Bryan Greenberg is a young actor, and young actors make mistakes.
He lands a small role on “ER” and offends one of the regulars by not recognizing him. He pads his resume and is caught in the lie by a director. He shows up at a casting call for a film called “Wild Wind” in motorcycle gear, only to discover the movie is a Western.
It’s all part of a new HBO series called “Unscripted” that premieres 10 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9. The show is funny and sad, a mix of fact and fiction that in many ways resembles another HBO hit, “The Larry Sanders Show.” The behind-the-scenes glimpse of a television talk show provided by “Sanders” is exactly the same view “Unscripted” offers of the life of young actors.
The show blurs the lines between fact and fiction further. Bryan Greenberg is played by an actor whose name really happens to be Bryan Greenberg. (In fact, with the exception of Frank Langella, who portrays acting teacher Goddard Fulton, all the principals use their real names.)
While the show is billed as fiction, “it’s all based on true stories,” the 26-year-old actor said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. “We’d sit around a table and just sort of talk. The actors, George [Clooney, an executive producer and director], Grant [Heslov, also an executive producer and director] and Matt Adler [a co-executive producer], we’d share stories.”
Those stories form the basis of the show. But there’s reality, too. Greenberg just signed on for eight episodes on the WB teen series “One Tree Hill,” so that became part of “Unscripted” as well. He just finished filming a movie called “Prime” in New York, and “Unscripted” cameras were there, too.
It’s a good time for Greenberg, who spent most of his childhood in Omaha, Neb. “Yes, I’m the one,” he said, referring to the Jewish population of the city.
He grew up in a Conservative household, had a bar mitzvah, belonged to Jewish youth groups, went to Jewish summer camps and even made aliyah. Both his parents are psychologists, “which just drove me crazy,” he jokes.
His family moved to St. Louis — his parents are still there — when he was 12. He subsequently attended New York University and got a few small parts on TV shows and commercials. There were times (as on “Unscripted”) where he’d have a line and then get edited out of the show.
The way rejection is portrayed on “Unscripted” appeals to Greenberg, who believes the public’s positive image about the economics of the business needs some revision. “I like the show because pretty much all you hear is no, no, no, no, no,” from casting directors. “The public thinks actors have an easy life of luxury but that’s like a half of a percent.”
Greenberg looks Jewish. No question. Some actors feel that hurts their careers. Jennifer Grey, for example, had well-publicized plastic surgery to change her appearance in search of more roles. Greenberg, however, is happy with the way he looks. “Are you kidding?” he says. “I had four nose jobs already to get this nose.
“I’ve gotten ‘he’s too Jewish.’ But some people say you don’t look Jewish. I’ve won roles, too.” In the just-completed film “Prime,” scheduled to be released next fall, he plays a young Jewish man dating an older woman (Uma Thurman) against his mother’s (Meryl Streep’s) wishes.
Another thing he’s not changing is his name. “Absolutely not. I’m not that guy. I wish I was born with a last name like Cruise, but what are you gonna do? Cruiseberg? Cruisestein?”
Does he bring anything Jewish to his “Unscripted” role? “I’m neurotic,” he jokes. Also, he doesn’t want to give a kin ahora, even after he’s told how good the series is.
“I don’t have a high expectation. I think it’s an intelligent and smart show and I don’t think everyone’s going to get it.”