Jeremy Piven Full Interview
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00:001294.1 The Bay's Party Station. You are rocking with The Freak Show and we have a very special guest in the building with us, Jeremy Piven.
00:09What's up, homie? Thank you so much for stopping by.
00:11Thank you for having me. Good morning. You guys are playing music that is, look at you little cheeky bastards.
00:17I love it. It's not radio anymore. It's film, it's TV, it's everything.
00:21It's multimedia. And when we have a big star in here like you, man, we got to bring them out.
00:24It's so funny. The women, not just women, but the people in this building are going crazy that you're even here.
00:32I can't believe I'm here either. It's hard to believe. Yeah, it's all happening.
00:37When you're shooting like a TV or like movies or something like that, do you usually have to get up this early?
00:43Yeah, that's what's interesting is I've talked to musicians and they all wonder like how we can do it.
00:49Because when you go into a studio, I'm sure you've talked to a lot of guys, you know, various artists, they do it when they're ready, when they're feeling it.
00:57They may put candlelight down or smoke some herbal medication, get in that mood and then hit it.
01:03With us, we have to hit the ground running. And there, you know, there is no warm up.
01:08You've got to be it's on command at dawn, be funny, you know, whatever the whatever the feeling needs that needs to happen.
01:17You've got to like you've got to tap into that right away and hit the ground running.
01:21Speaking of musicians, like it's easy when you see a musician, you can kind of point to like, OK, this song was what really led them to like blowing up or this album or just this situation.
01:31What would you look at when you look back at your career? What was your big break? What would you say?
01:36Well, I mean, from an outsider's point of view, it would be entourage.
01:40And when I did that show, I remember I won the Fresh Face of the Year award at 37 years old and there was nothing fresh about my face.
01:49You know, and I've been doing it. That's all part of the game.
01:52I think it's it's you know, we're living in a time, you know, most of your listeners are millennials or even younger.
01:58And I think that there's it sounds like I'm an old dude, but like there's there's a generation that feels like and I understand it,
02:05that they want to blow up and they want to blow up now.
02:08And, you know, they should just know that there's nothing wrong with working hard and things kind of evolving at its own natural pace.
02:18And you should never compare yourself to someone else.
02:20Right.
02:20And, you know, had had I done that, I would have I would have gotten out of the game or gotten frustrated or whatever.
02:26But I crawled up on stage at about eight years old.
02:29And so, you know, then 30 years later, you know, I got I got that break with entourage, which to me wasn't a break because it was definitely a break.
02:37But I just working is a break.
02:41Just the opportunity to work is something I, you know, I was always grateful for.
02:46And then I was, you know, probably 40 movies into a career when entourage came around and I was supposedly this overnight, you know, success.
02:53And that's not the way it works.
02:54It's kind of crazy, though, you coming into the studio because Davi already alluded to the fact that our phones have been blowing up.
03:01The fact that you're here with women and nonstop, are your DMs just like always full with women just hitting on you wanting to hang out with you?
03:08Not at all.
03:09No.
03:09No, no, seriously.
03:11Really?
03:11No.
03:12Well, OK, Jeremy, let me give you a little inside information.
03:15Yeah.
03:15One of the people that has been blowing up like our phone is her husband.
03:19OK.
03:19Because her husband is feeling some type of way this morning.
03:22OK.
03:22Because like I said, we have, you know, different celebrities and musicians and stuff come in here.
03:27But Meredith got super dressed up today.
03:30Yeah, she's dialed up, clearly.
03:31OK.
03:32No, that's because, let's be honest, she got dialed up because she's going to take a picture
03:37and then post it.
03:38It has nothing to do with me.
03:39No, no, no.
03:40She does that every single time.
03:41I do that for celebrities when they come in here.
03:43No, but she went over the top.
03:44OK, no, no, no.
03:45Real quick, Mary.
03:45And also, tell Jeremy what your husband said while he was still laying in bed this morning.
03:52So I got up.
03:52It was like 4.30 in the morning.
03:54And he like peeks up out.
03:55He's like, why are you getting so dressed up this morning?
03:58I'm putting lotion on my legs and stuff.
03:59I'm like, don't you even worry about it.
04:01Go back to sleep.
04:02That's funny.
04:02And then he hit her with a follow-up.
04:04Yeah, I got a text message after.
