‘Entourage’ creator hurt by Eli’s snub
The “Entourage” movie, which hits theaters today, will showcase about 20 sports stars amid a steady stream of celebrity cameos including Mike Tyson, Ronda Rousey, Russell Wilson and Rob Gronkowski.
Despite the star-studded cast, “Entourage” series creator Doug Ellin still pines for the one that got away.
A native New Yorker and huge Giants fan, Ellin said “one of the great tragedies is Eli Manning bailing on me.”
During an interview on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger,” Ellin said the Giants quarterback reached out to him about making a cameo on Season 6 of the HBO show, but when the time came to shoot the scene, Manning blew it off.
“He said, ‘I love the show. I’d love to be on it.’ So I took however much time it takes to write a script, then I sent it to him and he didn’t call me back,” Ellin said. “And I called him again, he didn’t call me back. I called him again, he didn’t call me back. And we’re days away from filming this thing and it’s not so easy.
“Someone told me Peyton ( Manning) wanted to do it as well, so I’d written Eli and Peyton in it, so I was like, ‘I don’t how I’m gonna replace them.’”
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and “Entourage” producer Mark Wahlberg ended up replacing the Manning brothers in the scene shot at a golf tournament.
“I was going crazy, and Mark said, ‘What if me and Brady did it?’” Ellin said. “I was like, ‘That would work.’ That’s how we switched it.”
Ellin still sounds miffed at Eli Manning for blowing him off.
“It’s always been an upsetting thing for me, and I love the Giants so much,” he said. “It’s why if Russell Wilson was quarterback of the Giants, I would be a happier person.”
Ellin said he still hasn’t heard back from Eli Manning.
“His agent called me and said something to the effect, ‘He wants to focus on football. I’m sure you understand,’” he said. “And I kind of went crazy and said, ‘No, I don’t understand. I didn’t call him. He called me.’ And I never even got a response.”
■ VERY BRADY CAMEO — Perhaps taking a subtle shot at Eli Manning, who twice beat Brady in the Super Bowl, Ellin said the New England star couldn’t have been more accommodating in his appearances on the show and movie.
“He was just awesome. He was easy to work with and was happy to be there,” Ellin said. “We called him for the movie and he showed up the same way.”
Not surprisingly, some critics have called Brady’s cameo flat.
■ MOUSY ROUSEY — Rousey, the Ultimate Fighting Championship star, said she hopes her “Entourage” cameo shows off her sensitive side:
“It was nice to kind of give a glimpse of how girly and selfconscious and everything else I could be, when people assume I’m just this callous, tough chick all the time.”
No word if Rousey said this before or after knocking someone out.
■ THANKS FOR NOTHING — Russell Westbrook isn’t big on individual awards. After Oklahoma City missed the playoffs this season, Westbrook said that winning the NBA scoring title didn’t mean (expletive) to him.
Presented the Sports Spectacular Spirit Award in recognition of his work in the community on Sunday, the Thunder guard who finished fourth in the NBA Most Valuable Player voting was a tad more gracious, saying, “At least I won one award this season.”
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