Episode 324 | How To Make It In America ft. Bryan Greenberg & Victor Rasuk

Summary

Podcast Summary: Episode 324 | How To Make It In America ft. Bryan Greenberg & Victor Rasuk

Introduction and Reunion Timestamp: [03:19] Rory Farrell and Jamil "Mal" Clay host Episode 324 of "New Rory & MAL," featuring special guests Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk. Rory expresses his immense excitement meeting Bryan and Victor, highlighting the significant impact their show, How To Make It In America, has had on him and his community. He remarks, “Today we are joined by the legendary duo who are a part of what I believe is easily the most impactful show HBO has ever aired” ([03:49]).

The Origins of the Show Timestamp: [07:00] Bryan and Victor delve into the genesis of How To Make It In America. They discuss meeting during the screen test and the instant chemistry that suggested something special was unfolding. Victor credits the show's creators—Ian Edelman, Mark Wahlberg, and Steve Levinson—for capturing their authentic New York essence while navigating HBO's vision. Bryan adds, “We felt like it was gonna have it, but I was like, at this point, it's for me to lose” ([07:17]).

Life Before the Show Timestamp: [08:21] Bryan shares his upbringing in the Lower East Side of New York, emphasizing the creative environment influenced by nearby NYU students and local artists like Andy Warhol. He recounts his early acting experiences, including his role in Raising Victor Vargas, which set the stage for his casting in the show. Victor, originally from Omaha and St. Louis, discusses his move to New York for NYU and how his diverse background enriched his portrayal of Cam Calderon ([08:50]-[13:27]).

Casting and Character Development Timestamp: [16:17] The conversation shifts to the casting process and character creation. Bryan and Victor highlight how the producers envisioned their roles, with Bryan portraying Ben Epstein and Victor embodying Cam Calderon. They discuss the inclusion of iconic figures like Luis Guzman and the influence of real-life streetwear culture on their characters. Bryan notes, “I think what you guys did laid the blueprint for what I think New York City is today as far as streetwear” ([07:00]-[13:27]).

Production Anecdotes Timestamp: [46:09] Bryan and Victor share behind-the-scenes stories, including shooting episodes in Japan without permits and the logistical challenges that followed. They reminisce about memorable moments on set, such as interactions with celebrities like Johnny Knoxville. Bryan recounts, “I love what Meryl Streep does. I'd love to talk to Ty” ([46:09]-[88:54]). These anecdotes highlight the authentic and often improvisational nature of the show's production.

Impact and Legacy Timestamp: [25:03] Reflecting on the show's legacy, Bryan and Victor discuss its cultural significance, particularly in the streetwear and entrepreneurial communities. They emphasize how How To Make It In America served as a time capsule for New York's vibrant scene, influencing brands like Kith and resonating with fans worldwide. Victor states, “I've talked to Ronnie about this. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Kith and what Ronnie's done with the brand” ([63:36]-[85:00]).

Cancellation and Reflections Timestamp: [51:10] The hosts and guests address the abrupt cancellation of the show after two seasons. Bryan speculates on possible reasons, including HBO's focus on more mainstream hits like Entourage. Victor expresses disappointment but remains proud of the show's authenticity and its lasting impact on fans. Rory adds, “We actually have the chemistry in this relationship and now do it podcasting, but then actually going back and reliving” ([51:10]-[87:30]).

Future Plans and Podcasting Timestamp: [69:10] Transitioning to their current endeavors, Bryan and Victor discuss launching their own podcast, "We Almost Made It," aimed at sharing stories of hustle and ambition across various fields. They reflect on how podcasting allows them to relive their experiences from the show while connecting with a broader audience. Victor mentions, “We're just talking about... all the themes are still relevant. The hustle never ends” ([69:10]-[84:35]).

Closing Thoughts Timestamp: [109:46] As the episode wraps up, Rory thanks Bryan and Victor for their time and contributions, praising the enduring legacy of How To Make It In America. He encourages listeners to watch the show to understand its cultural significance and supports the guests' ongoing projects. The guests reciprocate the gratitude, reinforcing their commitment to storytelling and community engagement ([109:44]-[110:37]).

Notable Quotes:

• Rory on meeting Bryan and Victor: “Today we are joined by the legendary duo who are a part of what I believe is easily the most impactful show HBO has ever aired.” ([03:49])
• Bryan on the show's creation: “I think what you guys did laid the blueprint for what I think New York City is today as far as streetwear.” ([07:00])
• Victor on the show's authenticity: “We were just talking about this with somebody, Abby Cornish, who's another Australian actress. He wanted, like, he wanted to start kind of like, just building the chemistry between us.” ([16:17])

Conclusion Episode 324 of "New Rory & MAL" offers a deep dive into the creation, impact, and legacy of How To Make It In America. Through engaging conversations and personal anecdotes, Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk reflect on their roles, the show's cultural resonance, and their transition into podcasting. The episode serves as both a nostalgic homage and a forward-looking discussion on storytelling and community influence.

Transcript

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[Angie Hicks]

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[Victor Rasuk]

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of.

[Mal]

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[Rory]

Rory, you know, I don't get excited.

[Mal]

That is true.

[Rory]

I've watched some of the greatest artists and entertainers perform right next to you. Didn't move, didn't clap, didn't do anything. You teased me about it like Jesus Christ. Do you have any emotion?

[Mal]

I stood next to you, Serena Williams and Kevin Durant while we watched Drake perform his greatest hits.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Mal]

You didn't flinch at all. I thought you were sociopath, right?

[Rory]

Today you saw some emotion and some happiness out of me that you probably.

