The Case of the Disappearing Actor: Adrian Grenier

Periodically, we recount the strange and mysterious disappearance of a once-popular actor — January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert — although typically, there’s little mystery to why these actresses disappeared: They turned 40, and Hollywood abhors a forty-something woman.

But the phenomenon isn’t exclusive to actresses. When it comes to actors, it usually has nothing to do with age. Adrian Grenier, for instance, is 48 years old but could still pass for a thirty-something. Even so, his Hollywood career also faded into obscurity as he approached 40.

In fact, it was announced that The Devil Wears Prada 2 began filming yesterday, and almost everyone from the original is set to return: Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci (Kenneth Branagh has even joined the cast). One cast member from the original who is not returning, as Tori pointed out to me, is Adrian Grenier, who played Hathaway’s boyfriend.

Whatever happened to that guy?

Grenier is best known for playing Vincent Chase in HBO’s long-running comedy Entourage, and therein, I believe, lies the answer: Entourage. The series, which basically cataloged America’s sexist excesses prior to the #MeToo era, has not aged well. Most of those closely associated with it (save for producer Mark Wahlberg) haven’t fared much better. Creator Doug Ellin’s career essentially ended with the failure of Entourage the movie in 2015; Kevin Connolly was accused of sexual misconduct in 2020 (which he denied), and at least eight women have accused Jeremy Piven of sexual misconduct (which he denies). Though Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, and Grenier have never been accused, they remain linked to the “boys’ club” culture of that era, emblematic of the industry’s broader issues with misogyny and dismissiveness.

Entourage gave Grenier his career — and effectively ended it. After 2015’s Entourage movie, he appeared in several films no one remembers (Sex, Death and Bowling, Marauders, Hallmark’s Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays) but didn’t land anything notable.

In 2020, he essentially retired from Hollywood and moved to Austin, where he now owns farmland and dabbled in a couple of failed ventures — a craft beer company and an app called Popcorn — before shifting to something more amorphous: “A company that blends impact investing with transformative experiences and personal development.”

I’m not saying Grenier started a cult — he was always into environmental and sustainability efforts, even during his Entourage days — but I’m always skeptical of anything described as a “collaborative community.” That said, he comes off as earnest and very woo-woo, which isn’t necessarily a knock. He started a media company called Earth Speed with a YouTube channel, though it’s only accrued a little more than 7,500 subscribers, who watch videos like this one:

You will probably not be surprised to learn, moreover, that he believes in the power of bitcoin and the blockchain to create transparency within his cult radical collaboration. And if you want to catch up with Grenier these days, you may have to climb a tree to do so.