JEREMY PIVEN With busy schedule, actor finds time for play

The actor makes his New York stage debut in Neil LaBute's latest play.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jeremy Piven is pleased as a pig in mud about his acting career.
The day after Piven wraps production on the film "Two for the Money" with Al Pacino, he begins rehearsals on the Neil LaBute play "Fat Pig." After "Fat Pig" closes on Jan. 15, it's back to playing the slick Hollywood agent Ari Jacobs on HBO's "Entourage" when shooting on the series' second season begins.
"It's great. I'm just a little distracted at the moment," Piven told The Associated Press this week during a phone interview from the Los Angeles set of "Two for the Money."
"Fat Pig" will be Piven's New York stage debut. The MCC Theater production opens Dec. 16 at off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre.
"I was born in New York," Piven told the AP. "I went to New York University. I've been trying to get back to New York. This really feels right."
Theater is a natural for the 39-year-old actor, who's been in films such as "Old School" and "Very Bad Things." His parents run the Piven Theatre in Evanston, Ill., where he has performed.
"Theater is my love and my background," he said. "I've just been lucky enough to work in film and television."
Exciting role
In "Fat Pig," Piven plays Tom, a guy who falls in love with an overweight woman. Forced to explain his new relationship to his shallow friends, Tom must come to terms with his own preconceptions of the importance of conventional good looks.
"It's really cool for me to play this character right now," he said. "He's a surprising character in the way that makes him tragic is that he understands his shortcomings in a very profound way. He's kind of stuck. I don't know if he's man enough to make himself unstuck."
Piven said he's been a fan of LaBute every since seeing "In the Company of Men." His first encounter with the playwright occurred when Piven bumped into LaBute while dining in a Los Angeles cafe. Piven said he sought out the "Fat Pig" role and told his agents to "get on it."
"The idea that I get to perform one of his plays, an original much less, is a gift for sure," Piven told the AP. "He's not afraid to smash you right in the face as an artist."