[Mal]

You look like a child. I've never seen it.

[Rory]

It's like Christmas morning got here today, elevator doors open, and two guys who I've probably been huge fans of, they have no idea how much they've impacted my life, my friends, lives. They were sitting in the lounge area talking to you and Julian and I'm just like, what the fuck? Today we are joined by the legendary duo who are a part of what I believe is easily the most impactful show HBO has ever. Has ever aired.

[Mal]

You're going for it.

[Brian Greenberg]

Wow.

[Unknown]

Wow.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's all order right now for me.

[Rory]

For me. I'm just going for me. I don't fuck everybody else today.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I'm just talking Tony Soprano.

[Rory]

Fuck Tony Soprano. I'm talking about not even the Wire.

[Victor Rasuk]

High praise this show. High praise.

[Rory]

How to make it in America represented what me and my friends and my circle were dealing with growing up in New York City finally felt seen. We felt like our story was being told. So today we are joined by Brian Greenberg and Victor Rasuk.

[Brian Greenberg]

Wow.

[Rory]

Also known as Ben Epstein and Cam Calderon.

[Brian Greenberg]

Love that.

[Victor Rasuk]

Listen, man, thanks for having us, man. Thanks for having us, man. I appreciate it.

[Rory]

I look forward to this day. When we found out that you guys wanted to be on, I immediately I was like, this is. I wore the crisp hat today. I don't know.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yo, you know what's so crazy though?

[Rory]

I Love the crisp hat. Like, I made. This is this show to me.

[Unknown]

He laid his outfit out last night, yo.

[Rory]

100% the first day of school.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

This show to me, represented.

[Mal]

Listen to man on the moon all the way here.

[Brian Greenberg]

I need a dollar.

[Rory]

Canine's a cannabis. All of this to me, you know, Looking forward back 2010 when how to make it in America first aired. You know, fast forward 14 years later. I think what you guys did laid the blueprint for what I think New York City is today as far as definitely what you guys did for streetwear. Just for guys that's growing up in city that wanted to hustle and find their way and, you know, the stories and the life and everything in between. I think that you guys were way ahead of the curve. I know hbo, we'll get into it. I know HBO fucked it up too many. They tried to put their hands in it too much. Fuck up the chefs, you know, order and all of that shit. We'll get into that. But what remains is the fact that, you know, Ben and Cam, your characters on how to make it in America represented so much in the culture. And I'm just. I'm honored for you guys to be here.

[Victor Rasuk]

Thank you, man. We really appreciate that.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's crazy.

[Rory]

Nah, man, I appreciate it.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's crazy, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

For real.

[Mal]

From a distance.

[Victor Rasuk]

That's. That's amazing.

[Mal]

To your praise of the intro. Remember when we were reading Fonte's comparison between rappers and TV shows? He wrote an article about.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh.

[Mal]

He put how to Make It America as Biggie.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, what I'll take.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Something that was about to be a legend but was cut way too short. I'm paraphrasing exactly what he was saying, but he was suggesting it never got to see its potential, but it was one of the greatest things that we had seen. Wow.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Biggie is also, like. He's definitely. He could be number one.

[Rory]

Oh, absolutely. He is number one on some people's list, you know, rightfully so. But I don't know where to start. But I think I want to start at the beginning of, you know, how to make it in America. Like, before you guys actually started shooting the show. Because I know that you guys actually met at the screen test.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And the chemistry right away was like, these two guys have to know each other.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And if they don't, this is like the universe aligning itself in a way where we're going to have something special. Shout out to the producers. Ian Edelman, Mark Wahlberg, Steve Levinson. Steve Levinstein. I think that what they tried to capture, they did, but I think that HBO at the time, with Entourage and all of those type of shows, they were trying to find the next Entourage instead of saying, no, this is totally different. It has its own space.

[Brian Greenberg]

You get it.

[Rory]

Let this be what it is.

[Victor Rasuk]

You get it.

[Rory]

So speak to how to make it in America changed your life. And what was life like before how to make it.

[Brian Greenberg]

It's funny that I'm listening to you talk about how much of a trendsetter the show was, and I think that if more people, like our fans that were watching the show kind of knew more of the business side, we wouldn't have gotten approached all these years about why it got canceled. You know what I mean? And I don't even think we would even start our own podcast. We almost made it. So I appreciate that. I wish more fans would just explain like, that be like, oh, then you already know.

[Rory]

We ain't got to explain it exactly.

[Brian Greenberg]

But how it changed our lives. So, like, we was talking about earlier, but I'm from Lower east side, straight New Yorker, and we. I started off doing the. I started, thankfully, where I grew up in Les. I grew up on Asian Avenue. D. Jacob Reese projects. Shout out to Jacob Reese projects. But the proximity of where I was at was next to nyu, you know what I'm saying? So I. In the summers when I was 13, 12, 13, there was nothing to do. I was in Thompson Square Park. I was like, where the hoes at with the girls at?

[Victor Rasuk]

Like, not in Thompson Square Park.

