Date of Birth: 10 July 1976, New Mexico, USA
Birth Name: Adrian S. Grenier
Nickname: A
Height: 6′ (1.83 m)
Occupation: Actor, musician, director

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American actor, director and musician Adrian Grenier was born on July 10, 1976 in Brooklyn, New York. He is of Apache Native American and European descent. Grenier attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts before studying drama at Bard College. There, he became a hippie bongo drum player, as well as playing the piano, the French horn and the guitar.

Adrian Grenier’s film debut was in the independent drama Arresting Gena, where he was cast as Kabush in 1997. He had small roles in Hurricane and Fishes Outta Water. He then landed a role opposite Melissa Joan Hart in 1999’s romantic comedy Drive Me Crazy. The two of them were also in the Britney Spears music video “You Drive Me Crazy.” He was given a role in Cecil B. Demented in 2000, and was followed by a role in James Toback’s Harvard Man. Grenier made his directorial debut in 2002, when he worked on the documentary Shot in the Dark. It was about his search for his estranged father, and was made in an attempt to forge a relationship with him. The two reunited, and the documentary premiered on HBO in 2007.

Grenier has also appeared on films like Love in the Time of Money and Hart’s War in 2002. He was also cast as Clay Askins in Bringing Rain and played Ray Polito in Anything Else. In 2004, he landed the lead role in the HBO series Entourage. This brought him success and pushed his career onto the mainstream. Two years later, he won the role of Anne Hathaway’s character’s boyfriend in The Devil Wears Prada. In 2008, he was cast as Dallas Houston in the comedy Adventures of Power. Grenier is also the member of two bands, as a lead singer in Kid Friendly and as a drummer in The Honey Brothers.

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Trivia

• Trained at Bard College and with Nancy Hillman.
• Was a stone-cold hippie bongo drum player while attending Bard College.
• Appeared in Britney Spears’ music video “You Drive Me Crazy” alongside actress Melissa Joan Hart.
• Met Bringing Rain (2003) director Noah Buschel through a mutual ex- girlfriend.
• Former lead singer of the band ‘Kid Friendly.’
• Nylon Magazine’s “Future John Travolta” in 2001.
• Plays piano, guitar and drums.
• Drummer for the band The Honey Brothers.
• Cousin of actor Evan Ferrante.
• Of Native American and Irish parentage.
• Is of French heritage, as testified by his name, roughly the equivalent of Barnes (referring to a grain site).
• Played a member of the entourage of the movie star character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Celebrity (1998). He currently stars in the TV series “Entourage” (2004), in which he plays a movie star with an entourage of his own.
• Attended the Fieldston Summer Performing Arts Institute
• He was raised by his mother, Karesse Grenier, a New York City real-estate agent. Growing up, he didn’t know who his father was. His parents met while living in a commune, and split up soon after Adrian’s birth. The documentary Shot in the Dark (2002) covers Adrian’s search to find out who his father was, meet and get to know him. Also involved in the film, as both producer and on-camera interviewer, was Adrian’s friend Jonathan Davidson.
• Born in New Mexico and raised in Brooklyn, New York.
• Native American roots in New Mexico.

Awards

• Teen Choice Award (2006) – Nominated: TV – Choice Chemistry for: “Entourage”
• Teen Choice Award (2007) – Nominated: Choice TV Actor: Comedy for: “Entourage”
• Screen Actors Guild Awards (2007) – Nominated:  Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for: “Entourage”
• Short Film Award (2007) – Won:  Best Actor for: Off Hour
• Blue Sky Tribute Award (2008)
• Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008) – Nominated:  Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for: “Entourage”
• Screen Actors Guild Awards (2009) – Nominated:  Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for: “Entourage”
• Vail Film Festival (2008) – Won: Blue Sky Tribute Award