04:06He's like, why do you have to get so dressed up for celebrities?
04:09Yeah, anyway, it just, you know, you bring out all the ladies.
04:12Well, that's very kind of you.
04:15You know what?
04:16But it's been interesting because, yeah, you alluded to the fact that I've, you know, I've been an actor my whole life.
04:21And then I did 250 stand-up shows last year.
04:23And here I am at the Improv.
04:25Yeah.
04:25You know, which is one of the most iconic spots.
04:28You guys are, I know you guys know how lucky you are.
04:30But you get some of these, the most, last week you had DL.
04:34I know he didn't make it in because he's got his own radio show.
04:36But I'm a friend and a huge fan of his.
04:39And he kills.
04:40You guys, like, are very lucky.
04:42You get these monsters to come in in your backyard and crush it.
04:47Consistently.
04:48Yeah.
04:49Yeah.
04:49And I'm just honored, you know, to be a part of it.
04:52Because I started off doing sketch comedy, which is improv, with a group.
04:57And so the last arena for me to do is stand-up.
05:01And, like, for instance, with Entourage or any movie I was doing, Smoking Aces, Old School, whatever,
05:05I'm improvising, trying to get my dialogue in.
05:09And at a certain point, you know, because you're always trying to navigate when's the right time.
05:14Okay, are they ready?
05:15Should I do it before, a week before, a month before, on the day, whatever.
05:19And now it's like, be careful what you wish for because I have total freedom.
05:22I get to write the whole show myself, do impersonations, all that kind of stuff.
05:26You got to check them out this week.
05:27And Jeremy Piven is going to be live at the Improv, 8 o'clock and 10.30 today.
05:32The 7.30 show tomorrow sold out.
05:34So you got to check them out at 10.
05:36Jeremy Piven will be at the Improv.
05:38Is stand-up one of, like, the hardest, what would you say, disciplines in what you do?
05:44It's interesting because it's the mixed martial arts of creativity because you have to write your own.
05:49It's not just – usually you're getting up there and performing someone else's words.
05:53But now it's like you're doing everything yourself.
05:57And it's got to be a tight set.
05:58And to me it's just thrilling because I know in real time if I'm bombing or not.
06:03And for me, I got to go find places to bomb.
06:06There's a little dive bar in L.A. that I go to where people – if they're there, they're there to see the DJ.
06:12It's free.
06:14It's a little bar.
06:15You know, it's kind of ghetto.
06:17And, you know, people don't know who I am.
06:20And I remember I got up there last time and I was like, you guys are probably wondering what I'm doing up here.
06:24And they're like, yeah, man, what you doing here, man?
06:27DJ, play some.
06:28Yeah, play that funky beat.
06:29Get that man off the stage.
06:31We don't need you, man.
06:33I have a question for you, man.
06:34So, obviously, Entourage, huge show.
06:36Is there – I mean, how similar is, like, real-life Hollywood with you being, like, a huge celebrity compared to Entourage?
06:44Did you hit that on the head?
06:45Is there a lot of added dialogue or did you guys play it up?
06:48Or is that what it's really like to live that Hollywood lifestyle, have the agent, have the crew of friends around?
06:54Well, listen, if we didn't get it right, you would have heard about it.
07:00Okay.
07:02That's one of the cool things about the show, I think, is that, you know, Doug Allen and all the guys that wrote and produced it and created it knew that the town was looking.
07:13So, it's like if you guys did a show about the inner workings of a morning show, you know that your peers would be like, you guys didn't get it right.
07:22And you would hear about it.
07:23So, the fact that we didn't hear about it means that, you know, we made it pretty authentic.
07:28And there is an Ari.
07:29Ari Emanuel is Mark Wahlberg's agent.
07:32Right.
07:32All that stuff is based in reality.
07:35And that's one of the reasons why it was so authentic.
07:38And, you know, I was playing a real guy who still exists.
07:42He and his team bought the UFC.
07:44Now, he's in sports management as well.
07:47He represents Mark and a bunch of people you guys know.
07:49And that guy's out there.
07:50And he exists.
07:51And what you see is, you know, it's pretty authentic.
07:54And who that guy is.
07:55Do you talk about that when you're doing your stand-up at all?
07:58Any work in entourage?
07:59Or what are some of the topics you go through?
08:01I go through everything.