[Brian Greenberg]

Well, apparently, that's when I was a Fentanyl. And I was like, they ain't here. Yeah. No, but what was there, though, is that because of the proximity of nyu, a lot of NYU students, like, film students, were shooting their thesis film there. So, like, me being curious, y'all know, like, you know, you walking down the street, you talk 14, no girls. So you like, I'm gonna go to the pool, right? But then when I was walking to the pool, I saw a bunch of NYU students shooting, like, I don't know, like a bird on a tree. And I was, yo, what's good? And, like, these white. These white kids. And I was like, yo, what's up? Can I be in your movie? And they looked at me and they were like, yeah, actually, yeah. Cause they can't pay actors. They're like, yeah. So we exchanged numbers before cell phones, before all that, right? You know, you take the piece of paper from the number. You know, like, oh, okay, I got your number. So and then the way how I got in. And that's why I'm so thankful about being raised in Les, because the level of creativity that was there around that time, you know, I was there during, like, the Dinkins, you know, when Mayor Dinkins was there. And like, before, like, Giuliani cleaned it up, Thompson Square park was kind of, like, still sketchy, but there was a lot of artists, you know what I'm saying? That was like Andy Warhol, the Basquiats. Like, I grew up during that time. Anyway, long story short, nyu, I was doing a lot of short films. One of the film students did a feature that I starred in called Raising Victor Vargas. And from there, like, New York was already talking about, like, who's this kid Victor Asuk? And then later on, you know, that's when Ian Edelman, you know, he had me in mind because he saw my movie and he was like, yo, I wrote this thing, how to make it in America. So he already had me in mind. Just like he had Brian in mind because he saw Brian is something earlier. But that is kind of how I got my foot in with how to make it in America.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

It's funny, I was listening to Neil Brennan interview Michael Che, who also grew up in the projects. And Les, I'm not sure which one it is.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mal]

But he was explaining how crazy that was, like, leaving the Courtyard projects to walk into what the world Les really is. Yeah, it was like night and day. But, you know, he went to LaGuardia High School because he was around artists in the Lower east side instead of just staying right in those projects.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

And those projects are very projecty.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

And I've been there, Les ones that.

[Brian Greenberg]

Took me there, yo, as fans of how to make it, when we got. When we got cast and it was, you know, we were banning camp, we came. They flew us out, we came to New York, Right. We got put up. And I was like, you know, I still have fam in the Jacob Reese project. So I was like, brian, I know, you know, we just met, but, like, you should come see my fam and come to the projects. Yeah. First of all, I love this dude for so many reasons, but simple fact that he didn't even hesitate, was like, yeah, let's go, yo. He can't. First of all, everything the projects is like, mass short. You know what I'm saying? It's not made for tall people. So, you know, what are you, six one, six, six.

[Victor Rasuk]

But I'll take the six. One.

[Brian Greenberg]

All right, whatever. So he Comes with the projects, right? And it's actually one of the nicer buildings in the projects. Cause sometimes, like, if you go deep in the projects, like, the more in the middle you go, the worse it is. But if you in the peripheral, I don't know if it's because logistically where it's at, but it's actually nicer. Like Nycha, right?

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Like, they clean it better, I guess. I don't know why they don't go.

[Rory]

All the way in the building.

[Brian Greenberg]

You find that the little ones and the ones that are in the peripheral are actually cleaner. Anyway, my aunt happened to live in that one of the cleaner ones, and he came and Brian, you know, we had, you know, arrocuat with chuela chileta. You know what I'm saying? We had all those. My people. My Dominican people's food. And Brian ate. We chilled.

[Victor Rasuk]

It was great.

[Brian Greenberg]

And I remember at the end, we were still chilling. You know, I'm laughing with my family because, you know, I got my little cousins and everything. You know, it's like 50 people in one apartment. And I remember, I just look at Brian. He's mad quiet, and you could just tell, he's like, yeah, it's time to go, bro. Like, the claustrophobia started hitting hard, you know what I'm saying?

[Rory]

Going down. It's time to get out of here.

[Brian Greenberg]

But it's only for that it was like, just the claustrophobic because, you know, it's small. I mean, it's like it's in the block. You know what I'm saying?

[Rory]

That's what's crazy when you think about, yo, we grew up here. So many of us lived here. Hot. It was one shower.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

10 people in an apartment. How do we make it happen? Everybody has a schedule. Everybody has to be at school. Everybody has to be at work.

[Brian Greenberg]

Got the bathroom. Yo, what's up? What's. Yo, I gotta go.

[Rory]

It never ran out of hot water.

[Mal]

The projects, apartments on earth.

[Brian Greenberg]

Okay, that's what I was gonna say. You said. Yeah, you said. That's exactly what I was gonna say. You'd be like, yo, turn off the heater, yo. Screaming out tonight, y'all. Turn off the heater.

[Mal]

No matter how wide One pipe and melt your skin.

[Rory]

Where are you from, Brian?

[Victor Rasuk]

So I'm from the Midwest, From Omaha, Nebraska.

[Rory]

Omaha.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. So I was born there. Lived there for 12 years, and then I moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Victor Rasuk]

So that was, like, there from seventh through 12th grade. And then I moved here when I was 18.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Victor Rasuk]

I went to NYU, but my dad's from Queens, and like my Grant, like, his whole family's from here. So I come here all the time. So I was always being pulled to New York. Just felt like being called almost, you know, I was like, this. The music I was listening, all the hip hop, all the actors I respected were coming out of New York. The theater scene, what rap do they.

[Rory]

Listen to in Omaha?

[Victor Rasuk]

In Omaha? Well, it was like 3:11, remember 311? They were like the big band. Back, back. It was like rap rock, which doesn't really hold up now, but in the 90s, it was like, oh, give it 10 years.

[Brian Greenberg]

Give it 10 years. It'll. It'll come.

