American actor Adrian Grenier is often compared with his alter ego, Hollywood star Vince Chase, whom he plays on the hit HBO series “Entourage.”

Like Chase, Grenier was a young, up and coming actor until “Entourage” made him a household name. Not that he minds the constant comparisons, in fact, the 31-year-old wants to be more like Chase.

“He’s more charismatic and a better actor. I’m striving to be more like him,” he said. “Everything just comes so easy: He gets so many girls, he does great movies with big directors - I've only done 'Entourage.'"

Jokes aside, Grenier said he sees a lot of himself in Vince - they both respect their roots and understand the need to stay grounded in the superficial world of Hollywood.

Helping him stay grounded is his “entourage” - Kevin Connolly (Eric), Kevin Dillon (Drama), Jerry Ferrara (Turtle) and Jeremy Piven (Ari).

“It’s a real privilege to be able to play in a show that’s so good, written so well, with such great actors, and we really have a great time,” said Grenier. “It’s quite remarkable how well we clicked right off the bat.”

Once a moody guy, Grenier said he took the show a little too seriously. But all that changed after the pilot which was shot in Las Vegas, “From the pilot, I was laughing all day long, ruining takes because the guys were just hilarious, on and off camera, I was just having a blast. After the first episode, I was a different person, I was a lot brighter and a lot happier.”

Besides the usual perks of being a celebrity, the show has also opened a lot of doors for his directing work.

A filmmaker in his own right, Grenier has written and directed several short films and documentaries. In 2007, he was frequently seen spending time with socialite Paris Hilton while working on a documentary about celebrities and their relationship with paparazzi, sparking rumours that the two were dating.

“There are certainly a lot of opportunities for me maybe because I’m known. Like for my film, it allowed me to have immediate acceptance from people,” he said. “Paris Hilton, for example, wouldn’t have returned my call if I wasn’t a celebrity myself. She gave me a lot of access, quite generously, to her experiences for my film.”

Grenier recently finished filming a show for Discovery's Planet Green called “The Green Life,” which aims "to inspire on an emotional level" his own brand of environmentalism. The environmentalist who has an eco-home in Brooklyn, New York, which he greened himself, has been credited with attempting to eco-educate Hilton.


Catch back to back episodes of “Entourage” Season 4 every Monday at 11pm on HBO (StarHub Channel 60).