- 3 months ago
As great of a diverse stage and screen actor Jeremy Piven is, his stand-up comedy is equally as powerful. With impeccable timing and hysterical accounts of life, his shows are not to be missed. We were fortunate to have him stop by the LifeMinute Studios this week, while in town for his New York stop at Sony Hall this coming Sunday, October 19th to tell us all about it and more. From growing up on stage beginning at the age of 8 (his mom and dad ran the acclaimed Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago, and his sister is Director, Shira Piven) to his dozens of memorable roles on Broadway, TV, and the big screen. He played the Dean you loved to hate in Old School , the best friend you adored in Family Man , the gay Versace salesman in Rush Hour 2 , and of course, his Emmy and Golden Globe winning role as arrogant, Hollywood agent Ari Gold in Entourage (who is based off a real-life person by the way.) The list goes on and on. Most recently he can be seen in the new flick everyone's buzzing about Primitive War about dinosaurs that attack U.S. troops during Vietnam. He believes his greatest work, however, is the soon-to-be released, Arthur Miller short, that he obtained the rights to called; The Performance , in which he plays a Jewish tap dancer asked to perform for Hitler in Nazi Germany. Yes, he really learned to tap. The 15-year passion project is directed by his sister, Shira, and many agree, it has Oscar buzz all over it. In the meantime, you can see the real Piven and his hilarious gift of storytelling on stage right now at the following locations. For tickets visit www.jeremy-piven.com .
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00:00Hey, it's Jeremy Piven here. You're watching Life Minute TV.
00:03You may know him best from his Emmy and Golden Globe winning performance in Entourage,
00:08or from the dozens of diverse roles he's played on stage and screen,
00:12or his hysterical stand-up comedy acts he's taken on the road for years.
00:17We were fortunate to have Jeremy Piven stop by the Life Minute Studios this week
00:21while in town for his New York stop at Sony Hall this coming Sunday
00:24to tell us all about it and more.
00:27I was on a date with a woman. She was age-appropriate.
00:31Don't look at me like that, bro.
00:33And she said to me, she goes, I don't date actors.
00:37I said, why? She goes, you never know when they're acting.
00:41I said, look, I'm here with you. I care about you.
00:44You're my world. I'm empathetic towards you. There's no one else.
00:50Line!
00:54Jeremy Piven in the house.
00:55Yes. How are you living?
00:57Oh, man. I'm living the dream. Absolutely peaking at this moment.
01:02It's all come together for us. We're exactly where we're supposed to be.
01:05I'm a festival of cliches.
01:08It's okay.
01:09Well, you're in New York on your stand-up comedy tour.
01:12Yes.
01:13How's that been going?
01:14Oh, fantastic. I love doing stand-up.
01:17I've just been on the streets of New York. It's raining out there, and there's so much energy.
01:21I basically, whenever I get to a new town, I just start walking and getting and just see what happens, and then I take all that energy and whatever happens, and I put it on stage.
01:30I was just in Boston at the Wilbur Theater, and I was outside like a dummy taking a selfie because I was on the marquee, and it's already embarrassing.
01:40And then I hear, yo, man.
01:41And I look over, and there's this dude sitting there, and he goes, me and my girl loved you in a rush hour.
01:46And he goes, let me ask you a question, man.
01:48Can you do that scene for me, man?
01:51I was like, I'm sorry.
01:51He goes, do that scene.
01:52You were the gay Versace salesman.
01:55Me and my girl loved that scene.
01:56I go, bro, I'm sorry.
01:57That's like a seven-minute scene.
01:59And he stands up, and he's like the size of Aaron Judge.
02:02And I was like, so you've got the mocha chin, the skin, and the big broad shoulders.
02:06Let's put a dead animal on you.
02:08Buttercream, buttercream, cracked skin, buttercream.
02:10What's below the waist?
02:12And I do the whole scene for him.
02:13And I take that, and I put it right on stage.
02:16So if you just leave your home, only good things can happen.
02:22You just got to get it out of the house.
02:24Yeah, improv and madness and weirdness, and you can use all of it.
02:29And Sony Hall this Sunday, October 19th.
02:33Yeah.