[Victor Rasuk]

Rage against the Machine holds up hell yeah, 311 holds up but rage holds they would like to claim Rage holds Rage holds we got Crawford now, Omaha, yo, but Crawford, pound for pound, half a belly, but. But yeah, I just always never felt like I was gonna stay in the Midwest, you know, I'm happy that I was from there, but New York was always calling me when I would visit as a kid. I was like, oh, man, this is. This is it. So I just felt like it was in my bones. And so when I came to nyu, I was like, I've. I'm here, you know, And I've kind of been here ever since, pretty much.

[Rory]

So the. The how to make it in America. The casting call goes out. What did y'all think about the script or the opportunity? Did you think that this was gonna be something big or were you just looking for work? Was it just like, I just wanna do something. I don't have any expectations. I'm just gonna try this shit and just see what happens?

[Victor Rasuk]

Well, I was on a. I had some momentum going at that time in my career. I was coming off of. I was just coming off of an ABC show that I was the lead of called October Road, which we did two seasons of. It was a great show. Before that, I did this movie, prime, with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman. And that was very, like, New York centric movie. And it's a romantic comedy. It's actually. I'm very proud of that film. It's a. It's a great film. It's about a younger man who I played a younger man dating an older woman, Uma Thurman. And it turns out Meryl Streep is. Her therapist, is also my mother. So there you go, mom.

[Rory]

Mom hooked you up.

[Brian Greenberg]

Hooked it up.

[Rory]

Have a son, single.

[Victor Rasuk]

But it was very New York saying.

[Mal]

Meryl Streep and how to drop that.

[Victor Rasuk]

How to drive it, name drop. So. But that was a very New York. Like, that was. You asked about how to make it. Like, I feel like my character in that was similar to Ben Epstein, meaning he was like, a Brooklyn guy, was an artist. Like, I remember my character took Uma to, like, a downtown Brooklyn party, and they're playing Biggie and, you know, Stretch Armstrong spinning. And like, it was this New York. It touched on a couple things that. That how to make it would later on expand upon. So I think maybe Ian, the Edelman, the writer, the creator, kind of saw me in his head with that. Yeah, but it did. It wasn't an offer. Like, I read the script. I was like this. I kind of knew Ian because we played ball together, but I didn't even know he was a writer. I was like, oh, this guy's cool. He's a New York dude. He's like. He's just cool. Like, I fucked with him. Yeah, but. And then I was like, is this Ian the same Ian?

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And then I read. I was like, this is. But he's the kind of dude who. He's so ahead of it. Like, whatever he does, like, you know, it's cool. Yeah, he's one of those guys. Like, if he's saying it's cool, then he's verifying it. Right? So I read it, and I'm like, okay. I don't really get it, to be honest, because it's not like anything I've ever read before. It didn't have your normal plot, your normal. It just was a vibe. Right. And there wasn't a lot of those things happening at the. The time. It's like, oh, let's just. I call it a tone show. There wasn't a lot of that at the time. Now, since how to make it, there's been other iterations of that type of show, but nothing like that at the time. So I was like, I don't know, but I like Ian. And I. I did a show called Unscripted on HBO before. So I've always. I love hbo. And at the time, HBO was, like, the best. I'm like, all right, they're doing it.

[Rory]

It's the lead HBO own Sundays.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

I mean, their slogan was, it's not tv, it's HBO now. This is before Netflix, and everybody came up but kind of killing it then. So I was. I was into it. And then. So I went in, and then I. They were like, okay, we're. We're thinking about Victor for the other role. And we did a chemistry read, which you were talking about, and we just. I mean, we haven't stopped hanging out since that chemistry read before. Now our kids hang out together. It's. It's crazy.

[Rory]

That's dope.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's awesome.

[Brian Greenberg]

For me, I was like, y'all walked down. I was like, straight off for bx.

[Rory]

They were like, offer really from this city?

[Brian Greenberg]

I want somebody put the razor blade.

[Victor Rasuk]

Out of his tongue.

[Brian Greenberg]

I wish it was that easy. No, it was. You know, after raising Victor Vargas, I was trying to, like, do that thing where I was like, I, you know, I'm New York, obviously, so, like, let me try to do different things. So, like, shortly after Vargas, you know, the movie was getting so much praise that I was not getting offers, but a lot of interest for different types of movies. So, like, it wasn't just straight New York characters, which is what I didn't want to do, because I wanted it to, like.

[Rory]

You didn't want to be boxed in.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, exactly. And early on, too, which I'm glad that I had the right team around me. But the thing is that the offers for something that, like, wasn't pigeonholing me weren't coming in, so I was still working on trying to, like, do things that were out the box. I know. Rory, you were saying you were a fan of Lloyds of Dogtown, so Lloyds of Dogtown was, like, my first major thing after raising Victor Vargas. But again, audition, like, I wasn't Mr. California. I was playing Tony Alva. Like, it was, like, the complete opposite. So I had to work on my accent. I had to live with the dude. He was teaching me, yo, that dude.

[Mal]

Is you learn to skateboard.

[Brian Greenberg]

I had to learn, but I was living with him, and he wanted it right. And I was like, yo, they gave us. Thankfully, they gave us three months to do it. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that, like, at that point in my career, it was like I was just trying to do different things outside of New York. And then, like, I had. I don't know, there was, like, a gap of between how to make it and Vargas. Maybe, like, eight years or something like that. So I think I, like, not established, but at least I had content out there, like Lourdes. And then I was on another show. I was on er, which I played a young doctor coming in. It was like, the last season, so I was already sort of like, okay, I'm not just Mr. New York, but when how to make it came, I didn't Think, Listen, I didn't think it was a hit. You know, it was like a tone. Like Brian was saying. It was like another script, another pilot, pilot season. I was like, all right, I guess I have to audition for this. But I was like, thank God I could do something that's not a lord to Dogtown. Or, er, where I'm like, I could play more of myself. Cause I knew that world. I mean, I knew the world of New York. I didn't know the fashion world, but I knew, like, oh, I could fuck with this. And then when I found out Ian was already interested, it was kind of like for me to lose. Like, I felt like I was already gonna have it, but I was like, at this point, it's for me to lose. You know what I'm saying? So then when we met and then they saw the vibe. Cause you know, Lev and Ian and Rob Weiss, they were all there when they saw me and him. And I think you could tell in the room and you like, oh, yeah, this is gonna work. Yeah, we felt that soon.

