playing a version of myself from three or four years ago. Lloyd is incredibly ambitious - why else would he stay with Ari for so long? And I think I have that same ambition.

“On one of the first few episodes, I literally had one line, like, ‘Insert famous name on Line 3’. So I wasn’t necessarily an important part of the show from the beginning. But I did have a hope that if I went to work and did a good job, maybe they’d keep me around. I went to work with an agenda”

Five seasons in, with the sixth season commencing filming last month, that agenda has paid off. Lloyd the character has become a fan favourite and a mainstay character.

Boys Will Be Boys

I didn’t get a chance to chat with Adrien Grenier, who plays the A-list, sure, babe-magnet actor Vincent Chase - the reason the posse exists in the first place. Judging from the number of girls surrounding him and the rest of the Entourage entourage that night at the Beverly Hilton, it would seem that the self-assured real-life apple does not fall far from the reel-life tree.

But, really, who can really blame them?

As Connolly put it succinctly: “I would do 50 years of this show. You gotta understand - we come to work every day in California, right down the block from where we all live. It’s sunny, we’re in a different location every day, great crew, pretty girls.

“As an actor, it’s the best job. And I don’t care what you’re doing — there is no better job ever.”

Entourage Season 5 premieres Wednesday, 10.30pm on HBO (StarHub TV Ch 60). For those who need their fix, four new episodes airback-to-back daily from April 20 to 22 at 10pm on HBO Signature (StarHub TV Ch 66). - TODAY/ar


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