ENTOURAGE Returns: Meet Ari’s New Bitch… Er, Assistant, Mr. Jonathan Keltz

ENTOURAGE returns this Sunday (June 27) for its seventh season and though the guys are all still the best of boys, you’ll see that they’ve each grown up a bit. E is of course engaged to Sloane, getting ready for their wedding and running his management company. Turtle has his own driving business up and off the ground, Johnny is on the verge of landing another television series and Lloyd is no longer Ari’s bitch.

Actually, even Ari has taken a big boy step forward, being the head of the largest agency in the world now. Though he’s still doing everything he can for Vince, he’s getting pulled in so many different directions that he really does need a right-hand man to help him juggle. And with Lloyd moving on up, there must be a new punching bag in town.

Enter Jake Steinberg… otherwise known as actor Jonathan Keltz.

Keltz, whom you may recognize from DEGRASSI: THE NEW GENERATION or his guest spots on COLD CASE and QUEER as FOLK, is the newest member of the ENTOURAGE crew, appearing in nine of this upcoming season’s 10 episodes.

GIVE ME MY REMOTE got some one-on-one time with the kid, who couldn’t be more excited about the gig…

Were you a fan of the show before landing the role of Ari’s new assistant?
JONATHAN KELTZ: Oh, this is my dream show. I moved out here to L.A. and I said, look, I want to get on ENTOURAGE. I’m just a young, punk actor from New York, Vinny’s livin’ the dream with all of his friends, I’d love to do the same. It’s a show that’s always sort of helped to encourage and motivate me and inspire me, so being able to be a part of it has been an absolute dream come true. I couldn’t be happier.

Must be surreal for you, no?
JK: It’s a bit trippy. It was a little bit insane at the premiere party [last week], just thinking about the last six years of the show and watching it [as a viewer] and being out [in L.A.] for three and a half years and, all of a sudden, walking down that [red] carpet and sitting in that theater, it was crazy.

Yeah, how fun was that?
JK: So much fun. It was on the Paramount Lot and everyone showed up and hung out later. It was great gettin’ to watch the episodes up on the big screen. It was cool, I was sittin’ next to Lenny Kravitz in the theater, which was nice.

Did you get to talk to him at all?
JK: I didn’t. We were sort of sharing the same row. It was like his peeps and my peeps and whatnot. But afterwards, he sort of snuck out, I didn’t see where he went, so we didn’t get to chat at all. But I felt, you know, important, being in the same row as him.

Well, you are on ENTOURAGE now. Actually, the audience has seen you before. You appeared briefly last season.
JK: Yes, I guest starred at the very end of last season. I was hired and fired in episode 11, the second to the last one, in about seven seconds. But they decided to bring me back for season 7 as the new replacement for Lloyd, so it’s been amazing.

Now, how is your character re-introduced? Is your previous “dismissal” discussed at all?
JK: It is indeed. You’ll see that it’s [done] pretty much right at the beginning of the first episode. We’re back at the agency and you’ll see that I sort of come in and impress Ari, so he decides to put me on the desk.

What’s your character’s relationship with Ari like?
JK: It’s interesting. You know, it has its ebbs and flows. But there are moments where it’s definitely more of like a mentorship-guidance relationship, where it seems like he’s taking me under his wing and he’ll give me some advice, warning me about different routes in the agency path and whatnot. And then, the hammer will come down sometimes and he’ll rant and rave and scream as well. You know, it’s all to break me down and give me a tougher skin to bounce back with! It’s been absolutely incredible gettin’ to throw down with Jeremy Piven on the set.

Is the dynamic between you two similar to the one Ari had with Lloyd or no?
JK: It’s definitely a different dynamic. He and Lloyd had a *very interesting relationship. I’d say, Lloyd was more of Ari’s “work wife” [whereas] I’m more of the “work son.” I’m sort of the young, eager up-and-comer, so I’m always running around, trying to impress him, trying to eagerly get done whatever he’s thrown at me and make it all happen to perfection. So it’s a different kind of energy. I’m always scramblin’ around, always almost drowning under everything that expected of me. All that a young assistant like me wants to do is be the next Ari Gold, so I’m trying to learn from the best.

What do you think? You gonna watch a little ENTOURAGE tonight?

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