From Boy Prince to Embodied Man
Life is a Festival #103: Adrian Grenier
Listen to the Podcast
I first experienced the actor Adrian Grenier, like many of us did, as the charismatic boy prince Vincent Chase on the show Entourage. We met in person at a masculinity talk at Burning Man as a man going through a profound spiritual journey, which is the subject of today’s podcast.
On the show we look at Adrian’s life through an archetypal lens from the puer aeternus (the boy who won’t grow up) to the four mature masculine archetypes outlined in the book King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. We discuss his time on the set of Entourage and how life imitates art. Adrian explains his own trail of ashes, the portal to growing up, and some of the specific tools, like embodiment, that Adrian used to catalyze his growth. Finally we discuss his new community project outside of Austin, Texas named Kintsugi after the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with gold.
Adrian is an actor, director, producer, musician, environmentalist and now, a rancher. He is best known for his starring role in the HBO series Entourage and has appeared in films such as Drive Me Crazy and The Devil Wears Prada. He serves as a United Nations Environment Goodwill Ambassador.
A Note: Discussions of gender are incredibly nuanced, especially now. There is no one size fits all way of looking at gender polarities in ourselves and our culture. Neither Adrian or I are gender theorists and so we endeavor to share our own experiences. Whether you identify as a man or woman or any other beautiful constellation of gender identity, I hope you find something in today’s episode that gives you greater insight in how to expand the width of your own being.
Links
Subscribe to the Show
Timestamps
:06 - The adolescent desire to take risks in order to live an epic story
:14 - The Father wound and The Warrior’s healthy anger in service of boundaries
:23 - Cultivating your own dangerous nature to be a good protector
:30 - Entourage and becoming the archetype of immature masculinity
:39 - The Trail of Ashes
:47 - Embodiment, seamen retention and other tools for navigating the underworld
1:00 - Adrian’s community project in Texas and the opportunity for humble service.
Graphics Designed by Andy McErlean
Audio Engineering by Trevor Coulter
Theme song ““Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]“ by dj atish