This is Adrian in Vegas on 3-24-12. It’s pretty much how he looked last night* Credit: CPA, PacificCoastNews.com

I had the pleasure of seeing Entourage actor Adrian Grenier speak at a nearby college in Virginia last night. It was the last stop on his college tour in which he’s both promoting his 2010 HBO documentary, Teenage Paparazzo, and “having conversations with college students about media, technology and how it’s all affecting our world.” I found Grenier to be engaging, smart, and interesting while seeming pretty earnest. He wasn’t up his own ass too much, and I really enjoyed his speech. It centered around the media, celebrity, and technology and how we’re connecting now with others in ways we never dreamed possible. He emphasized the need to be responsible with the media we all put out, and for us to be self aware while using new technology.

First off, the room was filled with giggling young coeds dressed to the nines. They were all so stylish and cute, I felt like I was in an episode of “Girls.” Before Grenier came in, everyone was buzzing about how gorgeous he was and one girl was joking about proposing to him. (I think she was the one who posed the last question below about his best onscreen kiss.) When he came on stage there were audible sighs. He looked good, if a little tired and in need of a haircut. To start he asked us if we had questions about “Teenage Paparazzo,” and it was clear that only a couple of people had seen it. (I tried to watch it ahead of time, but it’s no longer on HBO Go.) Grenier rolled with it, although you could tell he was a little disappointed that there weren’t more questions specific to his film. Here’s some of what he said.**

On if celebrities court the paparazzi (I asked this question)
Where are the lines? In this hall of mirrors you don’t know if the guy is asking for it, if he’s just trying to get you to watch his movies [or] like him. If you’re going to make it a career choice to be a performer, you’re asking people to watch you. It’s all fun and games if you can control it. The paparazzi are rogue media operators, they don’t care about your agenda. All of a sudden you’re out there drunk and unkempt. That’s the breaks in modern media. You don’t have all the control.

On paparazzi and personal responsibility for media
One of the problems of paparazzi is… people aren’t taking responsibility for the media they put out. The world is watching, take ownership and human responsibility. Sometimes there are important reasons to say cutting things [however].

On his celebrity status
I feel so privileged to have become a celebrity by playing a celebrity on a show about celebrity. It’s these layers of the postmodern experience. There are many different layers of who you are, you’re multi-talented.

On the gossip press being a “Hall of Mirrors”
[It’s a] hall of mirrors, if you respond, they [will] take what you say and spin it.

On his role now
I don’t know what my role is, except trying to create stories and tell stories. In older culture [there were] smaller societies, where you knew everyone and were relevant to your community, as opposed to now. How do you connect [with others]? I want to connect to people as opposed to just living in Hollywood and living the Hollywood lifestyle

On whether he’ll make another documentary
Documentaries are hard work, I have one more st least that I want to make, I have three which are part of a trilogy.

On how to use social media in a positive way
I really do humble myself to your experiences. Young toddlers, infants, babies… are literally out of the womb and onto the computer. Now is the time to start talking about it and also recognizing the values of turning it off. There are a lot of different opportunities to use technologies for great things, you can’t argue with evolution… To connect is human, you can’t always do it with technology.

On the importance of teachers
The one thing I’ve discovered from going on tour is how important your teachers are. The influence of a teacher vs. Snooki…[Makes weighing hands gesture, laughs]

On how Entourage would have benefited from a Twitter tie-in
The one thing that Entourage didn’t take advantage of was transmedia. Vince didnt have twitter. Can you imagine how many twitter followers he would have?

On separating himself from his character on Entourage.
They wanted to name the character Adrien Grenier. I wanted to have my own identity. It’s nice to be able to put your character’s hair on the hook and be able to be yourself for the rest of the night.

On new vs. old media
One thing that I miss is the other day I was sitting with my mom and we took out this old chest of old photos. My mom and I sat there next to each other and we were touching photos, turning them around… It was a little dusty. It was all the experience. The tactile experience. It wasnt just this singular action of click, click… I missed that. But at the same time there was a limited number of photos. It required a lot more of our imagination to fill in the blanks.

On the tabloid media
There’s nothing news about tabloids. For the most part it’s story telling, they look for the sensation, it’s embellished.

On Paris Hilton being an “artiste of tabloids”
I always looked at Paris Hilton as being quite the artiste, she’s a very post modern artiste, her canvas is tabloid. She’s the first artist of tabloids. If you look at all the stories she launched they’re genius… The stunts that she created, she would walk out of her house for all the photographers… I think it’s kind of cool. I think Andy Warhol would [approve/inaudible].

On if he would go off the grid and how he has a Google alert on himself
I say that as an addict. I do have a problem and I remember when I first started making the film I got a Google alert with my name because I had to research. Legitimately so… we were going to tell this story partly through what the tabloid media was saying. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t indulging in myself.

I kept saying once the movie is over I’m going to delete my Google alert… I’m going to quit soon though. I give myself a year, then I’m going to quit.

On his best onscreen kiss
There have been so many. I couldn’t say. They’re not enjoyable. Honestly. The enjoyable thing about kissing is that there’s an intimacy. When you have the grip holding a Munster sandwich with his belly out… you’re not exactly in the moment of passion. Politically speaking they were all fantastic but not as good as the real thing.

The stuff about Paris Hilton he’s actually said before, while promoting the film. I remember seeing plenty of paparazzi photos of him out with her at the time, and it was rumored they were sleeping together. He denied having anything more than a friendship with her, and I tend to believe him because of how cerebral he came across. This is a guy who thinks about things a lot, and enjoys pontificating. He’s doing something about it, and he didn’t seem narcissistic or full of himself like a James Franco type.

It seemed like Grenier is struggling with celebrity and what that means to him, and with how he is going to move forward with his career post Entourage and connect with his fans. Instead of staying at home partying with his buddies, and/or just tweeting and instagramming photos constantly, he took his show on the road and went out and talked to college students about it. He’s thought a lot about these issues, and he’s sharing them in a way that seemed genuine to me. He also made a whole documentary about the paparazzi, and he got to know the guys he used to find intimidating. I came away with a lot of respect for him. He’s a charismatic celebrity with ideas about how to better the world, and he’s doing something positive that’s meaningful to him. He’s also posing more questions than answers. He wasn’t preachy, and was encouraging young people to think about things.

Grenier next wants to speak to high school students. He’s planning an 80-school tour free of charge, the “Teenage Paparazzo Media Tour” including both a talk and art tour, for which he’s accepting donations. Here’s more on that in the video below. He emphasizes that children need to take responsibility for what they put out online. You can learn more on his website for the film, their indiegogo page and on Twitter.

Update: Thanks to Adrian for tweeting about this story. He wrote:
“thx @celebitchy 4 coming 2the @Teenage talk. U understood me, & that feels nice & yes, i am a serial pontificator.”

*The talk was held in an historical building in which photographs weren’t allowed and I respected that. I would have gone to the after thing, but I have a seven year old who needed to be put to bed. **I took notes on my iPad so these quotes are very close but may not be exact

With his Entourage buddies Kevin Connolly and Kevin Dillon.