****Vincent "Vince" Chase is the protagonist of the comedy-drama television series Entourage and its film sequel, based on the series' executive producer Mark Wahlberg. He is played by Adrian Grenier.

Character biography

Backstory

Vincent Chase grew up in Queens, New York, along with neighborhood friends Eric, Turtle, Dom, and Cara. Vince's older brother, Johnny "Drama" Chase, is also an actor and has been living in Hollywood for at least twelve years, but with considerably less success. By the end of the series, Vince is around 33 years old; his 28th birthday serves the main storyline in the season 3 episode "Less Than 30". Throughout the series, Vince talks about how he and his entourage are "living the life" after growing up with little money, at one point saying, "I came from nothing, and as much as I like the toys, I really don't need them" when told that offers for him are drying up. He is eager to share the financial and social spoils of his current stardom with them, who he thinks of as his family. In return, they prove to be the ones he can depend on through thick and thin.

Fictional career

Vince begins his acting career when he moves to Los Angeles. After appearing in commercials and some films, he takes the advice of his manager and best friend "E" and stars in the independent film Queens Boulevard (or Q.B.). Q.B. wins the Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and its success leads him to the title role in the film Aquaman. Aquaman massive success at the box office launches Vince into superstardom. Vince's pursuit of his dream role of Pablo Escobar in the bio-pic Medellín causes him to lose out on several other opportunities and results in a breakdown in his relationships with his agents. After troubled development, the film ends up being produced by Vince himself and flops critically and financially despite over-the-top hype leading up to its premiere at Cannes. Vince's next project, Smoke Jumpers, fails to regain him star power, but its footage lands him a lead role (Nick Carraway) in Martin Scorsese's adaptation of The Great Gatsby set in the 1980s. Gatsby massive success lands Vince more work and several other roles. Vince is almost killed doing a dangerous driving stunt for an action film, and the resulting trauma fuels drug and alcohol addiction. Vince undergoes court-ordered rehab for 90 days and emerges victorious. Having regained confidence, he repairs his friendships while rehabilitating his image after a public fall from grace. In the Entourage film, Vince eventually rises to the top with the success of Hyde despite going over budget. Having established himself as an actor and as a director, he no longer has to worry about proving himself to get by. By the end of the film, Vince agrees to make a movie or a series about their lives and journey to success.

Fictional filmography

Films

Television

Development

Entourage executive producer Mark Wahlberg named the character after legendary Hollywood acting teacher Vincent Chase, with whom Wahlberg became friends while working on the 1997 Bill Paxton film Traveller. However, the character of Vincent Chase is a Marty Stu based on Mark Wahlberg himself. Wahlberg has achieved Hollywood success similar to the fictional success of Vincent.. Walt Hickey of FiveThirtyEight has argued that the career of Vincent Chase most closely matches that of Tobey Maguire. Series creator Doug Ellin has also mentioned that the character of Vince has touches of Tobey Maguire in terms of storyline, Leonardo DiCaprio in terms of personality, and Wahlberg in terms of lifestyle.