Jerry Ferrara talks to Jamie-Lynn Sigler about ‘Entourage’, Turtle’s Name

Actor Jerry Ferrara admits it was “hard not to go crazy” while performing alongside each other Jamie Lynn Sigler on Entourage.

“I remember the joke was, ‘There’s no way Turtle could ever get a girl like Jamie-Lynn,’” Ferrara, 44, said. We weekly exclusively before the Entourage 20th anniversary on Thursday, July 18. “I felt like this was just a funny joke, because that’s what Entourage is. It’s these extremes. Boys shouldn’t have to live in these conditions.”

Ferrara played the role of Turtle, the best friend of Adrian Grenier‘s Vinny Chase, for all eight seasons of Entourage, which ran on HBO from 2004 to 2011. During the show’s early years, Turtle was the comedic backbone of the gang – always going for women way out of his league. During the show’s fifth season, Turtle sits next to Sigler on a plane and the two hit it off. Their connection in the sky becomes a minor storyline before Turtle starts dating Sigler. (Ferrara and Sigler also dated off camera.)

“I knew her a little over the years. I met her in New York, and then she lived in LA, so we weren’t like best friends,” Ferrara shared Us about his relationship with Sigler. “We knew each other, so we already felt comfortable. She’s such a good actress and was so down playing this heightened version of herself.”

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Entourage was famously full of celebrity cameos in every episode. Ferrara noted that those who “always worked well” were stars who were “willing to make fun of themselves or just play this ridiculous version.”

Sigler “was looking forward to it,” he recalled. “It was amazing. Sopranos is my favorite show.”

And yes, he and Sigler are still in touch – thanks to social media.

For EntourageFor fans, Turtle’s relationship with Sigler was a major turning point for the character. It also allowed viewers to learn his name for the first time. Until season 5, Ferrara was only referred to on-screen as ‘Turtle’. However, he revealed to Sigler that his regnal name was Sal.

According to Ferarra, the show’s creator and showrunner Doug Ellin made the mystery surrounding Turtle’s real name a “running joke” on set.

“I asked him around season 2 or 3. I was like, ‘Hey, what’s Turtle’s real name, are we ever going to say?’ And he said, ‘We’re doing Season 7,’ or whatever he said,” Ferrara recalled Us. “I don’t think he thought we would ever get to a Season 7.”

When it came time to reveal Turtle’s real name, Ellin did “one of the coolest things” for Ferrara.

“I will love him forever for that,” the actor said Us. “One of my best friends growing up in Brooklyn was named Sal. He died at a very young age, 23 years old. … Entourage wasn’t the kind of show where you had to break away and become this other person. In my opinion, I was playing a version of my best friend Sal.”

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Ferrara’s late friend was someone who had “this love of life,” he said Us. ‘He didn’t care what kind of trouble we got into, as long as we had fun. That’s how I always felt Turtle was.”

Ellin knew this about Ferrara.

“He never told me he was doing the episode [when] turtle gets a name. Only one day did I receive the script,” the actor recalls. “I was reading the script and when I got to that part I froze. I dropped the script and felt out of breath because he did that without me actually asking and not even telling me. Up to the present day. for me and my friends, that is the most special thing we grew up with.”

This brought the Sigler storyline to a full circle moment.

“[It was] really special that it was part of her character,” he concluded. “That’s the most vulnerable thing he showed her, so I thought that was really cool.”

With reporting by Sarah Jones