LOS ANGELES — Kevin Connolly is experiencing a case of life imitating art.
The Golden Globe-nominated actor and the character he plays on HBO’s “Entourage,” Eric Murphy, are both growing up.

“I have an adult house, finally,” Connolly, 35, says proudly, taking a bite of Chinese chicken salad at the Four Seasons Hotel, one of his favorite places to brunch. “Some of the places I’ve lived have been ridiculous. There was furniture that was covering holes in the walls. When I was a young actor, I was with my crew and we were terrorizing Hollywood. But ... I feel very settled and comfortable with my life. Now I need to find the girl. Once I find the girl, I can seal it up.”
That appears to be his character’s mission, too. In the series airing Sunday, Connolly’s character moves into his own house and continues his quest for the perfect girlfriend.
In real life, Connolly says, dating can be rough.
The actor, who also appears in “The Ugly Truth” (opening July 24) with Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, laughs about the dating-war stories he and his castmates have shared. He and Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara are all good buddies, he says.
“Adrian was one of the later ones who got here from New York, and he’d be like, `Stop announcing to me who every girl I’ve gone out with has dated before! I don’t want to know; I don’t care.’ And he’s right. Because everybody is going to be somebody’s ex out here,” says Connolly, who moved to L.A. from Long Island after he finished high school.
Connolly has had his share of high-profile, made-in-Hollywood romances. He dated Nicky Hilton for nearly two years and has dated Haylie Duff and “Dancing With the Stars” dancer Julianne Hough.
“You know what they say about actresses?” he asks, leaning in over the table. “We’re no better as actors. We’re a bunch of crazy people trying to date each other. It almost doesn’t work. On one hand, you meet people you can relate to. ... But out here, it’s not like going to a bar in New York after work, where everybody is going to be diverse. ”
In the meantime, Connolly is focusing on diversifying his career. He has been directing music videos - most notably for The Game’s single “Camera Phone” - and directing TV commercials.
Connolly says his dream is to hit the 100-episode mark with “Entourage.” If that happens, he says, it would not only be a chance to see his character grow, but it also would be a nice testament to his personal Hollywood story.
“My character starts out at a pizza place. ... I would like to see him really locked in and settled into a successful career. That would make me really happy. It’d be like, he made it,” Connolly says. “That’s how I feel about myself now. There’s been so many ups and downs, but I feel like it’s all been worth it. It’s all made sense. ”