02:33You know, it's funny.
02:34I've been working forever, and people come up to me after my shows, and they say,
02:38we didn't know you were this funny, which is this amazing backhanded compliment,
02:41because I've been doing this forever.
02:43And it just makes me feel incredible that, like, you know, all the roles that I've played
02:48have just been so lucky and fortunate to do.
02:52And I've always attempted to, you know, give them some alternate dialogue or a joke or something.
02:57And, you know, it's always about, like, when's the right time to pitch it?
03:01And the thing about stand-up is it's total and utter freedom.
03:05You know, it's just you alone on a mic.
03:08You're a one-person band.
03:09And, you know, be careful what you wish for.
03:11It's incredible freedom.
03:13It's me.
03:14I'm not playing a character.
03:15And if you want to know who I am, come to Sony Hall on the 19th.
03:19Awesome.
03:20Can't wait.
03:20I can't wait.
03:22And like you said, you've played such diverse roles.
03:25And you've done everything, from Broadway to the big screen, like 80-something movies.
03:30The other day, I was trying to make a list.
03:32I'm like, oh, my God, there's that one and that one and that one.
03:34And you're either the guy, like, you love you or you hate you.
03:38That's how good you are.
03:39Such a testament to your talent.
03:41Well, those are both strong emotions.
03:43And I'm glad that you feel that.
03:46I mean, all I know is that when you play these characters, you never judge your characters.
03:52You just commit to them because it's an interesting take on life, really, that no one's the devil in their own story.
03:58I don't think these evil people think they're evil.
04:01And so if you're playing a bad guy, you give him as much integrity as you possibly can.
04:06And you take judgment out of the equation, which is what we should be doing in life as well.
04:12I think, you know, that's the way to really be free is to live without judgment.
04:17And, you know, I think we're and I don't mean to get too philosophical or deep or weird right now.
04:22But I think we're either living in times or just coming out of times where people are so attached to their judgments and it's their identity.
04:33And they just want to find the oppressor, anyone will do, find them, and then just start railing against them publicly.
04:42And it's kind of like, well, hold on a second.
04:44What's going on here, guys?
04:45Because I don't have all the facts.
04:47I just want to know the truth.
04:49And so, you know, it's just really, really interesting times.
04:52And I don't know how I made that leap from you saying you love or hate me.
04:58What's so interesting to me is, you know, living this life, I've been a journeyman actor.
05:02I went to NYU.
05:03I went to school here.
05:04I started studying at eight years old.
05:06I've studied all over the world.
05:08Shakespeare at National Theater of Great Britain, Second City with Chris Farley in the 90s.
05:14I've been all over the map.
05:15And it's my job and my honor to inhabit characters fully.
05:19And so I think what's happened with me, which is fascinating, is I don't want to even think about or put too much energy into how I'm viewed.
05:30But I know that these characters that I've played have really landed with people.
05:34And they get confused and maybe think that I am that character, which to me is preposterous.
05:40And yet that's, I, again, can't judge them.
05:45You know, the result, I mean, my mother, who's been my acting teacher since I was eight years old, when I was rehearsing the pilot of Entourage with her, she was testing me on my lines.
05:54And she said, this is going to be a series.
05:56And I know how you commit.
05:58And people are going to think you are this character with the way you commit.
06:03And I was just like, oh, you're crazy, Mom.
06:05That's so paranoid.
06:07And boy, was she right.
06:08You know, that's out of my control and that's something that I think about.
06:12But it's interesting what happens when they do that.
06:17But what's interesting to me on a creative level is it started to get in my way a bit.
06:23And people thought, okay, well, that's what you do.
06:25And that's who you are.
06:26It's like, well, no, I did 40 movies before Entourage.
06:30I never played Ari Gold before.
06:32I played the gay Versace salesman.
06:35You got the Mochicina face, wonderful skin, and the big, broad shoulders, okay?
06:39Let's put a dead animal on you.
06:40Croc skin, buttercream, buttercream, croc skin, buttercream.
06:43What size is the waist?
06:45Let's go in.
06:46I want to...
06:46Hey!
06:47So I basically played Lloyd before I played Ari.
