Emmy-award winning actor Jeremy Piven has been making waves lately, in high-profile roles like Dean Pritchard in Old School, Ari Gold in the HBO television smash Entourage, and most recently lead character Buddy "Aces" Israel in the dark action-comedy Smokin' Aces. The versatile actor has actually been working in television and film for more than 20 years, and for years on stage before that.

Born in New York in 1965, Piven actually grew up in a suburb of Chicago — a midwest town that's a far cry from the high-energy urban setting most of his high-profile characters inhabit. Piven grew up on the stage, working as a part of the Second City theatre and comedy troupe that was partly started by his father, an organization that was a nebula for the careers of John Belushi, Chris Farley, Tina Fey and many other prominent TV and film talents.

"I learned a lot from my old man," Piven said of his famous stage-actor father, Byrne Piven. "I'm used to being on stage, and having that stage, and being within those confines. You can really go anywhere."

Interestingly, this mentality extended to his work on the set of Smokin' Aces, where his character spends almost the entirety of the film locked in a Tahoe hotel room. "It was the coolest set I'd ever seen in my life," he said. "So meticulous, explored and heightened. In many ways, it was like Vegas, where the American Dream broke down."

Although he has to spend much of his time in filming locations like Hollywood, New York, and Las Vegas, Piven has never lost touch with his Chicago roots. "I have a place in Chicago and I get there as much as I can," he said in an interview. "The city is so unbelievably beautiful. It's one of the greatest cities on the planet. My heart beats differently when I'm in Chicago. It slows down and I feel more at ease."

He's been prominent on the small screen, starring on Entourage, the short-lived but acclaimed Cupid, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Piven admits he hasn't had that many high-profile film roles, but it's certainly one of his goals.

"The first thing you can't do is judge your character, [but] I haven't been allowed to audition for the lead guy," he said. "I'd like the opportunity to work off that female energy... I'm not your traditional [leading man]. They're opening up a little more. You don't necessarily have to be classically handsome [to play a lead]."

He's certainly missed his opportunity before, he said. He and buddy John Cusack own a production company together that was set to get the rights to the film version of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Piven was intended for the lead, even researching with Thompson and performing the stage version, which he says may have been the inspiration for the film, as he later found out the producers were observing his stage performance.

His strung-out lead in Smokin' Aces was largely inspired by the drug-addled Thompson, he said. "I researched with Hunter Thompson himself. [This was] the kind of research where I saw the most dangerous and poetic guy in the room. That was the best research I could have had."

Still, Piven doesn't seem to be stuck on what could have been. He's currently enjoying the successful run of Entourage and an Emmy for his performance in it. Look for his film Smokin' Aces, to be released on Jan. 26.

— Jeff Tripoli

jefftripoli@thedaily.washington.edu.