08:02I mean, that's what's so cool about it is people don't know what to expect, which I love.
08:06And the thing that I hear the most of, which is one of these really back-end compliments,
08:11is I didn't know you were that funny.
08:13Which is kind of like, well, do you think that I've been viciously mediocre for the past three decades?
08:19No, it's, I mean, that's a huge compliment to me because I work really hard and I take it seriously.
08:24To give you an example, like when I was in L.A. and I was doing a set, Joe Rogan introduced me.
08:30And he said, great, this is all we, this is just what we need.
08:33Another actor trying to do stand-up, you know, give it up for this guy.
08:37And then he saw my set and he goes, oh, you're taking it seriously.
08:39And I am.
08:40Because I wouldn't do it if I didn't respect it and I didn't want to work hard and get better.
08:46So it's observations, observational comedy.
08:50I do impressions, stories from the road.
08:53The fact that my mom was my acting teacher from the time I was eight years old.
08:56Oh, really?
08:57I still run lines with her.
08:58Or I do lines with, no, I don't do lines with my mom.
09:01I run lines with my mom.
09:04And she, yeah, she's a real, she's an incredible woman and very professional.
09:09And imagine that like everything that I said is already gold.
09:13I said to my mom's face because she's basically testing me on my lines.
09:17So if you think about all that crazy stuff, and she would never bat an eye, you know.
09:22And so I actually play that out on stage in real time, like doing an entourage scene, screaming at the top of my lungs, and my mom giving me notes as she's in the kitchen.
09:33It's like I don't want to do the bit for you now.
09:34You may have to come to the improv, watch this transition at 8 or 10 tonight.
09:388 or 10.30 tonight, 7.30 and 10.
09:42Tomorrow we have Jeremy Piven in the studio.
09:44Jeremy, what's one of the biggest misconceptions about you?
09:47Well, it's funny.
09:48I thought you were going to ask the question, which I always get asked, which is how much are you like Ari Gold?
09:54And there's a really big backhanded compliment in there.
09:58I wasn't prepared, to be honest with you.
10:00I was, you know, a stage actor and doing my thing and a prolific dude.
10:04And then this role blew up and the show blew up.
10:08And I didn't predict how I would then be portrayed because I didn't get it, you know.
10:15Because I'm not so focused on pop culture and media, you know what I mean?
10:20And so that when I immediately started to be portrayed as that character, I was confused.
10:27I think my mom told me she saw it.
10:29She said, if you're going to be in people's living rooms for like, you know, eight seasons or whatever, you know,
10:35and you play something authentically, there's going to be confusing.
10:37I just didn't even think that way.
10:38So immediately, it was this weird combination where I was being celebrated for the work,
10:45which was really, really humbling.
10:47And then immediately vilified as a powerful, reactive douchebag agent, which I didn't see coming, you know.
10:59But you embraced it.
11:01I mean, you embraced it.
11:02But at the same time, you know, it is a bit confusing because, you know,
11:08that's what's great about shows like this is we can all sit together and talk.
11:12And you get a sense of who I am.
11:14And that's what's great about stand-up.
11:16To me, it's one of the many gifts is that I get to travel around and you hang with me for an hour.
11:21And it's my job to make you laugh, but also selfishly to give you a sense of who I actually am.
11:27I'm just a guy from the Midwest.
11:28I'm from Chicago.
11:30I'm a grinder.
11:31I've worked hard my whole life.
11:33And, you know, I'm not a Hollywood agent.
11:35And there's misconceptions about that.
11:37And it's my job to make you laugh.
11:39But also, you'll probably leave going, oh, okay, I had no idea.
11:44Now I know who he is.
11:46You know, I'm not hiding behind a fictional character.
11:48It's me, which is really a gift, really.
11:52Well, thank you so much, man, for coming through.
11:54You are at the Improv today, 8 and 1030.
11:57I'm going to hit that 8 o'clock show.
11:58There you go.
11:59And if you can't do it today, tomorrow, the 730 show is sold out.
12:02So you got to go check them out at 10-813-864-4000.
12:07Jeremy Piven, thank you so much for coming in.
12:10It's time for some selfies.
12:11Yeah, yeah, let's do selfies.
12:12There's a line.
12:13There's a line outside.
12:14Let's make some husbands jealous.
12:15Let's do it.
12:16It's the Freak Show, Wild 94.1.