Jeremy Piven recounts meeting Kobe Bryant during an unused cameo on “Entourage.”
Entourage Actor Jeremy Piven says the show nearly included a cameo from Laker-legend Kobe Bryant.
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Piven described the scene during an appearance on Cameo Cares, a fundraising initiative hosted by the company Cameo. The funds from the event benefitted coronavirus-relief charities.
“One cameo that was never seen was Kobe Bryant. God rest his soul,” Piven said. “As you guys know, we filmed a lot at Staples (Center). We were there and I saw Kobe warming up so I went over to him and he’s always so present and gracious. The camera came over, Kobe was just warming up, taking threes, and I just went into character and told him that I want to represent him, that I think he’s incredibly charismatic, and that he can do really great work and be really prolific in the film world. And he was just taking threes, just saying like, ‘Nah, man. I don’t have what Denzel has. I just don’t have it. It’s just not in me.’
“And as he’s talking, he’s so charismatic and fascinating and sinking threes without missing during the entire conversation. What’s so funny is people don’t realize that’s what acting is. You have an action, or an interrupted action, and his action was sinking threes and just speaking to me. And just speaking to me as himself, he was so charismatic. It was fascinating.”
Piven went on to say that the show did not end up using the footage, but regardless, Bryant’s appearance was his favorite cameo on the show.
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