06:50So there's a lot of range there.
06:53And I'm a stage actor.
06:54So I just look forward to working with creative people who get it, who understand.
07:00And yeah, it's exciting.
07:02Well, it's a true testament to your talent, too, obviously.
07:05Well, thank you.
07:06It's been a bit confusing.
07:07It's been amazing.
07:09I bet.
07:10And of course, your mom, the famous Joyce, and your dad, Byrne, Piven Theater, your company,
07:18you're a hardcore theater kid.
07:20You grew up in theater.
07:21Yeah.
07:22What was that like?
07:23It was great.
07:24It was great.
07:25I jumped up on stage, and it was...
07:27I had no reference for even where I was, which is kind of amazing.
07:30I, eight years old, got up and started butchering Chekhov with my parents.
07:34And they needed a kid, and so they grabbed me and John Cusack, and we would alternate
07:40the roles, you know, from one night to the next.
07:43And we were just up there having fun, and we didn't even really know where we were.
07:48We just kind of kept going.
07:50So it wasn't like I was thinking, oh, there's something unique and different, and this is
07:56a means to an end to become an actor, or my parents weren't stage parents.
08:01They loved the theater.
08:02It was their lives, and teaching, and nurturing talent, and being supportive was who they were.
08:10And I just got incredibly lucky.
08:12I must have picked my parents, and I just kind of grew up on the stage, and by the time
08:16I got to college, I was ten years into my journey as an actor.
08:22And so as a freshman, I got up on stage at Drake University, which is where I went first.
08:27I ended up at NYU and whatnot, but I got up there, and it was the first time I had perspective
08:33on how lucky I was, where I came from.
08:36I'm sorry about your mom's passing, too.
08:39You know, you were so close.
08:41You had the ultimate teacher.
08:43She really ran lines with you?
08:44Absolutely.
08:45I ran lines with my mom.
08:48Everything that I said is already gold.
08:50I've said to my mother's face.
08:52I swear to you.
08:53Because she's my acting teacher, so I run lines.
08:56I don't do lines with her.
08:57I run lines with her, right?
08:59So, like, from back in the day, she never cracked.
09:02No matter what I said as that character, I said some of the most vulgar, offensive s***,
09:07and my mom just stayed in the pocket, right?
09:10Just brilliant.
09:11I'm a mama's boy, clearly.
09:13I ran lines with my mom all the time.
09:16She, you know, right up until her last breath.
09:19That's what artists do.
09:20They continue to create and evolve, and she was gracious up until her last breath.
09:27It's beautiful, and it's rare.
09:29And your sister is also a director.
09:31And I have to ask you about the performance.
09:33Yeah.
09:33Arthur Miller's last short story before he died, your mom brought that to you and said,
09:39this would be a good role.
09:40Can you tell us about that?
09:41My mother was always looking for new material.
09:44That's one of the things she did at the Pittman Theater was she would identify material,
09:47whether they be plays or short stories or any type of fascinating poems, works of art.
09:55And she was a voracious reader and a Shakespeare scholar and an expert on Shakespeare, on Chekhov.
10:03And she found the performance out of The New Yorker, this beautiful short story, gave it to me
10:10and said, there's a role in here for you.
10:11And her words are so powerful, and I immediately read it and just was completely blown away.
10:18And at its core, it's about the idea of how much of ourselves will we compromise to be successful.
10:24And I think we navigate that all the time.
10:28And my character is willing to risk it all and hide his identity as a Jewish tap dancer in Brooklyn.
10:34And he finds himself in Germany in Berlin in 1937 and comes face to face with this brilliant actor, Robert Carlyle,
10:42who was so perfect in this role.
10:44And my character hides his identity to dance for Hitler.
10:47It's the best work of my life, and, you know, we look to have it out early next year.
10:52It's been a 15-year process, and it's been great.
10:55And you learned to tap dance?
10:56I learned to tap dance from a local tap dancer here named Jared Grimes, who's a genius.
11:01Been on Broadway many times.
11:03Yeah, he was my tap teacher, and he was incredibly patient with me.
11:07Bless him.
11:08And, yeah, I, you know, somehow pulled it off.
