Celebrity Byte

What role do video games play in Hollywood today?

From what I've seen, it's really just a chance to get some of your friends together. Even if you are playing online, games give you a chance to hang out with your boys. Being actors, we have a lot of down time on the set -- maybe even up to three hours to kill. Sometimes I'll go back to my trailer with Kevin Dillon and we'll play Guitar Hero II. When that game first came out on PS2, we played it for two weeks straight. I got pretty good. I got about halfway through the hard level and then I kind of hit a wall. I just flatlined. That game gets ridiculously hard.

A picturesque scene from HBO's Entourage. Photo by Doug Hyun/HBO.

Who's into gaming from the cast of Entourage?

Dillon's a gamer, but he's not as big as me. I'm definitely the biggest gamer on the set. After me, its Kevin Dillon, I know Kevin Connolly and Jeremy Piven aren't really gamers at all, and Adrian Grenier is just like a social gamer. He enjoys it every now and then. But I would say that Dillon and me are the hardcore gamers. Dillon can hold his own.

It seems like every season you have some type of video game integration into a plot line. Will we see that this year?

Absolutely. I can't really say too much about what it's going to be, but if you recall last year we did a whole thing with The Godfather game. EA made a replica of Johnny Drama in the video game, so when I saw that I was actually a little jealous I didn't get to be a part of it. That angered me very much. It looked great on the show and I went to the game premiere in Los Angeles. EA had a big party and I got an early copy of The Godfather. I basically had it beat before anybody even owned it.

What was it like providing voice acting for the Scarface: The World Is Yours game last year?

It was a dream come true. Voiceover work is really like the bread and butter for actors. It can be very tough, but you can roll in there in your pajamas and you don't have to worry about how you look. It's literally just you in a sound proof booth with no one watching you. They're just listening, so you can be as wild and crazy and loud as you want. For me, it was fantastic because Scarface is one of my favorite movies of all time.

It was unbelievable when I got the Scarface: The World is Yours game and I saw my name in the credits. It meant a lot to me. It really did.

What did your in-game character look like?

He didn't look like me. He obviously was a little skinnier. I would love to be that weight, but they did a pretty good depiction of me. I'm happy with it. It was unbelievable when I got the Scarface: The World is Yours game and I saw my name in the credits. It meant a lot to me. It really did.

The Entourage boys pose with standout star Jeremy Piven, who plays Ari Gold in the show. Photo by Claudette Barius/HBO.

What are your thoughts about the convergence of Hollywood and games?

I really think it's fantastic because the market is just so huge. Some of these games literally make more money than movies. It's a really big industry and I just think it's just all part of a bigger plan.