Jeremy Piven: Mercury Rising

Jeremy Piven, who lost to Wilkinson in the supporting category — a rarity for Piven, whose Ari on HBO’s “Entourage” has garnered a lot of statues. Piven has had a rough few weeks since leaving the Broadway play “Speed the Plow” claiming he was felled by mercury poisoning. Since then, the press has been a horror, with the New York tabs accusing Piven of everything short of treason or genocide.

So here now is Piven’s side of things, as he explained it to me last night: “I was so sick for most of the run of the show. Some days I would sleep right until the time I had to go to the theater. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was exhausted. Finally, I went to a doctor at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut just so it wouldn’t turn into a circus. He said, ‘you’ve got to stop working.’ My heart rate was 47. My mercury level was off the charts. I hadn’t had a real break in 20 years of acting.’”

Many people are skeptical of Piven’s mercury excuse. Playwright David Mamet told the papers of Piven: “He wants to be a thermometer.” Piven told me that was a funny line. “But what do you expect? He’s a great writer.” Piven told me he had nothing but respect for co-star Raul Esparza, even though Esparza has bad mouthed him publicly since the exit. Last night at the HBO party, Piven spoke for the first time to his other ex-castmate, Elizabeth Moss. “We’re okay,” Jeremy told me. “She said she understood. She knew how much I put into the play.”

Piven does suspect the play’s producers of fueling the fire in the New York press. He doesn’t care. “My life has always been in the theater. I was raised in the theater.” And the truth is, Piven could not have gotten out of the play without a real diagnosis for insurance purposes. He says that years of being a fish eating vegetarian was enough to do the trick and act as a catalyst.

Some reality, not just opinion: Piven has no negative history in Hollywood or New York of shirking his duties. In fact, he’s been a reliable player in all media. It’s not like he’s ever had trouble on a set. And it wasn’t like he was trying to get out of “Speed the Plow” because of poor reviews. Critics and audiences loved his Bobby Gould. So maybe, just maybe, there’s nothing so fishy about Piven’s exit. Plus, business was good.

(source)