Adrian Grenier Says Going To Burning Man Was Like Discovering America

Adrian Grenier says he lives every day like it's Burning Man, because of course he does. He's Adrian Grenier.

Vinnie Chase sat down with New York mag recently and gave one of my favorite interviews of all time.

It's not my favorite because I had any major life epiphanies while reading or got insight into the mind of one of my favorite innovative thinkers in the world.

It's my favorite because it made me realize just how little Adrian Grenier and I would have to talk about if we were to share a long car ride together or even just a quick meal at Denny's.

Listen, I'm sure Grenier is a nice guy in person, but I've never met a man who better embodies the concept of someone at a fun party making a toast that ends with, "... as much fun as we are having here let's all take a moment to remember the Syrian refugee crisis."

Before going on, we need a little more perspective about the context of this interview. There are two things you should probably realize before seeing some of these excerpts.

First off, Adrian is a major environmental activist who works a lot with whales, because of course Adrian Grenier is a massive environmental activist who works with whales.

Secondly, he JUST got back from Burning Man, because of course Adrian Grenier just got back from Burning Man.

This is Adrian Grenier's take on straws and education:

We consume 500 million straws each day. The equivalent of 127 school buses filled with straws. It's disgusting. There should be children in those school buses, going to school, to learn, not straws.

This is Adrian Grenier's take on aliens and his employment as a Hollywood actor:

Acting is my day job, but at night, I get to be a superhero. There are superheroes, people who fly or have all these extraterrestrial powers or supernatural abilities. Everybody can be a superhero every day by doing very simple things. Change the world.

These are Adrian Grenier's feelings about Burning Man and discovering America:

[Burning Man is] a bunch of people who are open, available to connect, and artistic, and are all conspiring to make the most amazing piece of art, which is everybody collaborating. It's fantastic... It's like, could you imagine having discovered America? Would you stop talking about that? It's like, I went to this new land. There's nothing like it. And that's the thing. It's captivating, because it's unlike anything I've ever experienced. And I'm worldly, I've been around the world. And it happens to reflect the value system that I agree with.

This is Adrian Grenier still talking about Burning Man:

The reason I responded so much to Burning Man is, that is my ethos, that is my people, that is the way I've always lived and wanted to live. And there is a Zeitgeist of humans who think that way. If I didn't have an umbrella, for example, I would go from umbrella to umbrella with people and get where I needed to go, dry.

This is the ACTUAL response Adrian Grenier gave about whether he is single or not:

You know, it's funny. I was listening to this 'Radiolab' episode about K-Pop. In K-Pop, they completely manufacture their pop stars and they make the pop stars sign contracts where they vow not to date because they're supposed to be the property of the people, they're supposed to be perpetually single and attainable. So in honor of that episode and the Korean pop stars that I aspire to be, I am perpetually single for the sake of my fans. Does your audience listen to 'Radiolab'? You should put a link to that.

THAT IS THE SINGLE WORST ANSWER TO ANY QUESTION EVER. He could have literally responded, "Feet are pointless," and it would have been a better answer than that.

It would have made me respond, "OK, cool. I don't know what that has to do with my question," but it still would have been better than that Rube Goldberg of an answer.

Goddamn is Adrian Grenier infuriatingly beautiful, though...

Citations: Adrian Grenier Lives Every Day Like Hes at Burning Man (New York mag)