Johnny 'Drama' Chase is an actor and half-brother of Vincent Chase. Drama was born in 1968. Drama has been a C-list actor for most of his career, best known for his starring role as Tarvold in a cult television series, Viking Quest. Later in Entourage, he is cast in another series, Five Towns, which scores 16 million viewers on its premiere. He left the hit show after a run in with a TV executive. Not long after, he was given a holding deal by the network for his own show.
In the first season of Entourage, Drama has not had a serious acting gig for three years. Instead, he is Vincent's chef and fitness consultant, often watching out for his brother and making sure he eats right. His personality is alternately macho and warm-hearted, pompous and insecure. His acting range is limited by a wooden style, but he constantly brings up bit roles he has played over the years in such movies and television shows as Barbershop, Melrose Place, Nash Bridges, The Commish, A Different World, Pacific Blue, Full House, 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Star Trek as well as a national television commercial for herpes drug Valtrex, and tries to give acting advice to his brother. He starred as Tarvold in the fictional science fiction series Viking Quest, which spawned his catchphrase "Victory!". In the episode "Drive", Drama reveals he is a Razzie Award winner.
He is always looking to capitalize on Vincent's success, which pays off with a supporting role in a film called Queens Boulevard, a bit part in another film Medellin, and an appearance in a flashy Chinese commercial that Vincent does. Although he occasionally finds his little brother's charity emasculating, he almost never turns it down. While it would seem that he is nothing more than a leech, Johnny cares deeply for his brother and the rest of the group, springing to their help when needed. Johnny is a member of the union Screen Actors Guild (SAG).[6]
Drama lands a role as the "older Irish brother" in Five Towns, an Edward Burns television pilot. Burns felt he owed Drama because Drama turned down a role in Burns' successful real-life film The Brothers McMullen, forcing Burns to play it himself. The pilot was picked up in the episode "The Resurrection". After the Five Towns pilot performed very well, Drama effectively resumed a successful career and bought out a $1.5 million condominium. He was mistakenly offered a lead role in Rush Hour 3 by Brett Ratner when Ratner's assistant misread the credits in Drama's show and picked Drama instead of his younger co-star. Drama still however was able to coerce Ratner to give him a role as a French bus driver. During the hiatus of Five Towns, Drama followed Eric, Vince, and Turtle to the Medellin set and successfully secured a role in the film as a military leader who infiltrates Escobar's compound in the movie's climax. However, before this, Drama stirred up trouble by claiming to have received a handjob from the film's lead actress (portrayed by Sofia Vergara), who director Billy Walsh was infatuated with. It is unclear whether this handjob actually occurred, as Turtle finds it unbelievable, coupled with Drama's tendency to exaggerate his macho image, particularly on camera. In the Season 4 season finale, while at the Cannes Film Festival in France greeting the large fan base and cult following of Viking Quest, Drama meets and becomes involved with Jacqueline and begins a long distance relationship with her after he gets back to LA. Drama increased his profile in France inadvertently by having sex on the beach with Jacqueline for three hours. In the end they stop after he sees a large crowd and his friends and brother cheer him on.
Drama claims to be Irish and Chilean, and may be part Japanese. In "Gary's Desk", Drama along with Turtle and Vincent have their own offices in Eric's company, The Murphy Group.
Johnny Drama is one of my fictional characters in Entourage. I loved Johnny Drama's new experiments.
Though it is never shown that Drama is fluent in multiple languages, he has quoted words in Spanish, French, Yiddish and Hebrew.
In the Season Five finale, Johnny becomes the co-owner of a Queens bar that was renamed "Johnny Drama's". After that he became a partner with the owner who had to settle a gambling debt problem.
In Season Six, Five Towns is still filming and is still a successful show. This changes for Drama when he threatens Five Towns NBC network executive Dan Cokley after he suspects Cokley is trying to sleep with Turtle's girlfriend, Jamie Lynn Sigler. Cokley decides that instead of firing Drama, he will convince the writers to torture and humiliate Drama's character on Five Towns. Drama soon decides that he has enough of his character getting bad scenes and tries to get out of his contract on Five Towns and sign on to star on Melrose Place 2009 after Melrose Place producer Phil Yagoda offered him to audition for a role. Drama had been fired from the original Melrose Place series in 1993.
