Piven and Cusack: Hot movies, cool friendship

It seemed just like yesterday, Jeremy Piven was the coked up high school buddy to hit man John Cusack, the star of the cleverly written, fast paced "Grosse Pointe Blank," directed by George Armitage. Actor Jeremy Piven - isn't there enough love to go around? EPA/PAUL BUCK

Actor Jeremy Piven - isn't there enough love to go around? EPA/PAUL BUCKJeremy Piven has been on a slow boil, finally breaking through in HBO's hit "Entourage," winning an Emmy Award last year for his accurate portrayal as the "hug it out, bitches" agent, Ari Gold. He is also poised for a breakout with "Smokin' Aces" as Buddy "Aces" Israel in the Joe Carnahan directed film.Best Life magazine has interviewed Piven, and excerpts suggest a cooling between Piven and Cusack, who both studied acting at Chicago's Piven Theatre Workshop, which was run by Piven's parents."No comment. I mean, you could fill in the blank, I bet," the 41-year-old actor says when asked how Cusack has handled Piven's recent success.Piven was "Shirley" to Cusack's "Laverne" in films like "Grosse Pointe Blank," "Say Anything," and "Runaway Jury" before he hit paydirt with Wahlberg's hit, "Entourage" for HBO."… I was always proud of him, and I was always in his corner," Piven says of the 40-year-old Cusack. "Always."Cusack stars in the upcoming "Grace Is Gone," which will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, later this month. Cusack also has in the wings the upcoming "The Martian Child" directed by Menno Meyjes, about a boy troubled by the fact he is from Mars, and the suspense thriller "1408" directed by Mikael Håfström, based on the short Stephen King horror story of the same name, Cusack plays lead character, Rober Enslin."I have always been so proud of my friends' success. I own that proudly because I come by it naturally. I was raised on that spirit of collaboration. … You start getting into trouble in life when you start comparing and contrasting your life to anyone else's. You don't win when you do that," opined Piven to Best Life.http://www.bestlifeonline.com/