'We heisted the heist movie': An oral history of 'Entourage's' trip to Cannes

On May 24, 2007, the 60th Cannes Film Festival hosted the star-studded premiere of “Ocean’s 13.” But the thousands clamoring for a glimpse of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were besides unknowing inheritance players successful “Entourage’s” Season 4 finale, “The Cannes Kids.”

HBO’s seminal bro drama followed young movie prima Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his friends arsenic they navigated the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle, and, arsenic Vince’s illustration rose, truthful did the scope of “Entourage.” In Season 2, accumulation went to the Sundance Film Festival, wherever Vince scored the pb of James Cameron’s adjacent film, “Aquaman.” Instead of returning for the blockbuster’s sequel, Vince opts to prosecute his passionateness project, the Pablo Escobar biopic “Medellin.” When it came clip to unveil and merchantability “Medellin,” the “Entourage” squad headed to the Croisette for a splashy premiere — oregon astatine slightest to bargain one.

Doug Ellin (creator, writer): My encephalon was ne'er realistic; I’d travel up with absurd things. My radical conscionable ever made it happen.

Wayne Carmona (producer): At Sundance, I turned to Doug, “This is fantastic — what are you gonna bash to apical it?” Without missing a beat, helium said, “Cannes.” All I could bash was laugh.

Ellin: Part of maine thought, “Obviously we’re not doing Cannes; we’ll get a theater, marque it look similar Cannes.” The much we dove in, we’re like, “Let’s effort to go.”

Jerry Ferrara (“Turtle”): I hadn’t near the state successful my life, [so] I had to get a passport. Two nights earlier leaving, I’m like, I haven’t seen that passport successful a minute. They sent PAs to ransack my location — it was gone. I don’t cognize what strings our producers pulled, but I went to the national gathering hours earlier our formation and expedited a passport. One of the producers past held it portion we traveled. [Laughs.]

Kevin Dillon (“Johnny Drama”): Just the information that we were going to Cannes was truthful shocking to me. They’re gonna instrumentality america to the South of France for a TV show? Nobody did worldly similar that.

“Entourage’s” sojourn to the Croisette included 3 days of on-location filming successful Cannes.

(Claudette Barius / HBO)

Multiple scenes were cheated backmost successful Los Angeles, but, implicit 3 days, manager Mark Mylod (“Succession”) and institution brought their shooting — and partying — to the busy, celebrity-filled streets of Cannes.

Rhys Coiro (“Billy Walsh”): The amusement was a mind-bending immersion into celebrity, glitz and glamour, that, for a young actor, was beauteous heady. And Cannes was an exaggerated version.

Gary B. Goldman (first adjunct director): We went a period earlier to scout, and determination was the juxtaposition of being determination erstwhile thing was determination to past seeing insane crowds, parties and beauteous radical everywhere.

Carmona: Because we got support late, we didn’t person the privilege of choosing accommodations.

Dillon: Some radical were unhappy, truthful accumulation was scrambling for definite formed members.

Rob Sweeney (director of photography): We had carte blanche to sprout anyplace successful L.A. In France, it took much diplomacy … We ever incorporated agelong walk-and-talks, and we had a three-page country arsenic they’re landing astatine Cannes that progressive immoderate stairs, and the Steadicam relation we hired didn’t enactment out.

Dillon: He fell connected his ass.

Coiro: It was a weird fever dream, wherever you’re jet-lagged, working, and past going to events.

Adrian Grenier (“Vincent Chase”): The amusement was privation fulfillment, truthful we took it precise earnestly that we had to person fun.

Assaf Cohen (“Yair Marx”): They were the “Entourage” guys, and Adrian Grenier tin get into anything, truthful I got to spell to immoderate brainsick vessel parties.

Grenier: We didn’t wrapper successful clip to spell home, truthful I pulled wardrobe aside, “I’m gonna deterioration my outfit to this party.” She looked astatine maine horrified, due to the fact that that’s the lone 1 of this garment that we have. She goes, “[Sigh] No reddish wine!” I amusement up … and reddish vino is the sponsor. I enactment connected a napkin and I was capable to portion [leaning forward]. We stayed retired mode excessively late, and I rolled close into enactment from the nighttime before, successful costume.

Ferrara: The past happening we were shooting was a spot wherever I’m connected the phone. Everybody other was done, truthful we went out. It’s midnight, and I gotta beryllium up successful six hours; I couldn’t get a cab for an hour. Rhys came to me, “I walked location the different night, it’s lone 35 minutes.” We began walking, consecutive up a mountain, and I smoked a batch of weed then, truthful I’m winded. He got america mislaid for 4 hours. It was the astir bushed I’ve ever been connected a shoot.

Dillon: We went to immoderate nightclub and Bono was there. Our enactment was done, we were going location the adjacent day, and truthful partying with Bono was a bully mode to finish.

Ferrara: Not lone did I not marque it location for 4 hours, but I didn’t get to spot Bono.

“I should person savored however f— fortunate we were,” “Entourage” prima Adrian Grenier, 2nd from left, remembers of filming “The Cannes Kids.”

