Chillin’ With Jeremy Piven

By Chilled Magazine

Golden Globe and three-time Emmy Award winner and actor Jeremy Piven is working on several new films, including The Walk and Sweetwater, is touring with his standup comedy show, is in Season 2 of his podcast “How U Livin’ J Piven,” and he just released his brand-new cigar line called the Piv Robusto.

Jeremy Piven

The actor is a household name for his award-winning performance playing the fast-talking Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. He also achieved significant success playing the title role in the British/PBS television drama series Mr Selfridge, the semi-fictional story based on the life of Harry Selfridge, who founded the London department store Selfridge’s. Piven also appeared in numerous successful films throughout his career.

 

Season 2 of his hit podcast  “How U Livin’ J Piven”  just recently premiered where he interviews influential guests such as Jamie Foxx, Tiffany Haddish, Common, Mark Cuban and UFC stars Rashad Evans and Jorge Masvidal, in an intimate and in-depth format that showcases his dynamic personality in a never-before-seen way.

He is currently filming the lead role in The Performance, written, and directed by his sister, Shira Piven, and starring opposite Robert Carlyle. His new film The Walk opposite Terrence Howard and Justin Chatwin, is currently making the festival rounds and will be in theaters this spring. His film American Night, that he stars opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Emile Hirsch which went to the 2021 Venice Film Festival, is now streaming on Hulu. Up next, he has the film, The System, with Terrence Howard and Tyrese Gibson in theaters soon. He is also currently touring the United States and the United Kingdom with his standup comedy show.

 

Finally, Piven just released his brand new cigar line with the Illusione brand owner Dion Giolito, called the Piv Robusto

 


 

Chilled chats with Piven about his busy schedule, his current movie roles, and his favorite places to grab a drink when he finds the time!

 

Tell us about the projects you are working on.

I’m currently working on filming, Sweetwater, which is about the dismantling of segregation in the NBA The first black player was a guy named Sweetwater, Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton. And no one really knows this yet, but I’m playing Joe Lapchick, who was the coach of the New York Knicks that was instrumental in helping Sweetwater breakthrough in the basketball world, and it’s an honor to play this guy. In the last movie, The Walk, I played a pretty, despicable character. The character was lost and a bad person. You usually never judge your characters, but this guy was pretty bad, and he was racist. And now I get to play a real human being, and Joe Lapchick, was a really decent man with an incredible legacy and wanted to create change and he did it. He and Sweetwater created the NBA that we see today, which is thriving.

 

With your busy schedule, what do you like to do with your downtime?

I jump on a stand-up paddleboard, and I like to see whatever town I’m in from the water which is a great way to do it. I’m just recently coming off an injury where I broke eight ribs. I do my own stunts, which is kind of strange because I’m Jewish. And that is the beginning of a very long massive beat about being Jewish and my standard routine please come and see me. Jeremypiven.com

 

When you go out to eat, where do you like to dine?

I usually go to Ysabel everything they have there is great. Everything on that menu is fantastic.

 

Any favorite bars?

Well, growing up in Chicago, we had so many great Blues bars and the Checkerboard Lounge, it’s one of the only places in the world left outside of New Orleans where you can make a living as a jazz musician, a Blues musician. So, I heard some of those Blues in my life and drank a lot of adult beverages with the locals in Chicago, and I miss it. One of my favorite bars, believe it or not, is the bar at the Hollywood Improv on Melrose. It’s one of the most iconic rooms for stand-up comedy on the planet and they’ve got a great bar and their bartenders know their stuff and they’re great.

 

What drinks do you order when out? Favorite drink?

I’m a big Mezcal drinker. So, there’s a lot of different Mezcals that I like.

 

Do you prepare drinks at home?

I just drink a Mezcal on the rocks with a big ice cube and a lime I’m really boring. But that’s the way I do it.

 

Have you ever been a bartender?

I was a bartender for a minute. I was viciously mediocre at it and had to give it up.

 

If you could share a drink with anyone, who would it be?

I think if I could have a drink with anyone would probably be Hunter S. Thompson. Oh wait, I did that already. Probably, Bob Marley would be fantastic or Marlon Brando.

 

Photos by Shanley Kellis

 

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