THEY were known for being bitter rivals on iconic noughties show Entourage, but it turns out these two actors also had tension off camera.
Show star Jeremy Piven, 60, has revealed he “hated” on-screen mentor-turned-rival Malcolm McDowell, 82, and has even dubbed him an a**hole.
Jeremy portrayed talent agent Ari Gold in Entourage, with his character often clashing with Terrance McQuewick, played by Malcolm.
Over the course of seven seasons of the hit HBO show, workaholic Ari was responsible for guiding the career of A-list actor Vincent Chase – loosely based on a young Mark Wahlberg.
Now, over a decade since Jeremy and Malcolm appeared alongside one another on the show, they have reunited on the former’s podcast.
Revealing his true thoughts on co-star Malcolm, Jeremy told the actor: “I thought you were a complete and utter a**hole.
“And I hated you.”
Admitting he knew that Jeremy had a distaste for him, Malcolm replied that he would purposefully rile him up on set.
“And I used it, it was perfect. I loved just sticking the knife in,” he told Jeremy during the podcast, which was recorded back in 2021.
Admitting the rivalry actually helped when their characters were at war, Jeremy continued: “I would hold onto it and be like, ‘this motherf***er’.
“And then, I would hold onto it until they yelled ‘action’ and then I would just f***ing let loose on you.”
Malcolm joked: “So, you know what? You should f***ing thank me.”
“Thank you for being my muse,” laughed Jeremy.
Malcolm added: “I think I helped your performance enormously.”
It seemed to have done the trick, with Jeremy winning three Emmys and a Golden Globe for his portrayal as the fast-talking fixer.
Now, Jeremy says he ‘misunderstood’ Malcolm’s personality, which is why there was so much tension.
But getting everything out on the table, Malcolm went on to say the feeling was very mutual.
“We’re now being totally honest. I couldn’t stand you either, you were an arrogant son of a b***h,” Malcolm brutally remarked to Jeremy.
However, he then added that his former co-star has since become a “pretty nice guy”, joking: “You seem to have eaten a little humble pie along the way”.
Entourage debuted on screens in July 2004 and span 96 episodes, before concluding in September 2011.
The comedy-drama got the big screen treatment in 2015, with Entourage the film, which saw Piven return to reprise his iconic role.