In the season finale, after Drama's agent Lloyd Lee resigns from his secretary position at Ari Gold's agency to accept an offer from Gold's rival, Adam Davies at the Terrence McQuewick Agency, where Gold was fired from in 2005. Drama becomes unstable after hearing Lloyd's departure. Ari and Lloyd compete to get him out of his Five Towns contract and onto Melrose Place 2009. Drama is impressed by Ari's capability, so he verbally agrees to make Ari his permanent agent. However, an impassioned speech by Lloyd convinces Drama that he should remain with Lloyd who is more sincere and concerned for Drama. At the first Melrose Place 2009 audition, Drama fears rejection and has a mild heart attack and mental breakdown, urinating in his pants. Drama then eventually decides that he is an actor and must redo the audition. He does well at the audition, but he is turned down by the network for being "too old". Phil Yagoda then notifies Drama that the network decided that he is ready to have a series created for him and offers an exclusive holding deal, which Drama had never had before. Delighted, Drama and Vince head to Italy to film Vince's new movie. His quote is now at least $10,000 (per episode) higher than it was on Five Towns for which he made $75,000 per episode.
Filmography
| - | Miami Vice | Cocaine Informant |
| - | The New New Love Boat | Merrill Stubing |
| 1987 | Barfly | Extra |
| 1988 | License to Drive | Unknown |
| 1988 | 227 | Building Inspector |
| 1989 | A Different World | Drunk Fat Guy |
| 1989 | Booker | Dead Body |
| 1990 | Cop Rock | Singing Felon |
| 1991 | LA Law | Mute Clerk |
| 1991 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Eddie |
| 1991 | Point Break | Stoned Surfer #5 |
| 1993 | NYPD Blue | Dead Body |
| 1993 | Merlose Place | |
| 1993 | Amongst Friends | Kid in Trunk |
| 1994 | The Crow | Small Role |
| 1994 | Full House |
Uncle Jesse's Tough Guy Nephew |
| 1994 | The Commish | Bulimic Pedophile |
| 1994 | 227 | Chris Meier |
| 1994-1995 | My So-Called Life | |
| 1995 | Cornelius and Son | |
| 1995 | Last One Left | Taxi Driver |
| 1996 | Beautiful Girls | stand-in |
| 1997 | Pacific Blue | Officer Ross Harper |
| 1997 | Viking Quest | Tarvold |
| 1998 | Kissing a Fool | Clubs Fan |
| 1998 | Star Trek: Voyager | Klingon |
| 1999 | Nash Bridges | Retarded Brother |
| 2001 | 7th Heaven | High School Swimmer |
| 2002 | Barbershop | Customer |
| 2003 | The Practice | Law Clerk |
| 2004 | Law & Order: SVU | Dead Body |
| 2004 | Crossing Jordan | Bank Robber |
| 2004 | Head On | Thug |
| 2004 | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Himself |
| 2005 | Queens Boulevard | Bookie |
| 2005 | Chinese energy drink television commercial |
Cameo |
| 2005 | Law & Order: SVU | Streaker |
| 2006 | Gotcha! | Himself |
| 2006-2009 | Five Towns | Quinn |
| 2007 | Rush Hour 3 | French Bus Driver |
| 2007 | Medellin | U.S. Army General |
| 2008 | The View | Himself |
| 2011 | Johnny's Bananas | Lead Role |
| 2012 | Hyde | Human |
Quotes
Season 1
- Johnny "Drama" Chase: We don't wanna tell you she's a bitch, then two weeks later you get back together and you're mad at us for saying that.
- Eric Murphy: It's over.
Johnny "Drama" Chase, Turtle: She's a bitch!
:Turtle: [about Kristen] She was in the middle of 40 Deuce with her hand down Vince Vaughn's pants.
- Eric: She had her hand down his pants?
- Johnny Drama: Both of 'em.
- Eric: Vince Vaughn? That puffy motherfucker?
- Johnny Drama: No bro, he didn't look puffy at all... He was lookin' real good.
- Turtle: Yeah, it was kinda like "Swingers" Vince Vaughn, not "Old School" Vince :Vaughn. It's kinda like New School Vince Vaughn.