Entourage Emmys! Is It Finally Johnny Drama's Time in the Spotlight?

Kevin Dillon chats with us about his Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy nomination (his third!) and what's to come on the hit HBO show

Johnny Drama would've pulled an all-nighter to watch the Emmy nominations live hoping (er, begging? pleading? praying?) that his name would be called for his show Five Towns. 

But not Kevin Dillon.

The Entourage actor, who has twice been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy, says, "I wasn't even thinking about the announcement. I swear to God I never think about it. I got the 6 a.m. call from my agent and my manager. And I didn't really know who was calling me at 6 a.m. I thought it was probably someone from New York who forgot what time it is, which happens to me all the time. But as soon as I heard from Lisa and Tiffany, my manager and my agent, I knew that it was good news. They don't call for bad news."

We caught up with Kevin this morning to chat about his third nom and the fun that is to be had on Entourage (which landed four nominations total, including Outstanding Comedy Series) this season...

Do you think the third time's the charm?
Well, maybe. Maybe now that the big guy is out. Maybe now that I don't have to run up against Jeremy [Piven] who's won every other time. It's kind of a bummer. I know he did some great work this season. I just kind of expected him to be there. But the competition is so good so you know, I think three times is the charm. But I'm not sure how many times Neil Patrick [Harris] has been there; Rainn [Wilson] has been there a bunch of times too, so I don't know. It might be three times for all of us.

What parts did they submit for you?
To be honest, I don't even know. I didn't expect it for last season. I really didn't. I'm not going to lie to you. I expect it this season because I've got some really great stuff this season. The stuff coming up...I probably have about six episodes that I think all could be great for submitting. But last year I was like, "You guys figure that one out. I don't know."

This season of Entourage feels like a return to its roots.
Vince is no longer struggling. He was having a tough time. And money was tight. Now, he's making millions again. It's got that kind of feel again of "Let's burn money and have fun and do all that stuff." Of course, last year, Drama was the only one who was doing well. Drama was working.

Will Johnny Drama get a girlfriend this season?
No, no girlfriend. You know, his love right now is the business. That's all he cares about.

What can we look forward to coming up?
I have some great scenes—with Ari actually, which you wouldn't expect because usually Ari and Drama don't really have too much to do together.

What goes on with Ari and Drama?
Well, he does handle me. But he doesn't really handle me. He says he's forced to deal with me because Vince makes him deal with me. He lets Lloyd handle that. But you know, Drama is actually thinking about maybe moving on. So we've got that situation. So you can kind of figure out some stuff from there, I think—[there's] just some really good, some great explosive kind of craziness from Drama.

What are your favorite upcoming scenes?
I've got some great audition scenes. [It's about] the nerves that Drama has and the boredom that everyone else in the room usually has. It just makes for a lava field, and Drama is the match that can explode any moment. I think that I have three audition scenes this year that are all really cool. And I've had some great ones in the past. I've had the one where I explode at the guy on his BlackBerry. And then a couple of others. He's playing a character within a character, which makes him fun also.

Who can we expect in terms of special guests coming up?
One of my favorite basketball players, LeBron James. I love him. He and Matt Damon—another great cameo—came in and knocked it out of the park. They play a couple of guys who are doing some charity work, and they get Vince involved in charity stuff. Really that is hilarious. LeBron's got a great sense of humor. He's playing himself—and it's tough sometimes when people play themselves, they're like, "Well, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that." You've got to kind of have that sense of humor. You're not really playing yourself. He just came in and was great. Matt is a really, really good guy. That's late in the season. That's like 11 or 12, somewhere around there.

Is it more fun to play him as successful or more fun when he is struggling?
That's a tough call because I really do love him as a struggling actor, and even when he's successful he still struggles. It's always going to be a struggle for him. That's why they call him Drama.

What makes the character so Emmy-worthy?
He is just so human. He's got so many flaws. He's got more flaws than actually the average person does. So maybe someone can relate to one of his flaws. And maybe 10 people can relate to all his flaws. And they could all be a different flaw. That's how many flaws he's got.

What's your favorite flaw of his?
I love his temper. He has no self-control whatsoever.