Have you rewatched Entourage recently? It holds up, although the Hollywood it depicts feels increasingly distant. Watching Vincent Chase and his friends navigate the film business is a reminder of how much has changed since the HBO series ended in 2011.
“In many ways, Entourage was a time capsule,” Adrian Grenier, who plays the fictional film star Chase, tells The National. “You can’t just redo it as it was. It has to have something that makes it self-referential somehow.”
That distance is precisely what interests him about returning to the character. With the MeToo movement and artificial intelligence among the changes he points to, Grenier wants to see how Chase and company would respond to the industry today. After years focused on sustainable farming and environmental advocacy, the actor is also working out what his own return to television should look like.
“I hope there is a reboot, just because I want that question to be answered,” he says. “How do Vincent Chase and the boys deal with modernity?”
Across eight seasons and a 2015 film, Entourage follows Chase through the successes and humiliations of becoming a Hollywood star. Grenier’s interest in revisiting that world comes with the recognition that the show would need a different approach, one that could examine its own past.
“You have to come at the subject matter from an oblique angle,” he says. His own willingness to return is clear, although he is still “waiting for the call”.
Grenier is speaking in Abu Dhabi, where he is attending Livex, the Liveability and Investment Exhibition at Adnec Centre. His work away from acting has brought him into conversations about how communities are built, a subject he is also exploring at home outside Austin, Texas.
There, he is developing an agricultural neighbourhood where families of different generations can live close to one another, grow food and spend time in nature. Becoming a father has shaped both the project and his approach to his career.
Building a life around family
“When I realised that I wanted to start a family, I needed to decide where I was going to raise my kids,” Grenier says. He began considering this even before he got married, looking back on his own childhood in New York and thinking about what he wanted to give his children.
“I didn’t have as much innocence as I could have because I grew up in New York City. I saw a lot of things that I probably shouldn’t have seen. I had to grow up to survive, to meet the moment of the culture, and I want my kids to not have to be burdened by growing up too fast.”
On the ranch, he wants them to have time to play and enjoy themselves before encountering what he calls the “hall of mirrors”. His answer to a question about success begins with his family and leads to something he has recently made for the market garden in his ranch: a sign that names it on one side and reads “grow soil” on the other.
Growing vegetables has taught him to pay attention to the life beneath the surface, creating conditions in which plants can thrive. He brings that same care to the environment in which his children grow up.
“You could spend a lot of time dictating and reading instructions on how to teach your kid or tell your kid how to be, or you can just create the environment that allows them to become the person they need to be,” he says. “And that starts with you as well.”
What brings him back to Abu Dhabi
The village is also a point of connection with the people Grenier meets in the UAE. He was here earlier this year, and his repeated visits have given him opportunities to discuss what he is learning in Texas with those working on larger developments.
“I love how earnest it feels that the community here are wanting to build something special, and they have the means and the will,” he says. “There’s a lack of roadblocks, a lack of hurdles. Everybody’s rowing in the same direction.”
Grenier sees value in bringing the experiences of a small community into those discussions. The scale may be different, but his focus remains on how people live alongside one another.
“From my vantage, we’re very low to the ground, very small, very community-oriented,” he says. “If you can create little cohesive islands of community with rich culture and an invitation to live more fully and more creatively, and be more grounded, that would help support a larger vision.”
Those visits have left him with less time to explore the UAE than he would like. Between conference appearances and the pull of family life back in Texas, he has often had little opportunity to experience the country beyond his work. His plans for the next trip would give him more time to do so.
“I’m going to bring my family, and we’re going to stay for an extended period,” he says.
Returning to television on his own terms
Back in Texas, Grenier is developing a television series about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, using Self Custody as a proof of concept. The project would allow him to film in his neighbourhood, bringing a substantial acting commitment within reach of home.
“I’ve been waiting. I take being a father very seriously, and I’m not just going to do anything,” he says. “I want to do something that is impactful, high quality and keeps me close to the family.”
He wants a production and oversight role, too, with enough involvement to trust that the finished work reflects his taste. He knows how fortunate he was to land Entourage, and how rarely such an opportunity comes along.
The new series is still in development, but it gives him something to pursue while the future of Vincent Chase remains an open question.
“Create your opportunities, build your opportunities,” he says. “That way, you’re never waiting and wanting. You always have something because you’re making it happen.”
