Evanston-native Jeremy Piven, now famous for his apoplectic role as Ari Gold in the HBO series “Entourage,” talked with THE SUMMER NORTHWESTERN in a conference call about his latest role.
In the upcoming movie “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard,” Jeremy Piven stars as Don Ready, a fast-talking used-car liquidator capable of convincing a flight attendant to let him smoke on an airplane. In the film, Ready takes on the challenge of selling every car at a dealership by any means necessary.
“It can be just a raucous, low-brow, fun romp that’s hysterical, or it can work on different levels,” he said. “It’s that comedy that we can all relate to. For the people who dig ‘Old School,’ I think this is the kind of comedy that holds up as well.”
Piven prepared for the film, in theaters Aug. 14, by watching ‘Slasher,’ a documentary about a car salesman, and by observing real car salesmen in action.
“I talked to the car salesmen, and I even looked at footage and saw how they actually sell their cars,” Piven said. “And I’ve been on the other end. I’ve been making a lot of bad decisions buying cars for a long time. So I know what it is like to go through all that.”
Once on the film set, Piven worked with “incredible comedic forces,” such as Will Ferrell and Ed Helms, which in turn made the editing process difficult.
“The only problem was figuring out a way to cut the movie down because we had so much material,” Piven said. “Ed Helms was one of those guys that has incredible comedic timing, and he has no fear…He did crash into my car after we filmed a scene where we had a really heavy confrontation, so I think he may even be a method actor.”
Along with talented actors, Piven said the root of a comedy like “The Goods” is sincerity.
“When you get guys like this that are so good, they lend authenticity to the scene and it feels so real that it allows you to really believe whatever,” Piven said. “If you look at the funny movies, it’s always been a recipe to have real good, solid dramatic actors mixed in with all the cooks. It served us really well. They understand how to take a serious moment and make it even deeper and more weird.”
Piven got his start at the Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes St., and attended Evanston Township High School. His parents, Joyce and Byrne Piven, founded the workshop, and Jeremy has been on stage with them since he was eight years-old.
“If it wasn’t for Piven Theatre, I would definitely have a hair net and I’d be selling curly fries somewhere in Schaumburg,” Jeremy said. “My mother and my father basically were the ones that nurtured my talent, and it completely changed my artistic life.”
In addition to acting in his parents’ workshop, Piven said he learned the quality of determination from going to Northwestern football games and seeing them break the streak for the most losses of any college football team, and from playing football for ETHS.
“For the record, we were 9 and 2, we advanced to the semi-finals in state, and we lost in the last 11 seconds.” Piven said. “I’ve had a chip on my shoulder ever since and that’s why I’m so unbelievably driven.”
