Okay, one more Golden Globe video for the road. After weeks of silence about his abrupt departure from Broadway's Speed-the-Plow, actor Jeremy Piven was finally cornered on the red carpet last night and had no choice but to comment about his recent "mercury poisoning." Naturally, the question about his illness wasn't prompted by the "reporter" doing the interview (Tiki Barber), but by Piven's Entourage buddy Mark Wahlberg, who facetiously wondered if mercury poisoning is contagious. Piven did not seem too amused by the jape.
Piven was also armed with an explanation for Fox News: "I was so sick for most of the run of the show. Some days I would sleep right until the time I had to go to the theater. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was exhausted. Finally, I went to a doctor at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut just so it wouldn’t turn into a circus. He said, 'You’ve got to stop working.' My heart rate was 47. My mercury level was off the charts. I hadn’t had a real break in 20 years of acting.'"
Of course, some producers of Speed-the-Plow remain irate about the box office nosedive that followed Piven's departure, and are considering legal action. But anyone who purchased tickets to see the play starting tomorrow would be a fool to demand a refund: William H. Macy, a Mamet expert and all-around brilliant actor, will no doubt be putting Piven to shame with his performance.
