Actors Who Caused A Stir On Set After Changing Their Appearance – Looper

For many reasons, “Entourage” remains in the collective public psyche. While some viewers are interested in the show’s fly-on-the-wall portrayal of Hollywood industry dynamics, others better recall the celebrity cameos. Still, others just want to revisit old episodes for Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), a breakout character. For much of the series, Turtle serves as comedic relief and doesn’t seem particularly interested in any sort of character growth — which makes him all the more endearing.

However, in the later seasons, Turtle finally begins to evolve. He enters a committed relationship and begins to doubt his life choices and place in the group of friends. Off-screen, Ferrara was embarking on a similar journey, and between Seasons 6 and 7, Ferrara lost some 55 pounds. After the actor had dropped 20 pounds, Ferrara said “Entourage” creator, Doug Ellin, had a friendly note for him, out of concern for fans who were suddenly going to be looking at a ripped Turtle.

“There was a moment when I walked into the production office at the beginning of filming Season 7,” Ferrara told Men’s Health in 2011. “And [Ellin] goes, ‘What the hell were you thinking? You couldn’t wait one more year? This is going to be so jarring!'” “I admit the timing wasn’t perfect,” Ferrara added, saying that ultimately it led to some of the character’s late-in-the-series advancements. “Creatively, though, I think it worked. The character evolved a lot … There hasn’t been any backlash. I might’ve dodged a bullet.”