[Victor Rasuk]

I rolled up on the fixed gear, you know.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. I forgot about that.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. I think now that we're thinking about it, I remember thinking, wow, this show could be dope if. Cause I know the world too. Like, we come from this, you know, I'm living in New York. It's like, we understand this downtown scene. We know these people. I was just familiar with the world.

[Mal]

Well, it's really tough to get a one year old to go to sleep.

[Rory]

I know we've been talking about it.

[Mal]

We talk about it every episode. And by the time I get her to sleep, sometimes I miss my window and I'm sitting there just scrolling on my phone, wide awake. But luckily, with Via Sleep Gummies and Dream Gummies, I go right to sleep. Whether it's the 2, 5, 10 milligram option, I am knocked immediately. And my whole life has changed.

[Rory]

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[Mal]

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[Rory]

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[Rory]

Well, speaking of picks hitting, Deshaun Watson has been killing me. I'm taking him in the under every weekend from now on. I'm going to take the Monday Night Football game this week.

[Brian Greenberg]

Rory.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

I'm taking Josh Allen in the over against the Jets.

[Mal]

Same.

[Rory]

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[Victor Rasuk]

No one's told this story before. I think we'd be good ones to tell this story. But I was like, it's very execution dependent. And my agents were like, I don't know, Brian. I'm like, I think I know. I know this world. I was like, I think it's. I think if we do it right, it's gonna work. Yeah, you know, so it's a gamble.

[Rory]

You know, the only. The thing that me and my friends, the only thing we could think about at the time, I mean, obviously we know more information now why we never got a third season of Hot.

[Victor Rasuk]

You tell me, man. Cause I don't know.

[Rory]

Well, we thought, we felt like, is this to New York? Like, is this. Because watching every episode, I was like, bro, we just lived this type of shit. Last month we went through some shit like that. Like, this is crazy that this show is depicting real shit that happens in the city.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Even like the clothes. We're in a life going to flight club, you know, going to the. Going to the club's Avenue and all of this shit. It was like we was just there last week.

[Brian Greenberg]

You freshly watched the show again, bro. Because you named all the stuff, you.

[Rory]

Know, watching it 10, 12 years ago when it aired and then watching it now, you pick up so many things.

[Brian Greenberg]

Does it hold up?

[Unknown]

I just recently rewatched it, saying how it still holds.

[Mal]

It's time capsule is what.

[Rory]

It's a time capsule dated to you. No.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. With the fashion.

[Brian Greenberg]

And I know you keep it.

[Rory]

They're dressing like that now.

[Victor Rasuk]

Again, I know that's what we were thinking because you keep it 100 too.

[Brian Greenberg]

So that's dope.

[Rory]

It's insane because again, that's why I'm asking, like, did y'all know, being from New York, obviously being spending time in the city, getting that script, shooting it where you were shooting it. Even going to Japan in season two, right. And shooting that shit with no, no permits, Y'all wasn't even allowed to shoot. Just shooting that shit on one camera.

[Brian Greenberg]

You know, everything, bro. Were you there, bro? This is my crazy.

[Victor Rasuk]

How the fuck you knew that?

[Rory]

So I'm just. Look, I'm just looking at it now and I'm like. I'm like, this was so ahead of the time, but it was so great then. But even now, it makes more sense today.

[Victor Rasuk]

Well, maybe because it was so ahead that it works today.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Like, if you did it now, it might come off as a cheesy, like, kith type of show where it's worldwide now. The street where it was so niche at that time, kind of to your point of. If we execute this right, it'll be great.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

And to me, that's why the show was canceled, because we did it right. You executed it so right. It was just to one community, and it did not spread across to everyone else for someone to get the genius of it also.

[Victor Rasuk]

Now we're living in times that are so fractured. Right. Like, we're not living in, like, NBC, abc, cbs, like, three channels, Right. Everybody's got a show for their own taste, right? Yeah. Their own network. Right. So, yeah. I don't know. Like, it was. And that's. It was very niche, you know, and that would work now because everything is niche.

[Mal]

Well, I think they used you guys as a case study to do girls. I know those are two Totally different fucking shows. But to what Mal is saying, like, they went to Greenhouse. Like, it was such a New York show.

[Victor Rasuk]

Greenhouse.

[Mal]

But the problems and issues they were going through.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Were so worldwide and relatable that girls worked, but it still had that. Oh, these are. I know this girl.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I know these girls in Bushwick. I know these transplants. I know this. But I think they saw what I.

[Victor Rasuk]

Think they had to make room for girls. If I'm being frank.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

I think it was.

[Mal]

You guys did good with.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

New York shit. And we're like, let's find.

[Brian Greenberg]

They didn't take that. They took our whole fucking crew. Like, literally, like the camp with the DP of the whole crew that worked out how to make it. They were like, yeah, we're working on the show called Girls next season, and. Oh, wow. And that's when we knock on them. But I'm like, they didn't just take that, but they also took our crew.

