Jeremy Piven has said he was glad to return to his life as Harry Selfridge after spending time as his highly-strung Entourage character.

The actor took up his role as abrasive Hollywood agent Ari Gold again for the film version of the TV series Entourage, but said all the shouting and stressing meant taking up his period drama character again for Mr Selfridge came as a welcome relief.

He said: “The difference between playing Harry and Ari is night and day. To go back to a character that you played for eight seasons, was like throwing on an old coat.

Jeremy Piven Mr Selfridge
Jeremy as Harry Selfridge (ITV)

“It’s based on a real guy, so that energy does exist in Hollywood: that kind of guy who takes up all the oxygen in the room, is incredibly reactive and thinks he’s really, really funny. But if you’re having a temper tantrum for hours on end, it’s incredibly draining, and you give it everything you’ve got.

“I was in cars ranting and raving and breaking things, screaming, smashing. You crawl into bed and are like, ‘What just happened?’ So to come back and play Harry was welcome.”

Although he has become a well-known face in London while filming the ITV series, Jeremy admitted he was still able to fly under the radar sometimes.

Jeremy Piven Entourage
Jeremy starred as Ari Gold in Entourage (DANNY MOLOSHOK/AP)

He said of a trip to the real-life Selfridges store: “I was getting some Tom Ford cologne and there were a couple of people taking pictures and the woman behind the counter didn’t understand why, so I said, ‘Actually I’m on a show, I play Mr Selfridge’, and she kind of looked at me – and I felt like it was the one place where they would know!

“It felt like I was having one of those horrible ‘Do you know who I am?’ moments. She either didn’t have a reference, or didn’t want to pretend she did…”

Mr Selfridge returns to ITV1 on Sunday, January 25.