For eight seasons HBO’s ENTOURAGE has provided an inside look at the rise and fall and rise of a young Hollywood actor and his close circle of friends. The show is loosely based on the early career of executive producer Mark Wahlberg.

When viewers last left Vincent Chase and his pals, he was being arrested for drug possession, Ari’s wife had left him and Eric and Sloan were engaged. Well, it’s three months later and Vince is out of rehab, Ari is separated and Eric is single again.

With the series coming to an end, cast members Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven and executive producers Wahlberg and Doug Ellin reflected on the series’ impact at the Television Critics Association 2011 Summer Press Tour.

ENTOURAGE at the Television Critics Association 2011 Summer Press Tour.

Doug Ellin, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Dillon, Mark Wahlberg.

Photo credit: FilmMagic/FilmMagic.com

For Ellin and Wahlberg, figuring out how to close out the characters’ journey was the biggest challenge. “Mark and I sat down at the beginning of the year, before I started writing, just to talk about what kind of vibe we wanted for the show,” Ellin said. “What was important to me, more than any kind of story things, was to leave it with an element of hopefully that the audience goes ‘We loved hanging with these guys and we’ll miss them.’”

To the cast, this isn’t just the end of a job; it’s the end of a major part of their lives. “It’s not only sad to say goodbye to each other, but also what we’ve created,” Grenier said. “We are all very proud of it, and we know that we are going to have a lasting impact, and we’ll always be connected to everybody on some level. We’ve all made some lifelong friendships. That is probably the greatest thing that I got out of the whole thing,” Ferrara said.

Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier, Scott Caan, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connolly in ENTOURAGE.

Photo credit: Claudette Barius.

For many viewers, the show is their look into how Hollywood works. So it’s no surprise that after eight years, the actors have become synonymous with their characters. “If anyone should know the difference between the lives, it would be the people in the business,” Dillon said. “So, we get a lot of people in the street who really think we are our character.”

Though the show follows the exploits of Vince and his friends, the series’ signature character is Ari Gold. He’s the agent everyone in Hollywood wishes they really had. Piven has even had fellow actors tell him they fired their agents because they weren’t more like Ari Gold.

Jeremy Piven (left) and Adrian Grenier (right) in "One Last Shot" episode of ENTOURAGE.

Photo credit: Claudette Barius.

In the final episodes Ari has all the success he’s ever dreamed of, but has to deal with his crumbling marriage. Ellin and Piven admit he’ll undergo some major changes toward the end of the show. “This character that I’ve been playing for eight years has been such a reactive character and takes up the oxygen in the room,” Piven said. “Then to humanize him like the way he’s going to be shown in this last season is just a gift Doug gave me.”

With the end of any long running series, the actors are inevitably questioned about what souvenirs they’ve kept from the set. Connolly took E’s paperweight from his desk, Dillon gave his ENTOURAGE seat cover to a crew member and Piven kept Ari’s expensive watch.

There’s been talk of an ENTOURAGE feature film, and both Wahlberg and Ellin are on board to continue telling the story of this crazy group of friends. “I certainly hope that this has a chance to become a feature film,” Wahlberg said. “I think people have always complained that the episodes are too short. I said if I had to finance it myself, I would do it,” he continued.

ENTOURAGE airs Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on HBO.