Booked & Scene

Ahead of his September 19 stand up show at The Wilbur Theatre, I had the chance to sit down with Jeremy Piven. We covered stand-up, his experiences in Boston, and his newest cinematic venture, Primitive War, and he didn’t hold back about what makes performing and storytelling so exhilarating.

On touring city after city, Jeremy reflected on how all of his experiences have led him here. “I think that the most unexpected thing is the most expected, because I’ve been touring for about 10 years, and everything that I’ve done as a performer has led to this. I got up on stage at eight years old and I’ve been on stage for decades, in film, TV, and all that. I’m prepared for the stage and whatever that may bring.” Boston is a special place for him. “The Wilbur Theater is beautiful, and the Boston crowd, like Chicago, are confident and opinionated. I love having to earn their laughs. Whether you love me or hate me, it doesn’t matter. I just want you to come out, because I want to make you laugh. That’s a great honor.”

“Whether you love me or hate me, it doesn’t matter. I just want you to come out, because I want to make you laugh.”

-Jeremy Piven

Touring keeps him on his toes, often in unexpected ways. “I remember one time I was talking to the guy that runs the theater in the alley, and the door bursts open. He goes, ‘Jeremy, you’re on stage.’ I’d never been in the building. I had to run into the darkness and somehow find the stage. It was like a nightmare, but really, it’s amazing. Once you find that stage, you’re home.” For Jeremy, the stage is more than just performance, it’s a way of living. “The stage is a metaphor for life. You have to have your own back. No one’s coming to save you. It’s just you and the mic.” 

Piven said the stage is where he feels most at home. “I wouldn’t say it’s nerve-racking, I would say it’s really invigorating and inspiring. My father, I remember this image of him backstage on a rotary phone calling people out of the phone book to get them to come see our shows. Right? And now I have people like you, which is incredible. It’s not lost on me, you know, filling the Wilbur Theater is incredible. And I don’t take any of it for granted.” Surprisingly, he admitted that film and TV can feel more daunting. “Sometimes that could be a little more nerve-racking, to be honest with you, than thousands of people. I’m very comfortable in front of thousands of people, and maybe that’s really deranged.” And in true Boston spirit, he joked: “In the spirit of Julian Edelman, I too am an undersized Jew who will overachieve.” 

“In the spirit of Julian Edelman, I too am an undersized Jew who will overachieve.” 

Jeremy Piven

He also uses his time in each city to explore and shape new material. “I start walking around whatever town I’m in, see what happens, get lost, and bring those experiences to the stage. I just got off a plane from Australia, and in Perth I found out it’s the meth capital. I opened with, ‘So good to be here in Perth, but you guys are the meth capital. In the spirit of Americans, if Trump were here, you’d rename Perth Murth.’ That’s where the show can take you—you have to let the audience know you see them. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue.” He hasn’t forgotten Boston’s role in his comedy journey either. “With Boston, you know, I started off at Boston Laughs, which was one of my first shows, and I’ll never forget it. Speaking of Julian Edelman, he came backstage and I was thrilled at the fact that we’re the same size. It’s like, wow, I’m the same size as the Super Bowl MVP. That was truly, truly living the dream.”

Family has always played a role in his craft. “I did a movie called The Walk, about the bussing incident in the ’70s in Boston. I was working on my accent and running lines with my mom, who played my mother in the scene. I filmed her and sent it to the director. He goes, ‘Would she play this role of your mother?’ And I said, ‘That is my mother.’ She ended up playing the role, and it holds great memories for me.”

Jeremy finds that acting and stand-up inform each other. “People that do stand-up are protective of their space. I respect that. But everything I’ve done as a stage, improv, and comedic actor has informed my stand-up, and vice versa. You have to honor the writing process. We can get in our own way and tell ourselves that we’re not good enough forever if we want to. I choose not to do that. I would like to inspire other people not to do it. What I would love is for them to be inspired to not give up, because we all have it in us. We’re all interesting, and we all have a different take. We’re all unique.”” The biggest difference between stand-up and acting, he said, comes down to immediacy. “Stand-up is immediate gratification. I can get on stage tomorrow night and try something new. In film and TV, you need money, approval, and a whole team. With film and TV, it takes a lot of people to all come together. But with stand-up, you have to rely on yourself, and I really love that. It is both exhilarating and terrifying.” 

“We can get in our own way and tell ourselves that we’re not good enough forever if we want to… What I would love is for them to be inspired to not give up, because we all have it in us. We’re all interesting, and we all have a different take. We’re all unique.”

-Jeremy Piven

Audience interaction is another key part of his craft. “People love to scream out lines from movies, or even Lloyd, or ‘Let’s hug it out, b*tch.’ One woman screamed, ‘Take your shirt off.’ I immediately said, ‘That’s adorable coming from a woman. Could you imagine if a guy screamed that to a woman?’ I acted it out and made it clear it was gender-specific. You have to think in real time—it’s the mixed martial arts of creativity.”

Jeremy Piven’s latest project, Primitive War, hit theaters on August 21. Based on the 2017 novel by Ethan Pettus, the film follows a Vietnam Recon Unit in 1968 searching for missing Green Berets, only to face a terrifying twist—they’re attacked by dinosaurs. Fans have even said it’s the movie they wish Jurassic Park’s sequels had been, a testament to the impressive effects achieved on just a tenth of that budget. Written, directed, and edited by Luke Sparke, the film co-stars Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), and Nick Wechsler (Revenge).

On Primitive War, Jeremy shared, “I play Colonel Jericho, a hard, old-school Southern Army vet who’s never seen dinosaurs. He sends Vulture Squad deep into the jungle to retrieve his Green Berets, and madness ensues. It’s an R-rated dinosaur movie: blood, guts, feathers, laughs. I hope it highlights indie films. It’s competing with the big boys, like Jurassic Park, for a fraction of the budget.” He couldn’t resist sharing a bit about his favorite dinosaur. “Luke Sparks, who directed it, gives them all personality. It’s funny, surreal, terrifying. It’s kind of Full Metal Jacket. Kind of Full Metal Brontosaurus… which is also my stripper name.”

Sitting down with Jeremy, it’s clear that whether he’s on stage at The Wilbur or facing down dinosaurs in the jungle, he brings the same energy, humor, and heart to everything he does. Don’t miss him live on September 19, and catch Primitive War in theaters now for a truly unique cinematic ride.

Grab tickets to his Boston stand-up show here and catch Primitive War now playing in your local movie theater.