[Rory]

You know, Nate was there. Yeah.

[Mal]

What would have been so cool in hindsight, if those. It was the same universe.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

If those.

[Victor Rasuk]

Eventually, if they ran in Cam, the girlfriend.

[Brian Greenberg]

I thought about that, too.

[Rory]

You kidding me?

[Brian Greenberg]

Imagine Canvas smashing all of them. Like, oh, yo, y'all just moved here. Let's go to the bx. You ever heard of the bx? Let's go.

[Rory]

One of my favorite scenes ever in how to make it is when y'all are on the corner downtown selling the leather jackets.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh.

[Victor Rasuk]

In the pump.

[Brian Greenberg]

When I steal it. When I steal the pleathers.

[Rory]

And I walk in, and Ben is standing there with the cop, because the cop is like, let me see the permit.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And you like, all right, cool. I got it. It's right here. And then you walk to the rack, like, you gonna get the permit. You snatch the coach and you start running. Ben doesn't move. He's drinking his coffee with the cop. The cop is like, you want to call your friend back home?

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rory]

To me, that's such a. Like, you gotta let your man know when. Yo, listen, I'm about to book it. I don't know what you doing with this coffee and this cop, but I'm out of here.

[Brian Greenberg]

But I know me and you ran for 5. 0 back in the day. So for me, that was when I read that, I was like, oh, yeah, I've done this.

[Rory]

But that was so dumb because you have the friend that's not going to run.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's right.

[Victor Rasuk]

And you have the friend.

[Mal]

Yes.

[Brian Greenberg]

Would you have told your man, though? Too.

[Mal]

Right now. I would stand there.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, you'd be better.

[Rory]

Right now. He's drinking the coverage he's been. He's standing there. I'm the guy that's gonna be like, yo, I'm out of here.

[Mal]

Yeah, Family member, laminated card.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I don't know. More.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, yo, that's.

[Mal]

Yeah, I'm waiting for an Uber.

[Rory]

We brought up Michael Chase name. It's funny because I feel like if how to make it was still a thing, Michael Che would be a character.

[Victor Rasuk]

He's hilarious.

[Rory]

He would absolutely be in how to Make It.

[Brian Greenberg]

I'm trying to think of what project he was because I feel like, you know, when you. When you grow up in this particular, you know, project or whatever, there's multiple projects right next to, you know, whatever project you grew up in. And I remember that we always had beef with. This is so stupid. But, like, now they Hindsight. I'm like, damn, man. I can't believe I was doing stupid shit like this. But we would always have. Yeah. You know how like, so I was Jacob Reese, but we always had beef with Kat and Baruch. There's a project called Baruch, and I think that's where he might be from. I'm not sure, but I wonder if like, fuck, I might get him on some beef. Stupid, like, adolescent shit.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Just because he was with, you know, with a whole nother crew and I was at. With the Jacob Reese. That's crazy. We might actually bumped it. Anyway, y'all never met Michael J. I never met him, but, like, now I'm thinking about. I could have been having beef with him. I didn't even know who he was.

[Victor Rasuk]

Maybe at a Knicks game or something. I don't know.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, maybe. Oh, yeah.

[Rory]

As an adult.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mal]

Still beefing.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Nah, I can't wait till you guys roll up on each other.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's on site.

[Unknown]

I wanted to ask when. When Entourage was coming to an end is kind of when you guys were, like, beginning. Yeah. And in hindsight, I know now that the shows have long been over. They're compared const. The LA version of the New York version of Entourage is how to make.

[Victor Rasuk]

An America never got at.

[Unknown]

At the table read or like, in the chemistry reading at that time. Did you see the similarity? Were you fans of that show? Did you, like, kind of see it then? Or was this something that kind of grew over time?

[Victor Rasuk]

So I was definitely a fan of that show. I've seen every episode of Entourage. I think it's great. But like I said, like, I Knew this world, and I knew that this was very far from that world. And Entourage was about, like, very. It was like, aspirational. Right. These. Wouldn't it be nice to be a movie star? Wouldn't it be nice to, like, have all your friends come with you and. And live that life? These guys were trying to, like, put 1200 together to, like, you know, pay a pattern. Right? Like, yeah, this is very. Not that world, you know? So it was just like two different.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it felt like. I mean, again, because of the New Yorker.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Like, Entourage always felt like a fever dream, and it was just like this whole, like, world that was like. Like this. It's a real. But it's not. Yeah, this show. Your show is like the whole cop interaction, running from the cops, and that's. That's real. That's life.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Stuff that could happen.

[Mal]

Hollywood and how to make it. America was very anti.

[Rory]

That.

[Mal]

It was a completely different world.

[Victor Rasuk]

Look, we were billed that way because obviously, it's same producers. Rob White, you know, Mark Wahlberg, Steve Levinson, Money, Julian Farino. Yeah. And they. Yeah, they had. They had heat at HBO at the time, so. So I think it's also easy for not. You know, people don't. They don't want to do a lot of deep diving. You know, they just want a headline like, what is it about? Oh, it's New York Contrast. Okay, cool. I'll watch that. It's like, you know, you got. You can't, like, give them. It's about these two upstarts who start denim.

[Brian Greenberg]

No.

[Victor Rasuk]

You know, so it. I think that was just their way to kind of introduce us to the world. But I think once people started watching it, they realized that we were totally different. Yeah.

[Mal]

What was that first table read like, with. With this guy that has a song called Day and Night starting to bubble on the radio just a little bit. Cause you guys shot the first season, I'd imagine, in 09, right.