(Claudette Barius / HBO)

The crushed for the show’s travel was to movie the guys walking the festival’s iconic carpet and steps, and the producers negotiated a 10-minute window, for 1 take, astatine the extremity of the “Ocean’s 13” premiere.

Carmona: We were fixed support to get connected the runway aft “Ocean’s” exited. We took vantage of the accumulation value, fans and photographers ... We heisted the heist movie.

Ali Cherkaoui (first adjunct director): We begged the photographers to enactment and bash a photograph telephone — they gave america 3 minutes.

Ferrara: Photographers were like, “Which 1 of you is the celebrated guy?”

Amy Westcott (costume designer): I dressed the guys earlier they got successful the limo, including Vince’s modular Converse debased tops with his tux. Then I recovered retired sneakers were forbidden connected the carpet. We argued our lawsuit — we had established his sneaker successful a erstwhile country — but they were vehement. I had to rapidly get a formal footwear to him.

Cohen: There are nary retakes connected this, truthful I knew immoderate I bash is gonna beryllium successful the last shot.

Carmona: It’s holding your enactment and saying, “All right, present we go.” And it either worked oregon it didn’t.

Cohen: Clooney, Pitt, they’re each there, and I don’t cognize if they were looking astatine us, “What the hell, they’re not portion of ‘Ocean’s 13.’”

Goldman: As soon arsenic those doors closed, I was to telephone action, and our cars would travel forward. Damon and Pitt are astir to spell in, their manus is connected the door, I’m like, “Here we go…” And I spot them crook and tally down the stairs to get different circular of cheers. I was terrified that I cued the cars early. I don’t cognize however I kept my rima unopen for an other second, but I did. They yet walked in, and I called action.

Carmona: The timing was truthful palmy that the assemblage conscionable kept cheering.

Goldman: We were tense that radical were gonna permission arsenic soon arsenic “Ocean’s” left, truthful we handed retired pictures of Vince.

Ferrara: I retrieve being truthful tense successful that car. If I bumble that archetypal line, we came to France for nothing. The infinitesimal I spit that out, past it conscionable became fun.

Cohen: I brought my camera, due to the fact that I felt similar Yair would bash that. [Director] Brett Ratner was there, and it wasn’t scripted, but I went and enactment my limb astir him and took a selfie of us, arsenic Yair, successful the shot.

Cherkaoui: Because we missed something, we asked the guys to locomotion the stairs again, but, precise quickly, the Cannes radical got nervous, like, “You person to wide the carpet.”

Fan absorption to the trailer for faux movie “Medellin” led to Ellin rewriting the bid to marque it a bomb, with famed Cannes boos to match.

(Claudette Barius / HBO)

After a pre-premiere bidding warfare results successful a $75-million sale, “Medellin” debuts to a circular of boos, starring shady businessman Yair Marx to renege connected the deal. It was rather the alteration from Ellin’s archetypal plan.

Ellin: Everybody was telling maine that my movie [1998’s “Kissing a Fool”] was the funniest movie ever, and based connected trial screenings, not 1 idiosyncratic astatine Universal could person imagined the [negative] captious response. There’s tons of elements that person radical not realizing what they have, and that’s an breathtaking thing, to beryllium astatine Cannes with radical who judge they person a masterpiece … and past realizing it’s not.

Ferrara: Towards the extremity of the series, radical wanted america to get backmost to winning each the time, but this is an close instrumentality connected the business. Cannes has a Vegas element: If tonight’s your fortunate night, your life’s gonna change, and if not, you’re gonna crap out.

Ellin: “Medellin” was expected to beryllium great. I gave Mark afloat creativity connected the trailer, and helium pulled it disconnected with nary money, successful a time and a half. The archetypal clip I saw the trailer, we were each truthful blown distant that we’re like, “We person to fig retired however to get into the Oscars.” The lone feedback you could get past were HBO connection boards, and they were torching that trailer. They thought Adrian looked ridiculous successful the makeup. So I’m like, “Now it’s gotta beryllium a bomb.”

Grenier: I inactive deliberation it’s a hit.

The formed of “Entourage,” from left: Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Rhys Coiro, Assaf Cohen and Jeremy Piven.

(Jacques Le Goff / HBO)

“Entourage” ran for different 4 seasons, followed by a 2015 film. But each progressive presumption “The Cannes Kids” arsenic a highest for the show.

Sweeney: It was 1 of the much audacious half-hour shoots, ever.

Ferrara: It each happened successful 72 hours, truthful I don’t cognize however it was pulled off.

Carmona: Between seasons, my agents sent maine connected interviews. Nobody wanted to prosecute maine — they wanted the warfare stories: “What’s the secret? Because we don’t cognize however you did it.”

Goldman: It was the accidental to beryllium successful the mecca of movie festivals, and the gravity of what we were doing meant a lot.

Ferrara: I can’t hold for my kids to turn up and ask, “When’s the archetypal clip you near the country?” I get to say, “We were shooting a deed HBO amusement connected the reddish carpet astatine the Cannes Film Festival.”

Grenier: I privation I would’ve taken much clip to conscionable beryllium successful awe of however bully we had it. I took a batch of it for granted. I was like, “Yeah, of course, it’s Vince’s lifestyle.” But I should person savored however f— fortunate we were.