Entourage director defends film's superstar cameos
Entourage writer/director Doug Ellin is still pinching himself after scoring a series of big name cameos for his new movie version of the TV series, revealing many of them were last-minute cast additions.
Mike Tyson, Liam Neeson, Green Bay Packers star Clay Matthews and soccer hero Thierry Henry are among the non-cast members that show up in the film, and Ellin admits none of them were on board when he started shooting.
He tells WENN, "I got a call on the set that Clay Matthews is
supposed to be at a wedding but he swears he'll miss it if we put
him in the movie, so I said, 'Come on down', and then (sports
commentator) Jim Gray was on set and he said, 'How's Mike Tyson not
in the movie?' I called Mike and he was on set six hours later! He
shows up with his daughter.
"Liam Neeson was different because he was on a wish list. It was
like a joke, like getting U2 and somehow we got them. I think
Liam's son loved the show, so he was in.
"These cameos come in and they're not doing it for money because
we're not really paying them! We try to figure all that stuff out
and honestly it's like a party. One of the things I used to get
defensive about is people saying, 'Why are there so many cameos?'
None of it is done for stunts or to try and get extra people to
come in (to see the film); it's absolutely done in the most
authentic way to the life out here in Los Angeles, and certainly to
the life of a movie star.
"When I went to screen the movie at Mark's (Wahlberg) house,
(basketball player) Kevin Durant answered the door! I'm like, 'You
didn't tell me that Kevin was gonna watch the movie'. It's crazy.
You've got (American football star) Rob Gronkowski waiting around
to do his scene; we are all die-hard (New York) Giants fans and he
hung out all night serving soup to the extras, just because he was
having a great time.
"Thierry Henry wanted to be in the movie and I was like, 'Would he
mind walking his dog past (Jeremy Piven's agent character) Ari in
the park?' When you see the scene, it's exactly how life would be
in Beverly Hills - there's Ari coming out of his house and there's
Thierry Henry walking out of his house and there's nothing fake
about it.
"Once I had pneumonia about six years ago and there's a knock on my
door and I look like I'm dead and I open the door and there's Kurt
Russell! I'm like, 'Uh, how ya doing?' And he was looking for
(filmmaker) Lawrence Kasdan's house! These things really do
happen."