[Brian Greenberg]

08. 08 08.

[Mal]

So was. Did Day and Night even come out yet?

[Victor Rasuk]

Day and Night was out.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was out.

[Victor Rasuk]

Day and Night was out.

[Rory]

Cudi was Cudi at the time.

[Victor Rasuk]

No, it was not Cuddy.

[Rory]

He wasn't Cudi. But when he was on the screen, people know, yo, that's Kid Cudi. Like, everybody.

[Mal]

No, I feel like if you were kind of in the know, that's what it was. That's Cudi.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. It was for people in the know.

[Mal]

Day more.

[Brian Greenberg]

But now we're thinking that's a.

[Unknown]

Day and night came out February 5th, 2008.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

So, but, like, percolating.

[Brian Greenberg]

When season two came out, that's when, like, the vibe was different. When. I'm sorry, when we were shooting season two.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

He was like.

[Victor Rasuk]

Because man was out.

[Brian Greenberg]

We like, oh, he's qualified star at that point. Yeah, at that point. And in season two, we were like, how y'all lock in? You know, me and Brian at least. I was thinking, like, how are the producers locking him down with his crazy schedule to shoot this show, by the way? And he even said, you know, we had him on our podcast. He was saying, like, season one and season two, he, like, studied, like, how to be a better actor, like, in between those seasons so he could come to season two coming. Correct. I mean, that says a lot about just, like, his artistry. You know what I'm saying? But when he came on season two, he was cutting, and we went. There's a video. I think we put it on our pod. The videos that we don't have. We put it on our assets. Right. Like we were talking about earlier, he put. There was a. There's a video the night of when. When the album. His first album dropped.

[Victor Rasuk]

Man on the moon.

[Brian Greenberg]

Man on the moon. Yeah. We were down. Going down Times Square in his, like, suv, and we were like, yo. I was shaking him like, yo, your album is out playing right now. We hit Tom Square. It's just crazy. And I was more hyped for him than he was, bro.

[Rory]

Yeah, yeah, it was crazy.

[Victor Rasuk]

No, but we told this story, too. I think on the pilot, we're like, you know, we went to go see him at, I think, Santos back in the day, and there was nobody on the stage. This is like, when we're shooting the pilot. I mean, there's nobody in the audience. There's, like, 30 people in the aud audience.

[Rory]

Yeah, yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And Scott comes out there, kills it. But he's also, like. You can tell he's a little, like, frustrated. Like, it was a small crowd, and. But he. He said this thing, and I love the confidence that he had. He said, you guys. You guys don't know me now, but I guarantee in a year, you're gonna know who I am.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, but guess who's in the audience.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Guess who was in the audience at.

[Victor Rasuk]

The bar in the back with the Yankee faded.

[Brian Greenberg]

Hello.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

So he knew, but, like. Yeah, I mean, it was his stardom, his talent, undeniable. We all knew. It's, like, just a matter of time.

[Rory]

He had. He cracked the code for the most genius. His job. He sells weed at Night.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, Domingo Dean.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Who thought of canines of cannabis?

[Rory]

Who wrote that into the.

[Victor Rasuk]

Ian Edelman, I'm gonna say.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah. It was.

[Victor Rasuk]

All credit goes to.

[Rory]

That is.

[Brian Greenberg]

But wait, I feel like. I feel like he. Because his ears. Oh, I mean, still is. I feel like his ears are always to the streets.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

He must.

[Rory]

He knows somebody that knows.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

You can't just create that.

[Mal]

But that's how great the show is executed. Because Kid Cudi was exactly who he was in real life at that time. Like, if you knew that kid from the bape store making music, living in East New York, like, he was that scene in a nutshell, like, that was probably one of the best casted roles of all time. If you knew who Cudi was at that time.

[Victor Rasuk]

Facts, for sure.

[Rory]

Without a doubt.

[Victor Rasuk]

And that's all Ian. Ian found him. You know, he found him at like a party or something. I don't even know.

[Brian Greenberg]

HBO was like, who is this dude? HBO was like, who is this guy? But they loved him. I mean, when he performed, they were like. They loved him so much. You know, we said this on our podcast too, that they loved him so much that they created, like, he came in for Can.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

And then obviously that. What? You know, they had Cam. They had the vision of me being playing Cam. But then they loved him so much that Domingo didn't even exist in the original pilot. That they wrote Domingo because they loved his audition.

[Rory]

He was originally supposed to be casting for one of the leads.

[Brian Greenberg]

Correct.

[Rory]

His Cam.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's what I'm saying. He came in for Cam. And so they were like, obviously it was gonna go to Vic, but they were like, yo, we felt like he.

[Rory]

Could be his own thing, yo.

[Brian Greenberg]

And that never happens in our industry. Like, never. They never create a new role, you know, special.

[Victor Rasuk]

They're like, we gotta. We gotta get him in the world somehow. And they made crazy.

[Rory]

And then also, which was dope. The iconic Luis Guzman, bro. Iconic cousin Rene.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yes.

[Mal]

Icon.

[Rory]

Culturally known as the iconic Pachanga yo. From Carlito's Way. Him being your cousin, I don't know who thought of that, but that was like, this is what really. How it really goes. My cousin just did a shitload of time in the feds. Whatever. He's home now.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

We need some money.

[Brian Greenberg]

He still can relate to that. Yeah.

[Rory]

You know what I mean? Like, that was like, to me, the most genius. And who else but Luis Guzman to play that role?

