Jerry Ferrara on the Moment That Made Him Realize How Popular Entourage Really Was (Exclusive)

Jerry Ferrara knew Entourage was a big deal when this unexpected moment happened on set.

The actor, who recently partnered with CashApp and Visa along with his Entourage costar Kevin Dillon, exclusively tells PEOPLE about the moment he realized how popular the show was. But it didn’t happen until a couple of seasons in.

When asked about his favorite memories from the show, Ferrara, 45, says some of the earlier episodes stand out. “As we were doing the show, we were becoming popular, but we’re still locked into the work and we don’t really know who’s actually watching,” he says.  

It was while filming an episode in Las Vegas for season 3 that Ferrara understood how many people were tuning in.

“We were in Vegas and I came out to do a scene by the pool in the hotel pools and there was like 400 people in the pool,” he recalls. “And I walk out and they start chanting ‘Turtle’ and I thought they were extras.”

“I’m like, ‘Wow, we paid all these people to come here,’ and, and no, they were just like people staying in the hotel who were swimming in the pool and saw they were filming Entourage,” he continues.

Dillon, 59, notes that the fans shouting for Turtle as part of the show wouldn’t necessarily have made sense since Entourage revolved around movie star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his entourage.

“So if they were Vince, they could get away with that because Vince is a famous actor, but Turtle was not famous,” he says. “So they wouldn’t all know Turtle.”

Ferrara also reminisced on Entourage episodes that took the cast out of Los Angeles. “I love when we took the show on the road. The Sundance one sticks out, the France one. So getting on the road out of L.A. was always fun,” he says.

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Dillon and Ferrara reunited for a CashApp and Visa campaign for the recent Grand Prix in Las Vegas. The stars reprised their roles as Johnny Drama (Dillon) and Turtle (Ferrara) to unveil a special livery for the VCARB F1 team to cap off the final U.S. Grand Prix of the 2024 season. 

Ferrara says that returning to his character for the 20th anniversary of Entourage made him realize that a character doesn’t go away after eight seasons of a show plus a movie.

“We’re on to so many other things, but it really was doing this spot for Visa and CashApp that got Kevin and I together, that made me say it’s still there. I don’t think it ever goes away.” 

“Me and Jerry, we still see each other a lot, we get together, we’ll golf and so it’s not like we don’t see each other, but it’s the first time we’ve acted in a really long time,” Dillon adds.

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“It was like putting on an old shoe, you know, like 20 years ago, it still fits your foot perfect. And it’s really comfortable and it just felt great right away.”