Kevin Connolly: ‘Entourage’ movie like ‘going back to senior year’

Fans have debated the value of an “Entourage” movie since news it was coming together surfaced in recent months, ratcheting up the discussion since deals on the Doug Ellin feature were closed several days ago.

Those who wonder about a movie extension to the HBO series ask if it can find fresh story lines in the tale of Vinnie Chase & Co. But Kevin Connolly, who of course plays E. in the Hollywood comedy, says he had a particular reason (well, beyond the obvious) for taking it on.

“I’m a nostalgic guy,” he told The Times. “I made a movie about my childhood team,” alluding to his recent ESPN documentary about the New York Islanders, “Big Shot.” “This is like going back to my senior year in high school.”

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

Connolly this fall has been shooting the midseason CBS show “Friends With Better Lives” opposite James Van der Beek and also editing “Dear Elinore,” a period road-trip drama film he directed. He hopes to have the latter finished in the coming weeks and get into “Entourage” mode for the planned early 2014 shoot.

The project -- which will pick up shortly after the series finale and its open-question ending about a big offer to Ari Gold -- found itself with some unwanted attention after producer Mark Wahlberg told TMZ a few weeks ago that deals were being held up because some people were being “greedy.” (Key cast members, reportedly including Connolly, wanted profit-participation to rival Jeremy Piven’s.) The news caused an online storm of sorts.

Connolly said he attributed much of the ruckus to the cultural moment. “When we started the show in 2003 or 2004 there was no social media,” he said. “People tweeting, it’s sort of gotten blown way out of proportion.”

As for the specifics of Wahlberg’s comment, the actor laughed it off like so many Johnny Drama antics. “That’s just Mark being Mark. He was joking around. Kevin Dillon and I were laughing about it.”

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