Stars flock to ‘Entourage’
In Hollywood, it’s cool to join an Entourage.
Celebrities increasingly are turning up in cameos on HBO’s Entourage (Sunday, 10 p.m. ET/PT). The hip movie-industry satire centers on a rising young star and his close New York buddies as they taste L.A.’s fast-lane life.
In Entourage’s second season, several actors have played twisted versions of themselves. Bob Saget dissolved his saccharine Full House reputation appearing as the bong-toking, prostitute-chasing neighbor of actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier). Ralph Macchio, guesting as an old buddy of Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), riffed on his Karate Kid persona.
Sunday, Titanic director James Cameron √≥ central to this season’s plot √≥ shows up at the Sundance Film Festival and orders Sour Patch Kids candy at a concession stand. The Station Agent’s Peter Dinklage appears as a foul-mouthed bar patron. Future cameos will include Bono, Mandy Moore and Brooke Shields.
“Whenever we run into people, they say they want to do the show,” series creator Doug Ellin says. “It often provides them a different take on who they are.”
Entourage was inspired by actor Mark Wahlberg, the show’s executive producer. It’s filled with disparaging references to A-listers, most delivered with dead-on aplomb by super-agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven, nominated Thursday for an Emmy).
Mixing in cameos √≥ Larry David, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Anderson, Jessica Alba, Jaime Pressley, Gary Busey and Hugh Hefner also have appeared √≥ adds to Entourage’s behind-the-scenes authenticity, Ellin says.
Not all play themselves. Last season, Val Kilmer, in waist-length wig and ZZ Top-style beard, was unrecognizable as a mystical pot dealer. Last week, Bai Ling was an amorous martial arts trainer.
For Saget and others, the exposure is more than a fun gig. “The show is brilliant,” Saget says. “Doing it helps people take me more seriously as an actor.”
Macchio had been asked to spoof his Karate Kid image for years, but he didn’t agree until Entourage. Cameos “always seemed cheesy, but Hollywood watches, so it seemed like a smart idea,” says Macchio, now filming the independent film Beer League. “I thought it would be cool to poke fun at myself.”
And psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers, who appears in a future episode as a supermarket shopper who has her box of Froot Loops stolen by Entourage’s entourage, says, “Professionally, it helps me enormously to show up in things that attract young people.”
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