11:11They're amazing.
11:12It looks amazing.
11:14And you had to go to Arthur Miller's daughter, Rebecca, to obtain the rights, right?
11:18Rebecca, of course, is married to Daniel Day-Lewis.
11:21And, of course, it's been all over the news that he just came out of retirement to act in his son's new movie.
11:26I've been watching Daniel Day-Lewis and his son.
11:29It's so beautiful.
11:30And he's even said one of the reasons why he did this film with his son was to spend more time with his son.
11:36It's like, it's incredible.
11:38What a huge heart.
11:39And so I went to Daniel Day-Lewis' wife, Rebecca Miller, and I had to get the rights to the performance.
11:48And so she was on the phone, and I could hear Daniel Day-Lewis in the background, who was the greatest living actor.
11:54And it just was wildly intimidating.
11:56And somehow I got lucky, and she, you know, granted me the rights.
12:00And I had my sister, Shira Piven, adapt it and direct it.
12:06And it's the best work of my life, and she's the best director I've ever worked with.
12:10And it's funny, you hear people like, oh, is it like working with your sister?
12:14Was it like working with a female director?
12:15And I'm like, female director?
12:17Oh, okay, that's right.
12:18Female director.
12:19Like, for me, I don't think in those terms, because my first director was my mom, and she's so incredible.
12:26It's like, well, how is a female director different than a male director?
12:29I know they're incredible.
12:30I know they're the best I've ever worked with.
12:33You know what I mean?
12:33So there's a lens that people have that I don't even understand.
12:39I grew up, I was the only white boy on my football team.
12:41I grew up in an integrated culture just outside of Chicago.
12:44And so I came by all of this knowledge that we're all the same intrinsically, because I lived it.
12:52And now we're living in times where people are so desperate to prove their empathy, to do these performative gestures, to prove how decent they are.
13:02It's like, well, you know, I just would rather you be that way.
13:06You know what I mean?
13:07It's like the lady doth protest too much.
13:09Why are you putting all of your energy into telling us who you are?
13:14Why don't you show me who you are?
13:16Who are you?
13:17So that, you know, that's a very long-winded way of saying I got incredibly lucky and I can't wait to get it out.
13:24And for people to have these conversations, because I think we're also going through some interesting times where people are confused and confused about history and about maybe there's some antisemitism.
13:35Antisemitism, what is that about exactly?
13:38I think truly one of the variables to racism and antisemitism of any kind is the lack of knowledge of who other people are in their culture.
13:49And I was just lucky to be immersed where people didn't look like me where I grew up.
13:54And so I got to learn firsthand what these other beautiful cultures are like.
13:58And so with the performance, it can be used to show you the absurdity of antisemitism.
14:04Because, you know, you can do an interview, you can do a TED Talk, you can do a tweet or an op-ed or whatever.
14:10But there's nothing like telling a story.
14:12That's what I do.
14:14You know, people are like, why are you so silent on certain issues?
14:18Silence is violence.
14:19It's like, well, the way that I contribute to this conversation is by doing what I do.
14:24What am I qualified to do or to speak about?
14:27Well, I've been an actor my whole life.
14:30I'm a storyteller.
14:31So that's what I'm qualified to do.
14:32So I'm taking all this energy and putting it towards a piece that will illuminate the absurdity of antisemitism.
14:40And also just standing on its own is just a beautiful, beautiful story and a beautifully told story.
14:47So that's how I contribute this.
14:49And from the film will come longer conversations, which I'm honored to have.
14:54You know, it's funny.
14:54I had this critic at one of the screenings said after the film, you know, it's all going to be different for you now.
15:01I said, really?
15:01She said, yeah, I mean, your choices are going to have to be different because she saw what I'm capable of doing and what this role is and the impact.
15:11And I hear people gasp when they watch this film and standing ovations and all these other things and reviews that I've never personally witnessed,
15:20even though I've been lucky enough to win awards and play roles that have, you know, by some people have defined me.
15:27Some people think I am Ari Gold.
15:29Well, okay.
15:30Watch the performance.
15:31And all the reviews say I disappeared into this role.
15:35Well, they don't know me.
