Jeremy Piven Laments The Creative Limitations Of Being A Mere Actor

As is their custom in the run-up to various awards ceremonies, Newsweek has once again assembled a panel of nominees to discuss issues important to the modern kudos-hopeful, allowing their guests a rare chance to gather together to discuss their craft and make the occasional comment about the absurdity of introducing the notion of competition into their collaborative art form.

In their new Emmy Roundtable piece, they've hoarded Masi Oka of Heroes, Entourage's Jeremy Piven, Brothers & Sisters' Sally Field, and Ugly Betty's America Ferrera for the chat, and it didn't take long for Piven, last year's Best Supporting Actor winner for his portrayal of lovable, Gaysian-haranguing agent Ari Gold, to express his frustration over not having more input into creative decisions that might result in more screentime:

What happened to Ari? What's his secret pain? Piven: That's something I keep pitching to our writers. I came onto this show late in the game as a hired gun. So I would love to be more a part of ... Oh, I'm saying all the wrong things now.

Keep going, Jeremy. [Laughter] Piven: I don't care about titles or whatever, how you're billed on the back of your chair, any of that stuff. I just like to be in the mix, you know? So you asked: what is Ari's secret pain? I think this show can keep exploring these characters. Like, for instance, what is Passover like at Ari's house? Why does he desperately need to prove himself? It's kind of tragic. I mean, when people meet me, they're usually surprised that I'm so calm. They're disappointed that I don't bark at them.

We're sure it will come as a relief to his Entourage bosses that Piven isn't making a public appeal for a producer title, just taking the opportunity to humbly let the show's writers know that as an artist, he could make Ari's threats to "stab my sword-swallowing assistant to death with his own dismembered cock" if he fails to promptly roll an important call seem more validly motivated if the audience gets to see the volatile agent bickering with his family over their Passover plans in the preceding scene.