Boston University may not be Hollywood, but photographers and screaming fans still swarmed the Photonics Center on Thursday for a screening of actor Adrian Grenier's new documentary "Teenage Paparazzo."
Grenier, who is most known for his role as Vincent Chase in the HBO show "Entourage," came to BU to promote his film and engage in a discussion with attendees.
HBO Documentary Films and the College of Communication teamed up to present the screening and Q&'A session to the BU community, specifically upperclassmen in COM, who were sent email invitations to RSVP.
Charles Merzbacher, an associate professor of film, introduced Grenier to the packed Photonics auditorium as a "gifted musician, director and producer."
"This is really one of the warmest receptions we've had," Grenier said. "I really love your youthful spirit."
Following the brief introduction, Grenier joined the audience in watching his documentary, the second he has made in collaboration with HBO.
The documentary, which took about three years to film and edit, follows Grenier as he films 14-year-old paparazzo Austin, a boy who generates buzz after photographing celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Grenier himself.
After the film, Grenier answered questions about the movie and the filmmaking process.
Merzbacher kicked off the Q&'A by asking Grenier specifically about why he used specific visual techniques throughout the film, such as photo collages of paparazzi shots.
"The media is all over the place but it absorbs everything," he said. "You can't fight it, it's just too powerful. The visual element of the media images was to show these images are everywhere."
One audience member asked if Grenier believes there are actors that act for solely the fame.
Grenier responded by saying every actor is different, but that everyone who becomes famous has to deal with fame in his or her own way.
The film, he said, was his way of dealing with it.
"It put [the fame] into perspective to see where I stand in the scheme of things," he said.
Grenier agreed with one audience member's comment about how celebrities want the fame and attention that's given to them.
"Celebrities are hoarding attention and it becomes seductive to have it," he said. "When you don't have it you feel inadequate and want more."
Another audience member asked Grenier what he wanted people to take out of the film.
"My goal was not to say celebrities are good and paparazzi are bad," he said. "I basically wanted to share the power of images . . . to see this young boy, to me, it was inspiring. There's something he is that we all are as well."
Some attendees asked more personal questions.
One girl, for example, asked if Grenier influenced the Yankees hat Austin sported in the film.
"I'm a Yankees fan," she added.
"You might not make it out here alive," Grenier joked.
"I will if I'm with you," she replied.
Another audience member, who said he was an aspiring actor, gave Grenier his script and asked if he could "put it on Ari's desk."
Grenier accepted the script but encouraged the aspiring actor to make the film with his friends, rather than wait for his big break.
People should learn all angles of production, he said, citing his own experiences with making films with his friends in high school.
Some students came because they were interested in seeing Grenier's work.
"With such a big face like Adrian he's probably putting out great work and I want to keep out with that," said COM sophomore Austen Hallett, who is a film and TV major
However, others said they came just to see Grenier.
"I'm just very easily starstruck so anytime there's a celebrity anywhere I want to come," said COM senior Molly Healy. "Anyone who is famous, I'll be there."
At the end of the event, Grenier asked audience members to participate in an "experiment" by pulling out their phones and snapping one photo of the scene in front of them and one of themselves.
He then requested audience members email the photos to him so he could make a 3-D snapshot of the event and put it online for people to look back on and "remember the moment."
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