Actor Jeremy Piven Visits CBS SUNDAY MORNING Today

Actor Jeremy Piven has earned a reputation for playing driven characters, but he's also got a reputation for being too driven in real life, a trait that can be misconstrued for being a jerk, he tells Tracy Smith in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD.

Piven, now starring in the PBS "Masterpiece" series "Mr. Selfridge," earned raves and three Emmys for playing the super-agent Ari Gold in "Entourage," but fans - and the media - sometimes have trouble separating his characters from his off-screen personality.

"So let me ask you flat out, are you a jerk?" Smith asks Piven in an interview to be broadcast today, April 12 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

"You know, that's interesting because if I said yes I would get more compassion than saying no," Piven says.

"I've had some moments where, you know, you have to check yourself and go, 'Just calm down,'" Piven tells Smith. "I think I'm doing things for the right reason, but the reality is you may be passionate and it may come out the wrong way."

Smith asks Piven if that meant he was a jerk in the past.

"I think that if you work your entire life to be good at something and then you play the poster child for jerks, but you put everything you have into them - there might be some misconceptions, you know," Piven tells Smith.

Piven also talks with Smith about his work on the series "Mr. Selfridge," the influence his parents had on his work as an actor, and his career. The interview is part of CBS SUNDAY MORNING's special money-themed edition, "The Money Issue."

CBS SUNDAY MORNING is broadcast Sundays (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.

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