Jeremy Piven picked up his third Emmy for Best Supporting Actor at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmys.
In the first award of the night, Piven won for playing Hollywood agent Ari Gold on HBO’s “Entourage.”
“I just got off a plane from New York in which I am doing a play and the good people at ‘Entourage’ make me feel like I’m doing a play every week,” Piven said as he accepted the honor.
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After a joke he made about thinking of giving up acting for roofing fell flat, Piven took the opportunity to make a barb at the expense of the four Emmy hosts – Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst and Howie Mandel, who opened the show with a lengthy presentation.
“What if I just kept talking for 12 minutes, what would happen? That was the opening,” he said as the audience gave a loud applause.
But Piven also expressed his gratitude for the award before leaving the stage.
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“These are strange times for all of us. To be a working actor is a wonderful gift. None of this is lost on me,” he said.
Jean Smart, from “Samantha Who?,” also picked up an award – for Best Supporting Actress, but her speech was cut short by the music.
Luckily for the rest of the stars at the Emmys, British comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, creator of “The Office,” hit the stage as a presenter, offering some speech advice.
“Don’t cry, it’s pathetic,” he said. “It’s just an award.”
He then took an opportunity to poke fun at Steve Carell, who plays the “Office” role Gervais originated.
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