20 AMERICANWAY
JULY 15 2007
C E L E B R A T E D W E E K E N D
ForPiven, paradise is doingnothingon the
Hawaiian islandofKauai. It’s thepolar op-
positeofChicago,wherehegrewup. “Iwent
toKauaiwith some friends after shooting a
movie,” he says. “Therewas a groupof us, a
bunch of guys I grew up with in Chicago,
like eight guys andone girl, in ahouse. The
first thingIdidwasputmybagsdown, grab
my shoes, and go running.” And as he was
running, he realized he had found a place
to rest: the emerald isle of cliffs, peaks, and
rain forests that lies 90miles of ocean (and
a spiritual eternity) away fromOahu.
Kauai is 25 miles long and 33 miles
wide, and its second-highestpoint isMount
Waialeale. More than 5,000 feet tall, it is
one of the wettest places in the world, re-
ceiving450-plus inchesof rainannually.By
law, no building on Kauai can exceed the
height of a coconut tree. “They call itMonk
Island because it’s not like a party place at
all,” Piven says. “It’s a place to kind of get
away and be totally present, a very serene
atmosphere.” There’s more, muchmore, to
Piven’s Zen-paradise dream of doing noth-
ing. Sohold this dossier close to your chest,
andkeep this betweenus, okay?Here’s Jer-
emyPiven, slippingwayoutof character, on
themystical islandofKauai.
Did you know that everything from
Blue
Hawaii
to
King Kong
to
Raiders of the Lost
Ark
was filmed on Kauai?
I hadno idea, to
be honest with you. That probably would
have taken theallureaway forme. I’mgoing
there to get away from all that. I just know
that the island itself is kind of a peaceful
place. It’s known as the Grandmother Is-
landbecause it’s the oldest of theHawaiian
islands.
What’s thephilosophyof thepeopleonKau-
ai?
Theyhavea real respect for the landand
for eachother. It seems tobe entrenched in
the arts, as well, because the dance move-
ments you see there are kind of organic to
their environment. They do the hula dance
This is top secret, for your eyes only: Jeremy Piven’s ad-
ventures in paradise. He is not supposed to reveal what
follows, because we all knowwhat happens to paradise
once theworldfindsoutabout it. “I feel that I’masellout,”
Piven admitswhilehe’s givingup the goods.He is calling
fromNewYork,wherehe isattending thepremiereof the
fourth season of theMarkWahlberg–producedhitHBO
series
Entourage
, in which he plays Ari Gold, the fast-
talking, BlackBerry-addictedHollywood talent agent.
Hanalei Bay
