Adrian Grenier Takes a Shot in the Dark

At the Toronto airport waiting for a cab, I see a Focus Features executive whose name is Avi and call him Ari. Whoops. Entourage is everywhere. At the HBO party in Yorkville last weekend, I spoke to the series' star, azure-eyed Adrian Grenier, who was debuting his HBO documentary, A Shot in the Dark. "I've always been in the film industry, looking for a creative project to do," said Grenier, a college drop-out who studied film theory at the School of Visual Arts. Tired of people feeling sorry for him for growing up without a father and convinced that he was "no less well off than anyone else," he decided to mix his natural curiosity about his biological Dad, whom he had met when he was very young, with a filmmaking venture. So he tracked down his father and brought along a Sony VX 1000.

And then he let the material sit. "It was important to find an approach that was sensitive and the right outlet for it," he said. "It is such a personal subject." HBO discovered what he was working on and put him together with Sheila Nevins' doc unit. "They wanted it to be what it is, they didn't want to whitewash it. They got it 100 %." HBO suggested that he submit the docu to Toronto, where it was well-received. It will debut alongside The Sopranos on HBO in March.

Who made the deal, his agent? His manager. "I had an agent who left the business," he said. "I got Entourage and I didn't want to look for another agent."

Looks like a real Ari is hard to find.