15:37So I reappeared into the role because that role is closer to me than anything I've ever done in my life.
15:44So that's who I am.
15:48Ari Gold exists.
15:50His name is Ari Emanuel.
15:52And he represents Mark Wahlberg and he owns the UFC and the WWE and he's Ari Gold.
15:56And he's somewhere right now screaming at someone.
16:00It's adorable.
16:01It's funny.
16:01I heard they said, you know, Diane Keaton was a little bit of herself who we just lost recently in all of her movies.
16:09Oh, she was a lot of herself.
16:11Would you say that about you?
16:13I would say you try to disappear as much as you possibly can into these roles.
16:20And you try to service the role and the piece on the highest level possible.
16:26And, you know, we're spirits having a human experience.
16:33And so it's being informed by your spirit.
16:36So I can't tell you, you know, how much of it shows up.
16:41But you do whatever it takes to make that moment alive and to make it all work.
16:47I remember even during Entourage, the phone wasn't ringing as much as I would have liked to have.
16:52And I got some feedback from my agent.
16:53He said, the people I'm talking to are seeing Entourage and they just, they feel like it's too good.
16:59Like, that's what I was like.
17:00I'm sorry.
17:01Say that one more time.
17:02It's too good.
17:03Yeah, he goes, they just don't think it's acting.
17:06Okay, what?
17:07Is it a documentary?
17:09Is it?
17:10Okay, was it a work of fiction?
17:12It's all fiction.
17:13It's all written.
17:14I did it word for word, word for word.
17:17In fact, if I didn't hit it word for word, the great Doug Allen who wrote it, I would have to go again.
17:23And it was my honor.
17:24So that's the ultimate compliment.
17:26It's a backhanded compliment.
17:28But, you know, it's a funny one.
17:30Because if you can live fully in a character and make it incredibly authentic, that means you can play other characters authentically.
17:38So I didn't understand the logic.
17:41Tell us about Primitive War.
17:46Listen, my mission is to get my men home, not fight dinosaurs.
17:49Primitive War is a beautiful, crazy film that's out right now for the first time on different platforms.
17:57That is a mashup of different timelines.
17:59It's a Vietnam War movie that suddenly turns into a dinosaur movie.
18:03Blood and guts, R-rated.
18:05People love it.
18:05It's crazy and wild and funny and absurd.
18:08It looks fun.
18:11Yeah.
18:11What's your very first movie you ever saw?
18:13First movie that I ever saw was Apocalypse Now in the movie theaters when I was a kid.
18:18And I just thought, how is that even possible?
18:22That was one of those times where I was like, this isn't a movie.
18:24I don't even know what this is.
18:26They're going down the river in Vietnam.
18:29And what is Marlon Brando?
18:32What is that creation of this dark, amazing, charismatic, strange force that is in and out of the shadows?
18:41You know, he was just otherworldly and brilliant.
18:45And it was, you know, the idea of like that was a movie that was something that you could even attempt to do.
18:52It was so far away in such a dream that I thought I just stayed on the stage and just kept grinding until I got my first movie.
19:00Then ironically, Martin Sheen, the lead in Apocalypse Now, his son, Charlie Sheen.
19:05Then I'm on a set.
19:06I'm 18 years old.
19:07And I played football in high school.
19:10And then I got to put the pads on again and play a football player in Lucas.
19:14And I'm like, oh, my God.
19:15I didn't know it could be this good.
19:16Like I get paid to act and I get to play a football player.
19:20I'm living the dream.
19:20At that moment, Charlie, Hollywood came to town.
19:23I was like, oh, my God.
19:24Charlie Sheen is his Martin Sheen son.
19:27And he goes, dude, the only way I'm going to make it through this movie, dude, is if I have a 12-pack and a big French joint, dude.
19:35And I was like, what?
19:36You have to be medicated to live the dream?
19:38That doesn't sound right.
19:39And the director came over and he goes, Charlie, we're going to get right on that 12-pack and that joint.
19:43And Charlie goes, dude, I forgot I was miked, dude.
19:47So he came out of the womb just with surgery with tiger blood.
19:52To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV on iTunes and all streaming podcast platforms.
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