Do you think Jeremy Piven's ...
Entourage
Question: Do you think
Jeremy Piven's performance on
Entourage is actually Emmy-worthy, or does it just look like it is because he's sharing the screen with less-talented actors?
Answer: Well,
that's not very nice. But the answer is yes, he is Emmy-worthy, and if you doubt it, check him out this Sunday (Aug. 28), in what amounts to a tour de force for Piven and a major turning point for his character. If he somehow doesn't win the Emmy this year (for last year's admittedly, a weaker season of
Entourage), he'll almost certainly take it home next year for the range he displays in this season's penultimate episode. (When I first watched it, I assumed this was the season finale, but there's one more to go, on Sept. 4.) I don't think you give enough credit to
Entourage's ensemble, which makes the art of acting callow and stupid look easy. (Watch
Joey to see it done badly.) In the
Brooke Shields and Comic-Con episodes,
Kevin Dillon was just brilliant in a very tricky role. I've always liked
Kevin Connolly's everyman approach to Eric, trying to juggle friendship with duty as Vince's manager, and
Adrien Grenier has grown in the role of Vince as well, especially once this season gave him both personal (
Mandy Moore) and professional ("Aquaman") reasons to emerge from his cocoon of charismatic entitlement.
Jerry Ferrara and
Debi Mazar are just fine, too, but Piven's the real scene-stealer in this ensemble. This week he takes center stage, and it's pretty amazing.