[Mal]

He. His career, to me is the example of not being typecasted when everyone's Trying to typecast you.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

He somehow breaks out of that box every single time. He has his stereotypical role that he smokes every time. But then the next month, you'll see him in something like, how the fuck is he even? And why did it work?

[Brian Greenberg]

He can do no wrong.

[Victor Rasuk]

He can do no wrong. And I remember when we were shooting, we walked down the streets and. And he would get love from everybody from different. Every fan was from a different podcast, for sure. It was never the same thing.

[Brian Greenberg]

Brian and I have. You know, we've had the good fortune of working with some household names and be either friends or not friends, but he's the only person that is the most recognized person that I've ever, like.

[Victor Rasuk]

Walked alongside on the street across all genres.

[Brian Greenberg]

All genres, yeah.

[Rory]

No matter who. What he does, he's pechanga for the most part.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, bro. You know, Brian's working Meryl Streeb, Clooney. I think he's still more recognized than those, for sure. Like, it's crazy.

[Rory]

Without a doubt.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's crazy.

[Mal]

I just did my friend's film story, Ev.

[Brian Greenberg]

Aristotle. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that.

[Rory]

Oh, yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was the indie movie. I think he also produced it, too. That's kind of why he told me to go watch it.

[Mal]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

I liked it a lot.

[Mal]

Aristotle's super tall.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if a lot of people don't know the story about how Louis even got involved with the show, but there was a point where they didn't even consider him because they didn't think that he would do the show because he was such a big deal. And so I had two Les Cats. He's from Les. He's from Mazarik Projects, from jgo, Reese, and he. We had been friends, and so when they were thinking about, like, a Louie Guzman type, it was like, why don't we just get Louie Guzman? Yeah, right. They're like, oh, shit, can we get Louie Guzman?

[Victor Rasuk]

I was like, business is funny, bro.

[Brian Greenberg]

Like, I'll make the call. Like, I've known him already, you know, he's like my big brother. You know what I'm saying? I'll call him. And so I did. And then, you know, whatever, I told him about it. But he was like, yo, it's not enough for me to do in the pilot. Like, I'm only in, like, one scene. I'm like, yo, Louie, there's only one opportunity. We're going to do a show about our hood. You know what I'm saying? Or close to our Hood. You know what I'm saying? Vibe. And so he kind of took me out of my word. And he was like, all right, well, then. And I could tell he was a little bit hesitant. So then I told Ian and Rob or whatever, and then they got Mark Wahlberg to seal the deal because him and Mark had done, like, two movies or maybe one movie, they did Boogie Nights, and they were friends, and Mark, of course, was, like, a huge fan of his and whatever. So then all props to Mark, like, he definitely sealed the deal. But can you believe it if he didn't do it? I can't think of anybody else.

[Rory]

I don't know who else would have played that role.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And not at that. That level. And would just. Because I feel like a lot of that watching it, it's almost like he's not acting like he would really react like that.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

That situation. He would. That's how he would react in that situation.

[Victor Rasuk]

Think about Lou. He plays such a great heavy because he's got that face.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

You know, he doesn't have to do. He just looks at you and you're like, okay.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was, like, not acting either. I was like, oh, you're not sure.

[Mal]

If you should laugh or be terrified.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

He's such a teddy bear, man. He's a sweetheart. Like, he's. He's a good man. Like, he's just. He's all about the people, and he's all about giving and charity, and he's just. He's amazing.

[Rory]

All right, so let's. Let's. On hbo full.

[Victor Rasuk]

Okay. Okay.

[Brian Greenberg]

I love this.

[Unknown]

Let's ask one more casting question before we did change gears. Pusha T. How did he get into the show?

[Mal]

Yeah. Forgot.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yo, Push was great, man. What was the name of that?

[Rory]

The Caribbean. What was it? The Caribbean.

[Victor Rasuk]

He was in season two.

[Rory]

Yeah. What was the crew Was the name of the crew that he was a part of?

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, man.

[Rory]

The Caribbean.

[Victor Rasuk]

I gotta be honest. I haven't seen the show in, like, since it aired. And we're re watching the show, and.

[Brian Greenberg]

I'm only on episode three because we just finished.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, my God, my memory is so bad. So, like, I don't even know. I don't even. I don't remember. I'm watching you, like, oh, do we get the jeans or not? Honestly, I forgot it all, so I have no idea.

[Mal]

For yourself.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. I hope he makes it.

[Rory]

I hope he makes.

[Victor Rasuk]

Man, I hope this gets the third season. I love this.

[Brian Greenberg]

Y'all really like that Ben. Dude, bro. That camp dude is high. But damn, that bend. Dude, I'm gonna make sense if they.

[Victor Rasuk]

Don'T pick this thing up, man.

[Rory]

Yeah, and I love the. What was it the one thing y'all did, too, with the scarf? Leaving the scarf at. What was the thing, man?

[Brian Greenberg]

I don't know. Remind me, dog.

[Rory]

I felt like it was a.

[Brian Greenberg]

Tell me what season. First of all, start off with that season one, right.

[Rory]

Where y'all would leave the scarf if you hooked up with a girl, and then, like, so if you went back to the girl's house.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yo, you sure this is our show?

[Rory]

Yeah, I think this is our show.

[Mal]

This is your real life.

[Brian Greenberg]

I don't remember.

[Victor Rasuk]

And that's how you knew?

[Unknown]

Because we would go to the girls every summer.

[Brian Greenberg]

I think. No, I think you didn't see it, but I think we talked about that at some point. We was like, yo, we leave the scarf. I know not to go in. We talked about. We didn't. But you didn't see it.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, I think there was a quick mention of that. That was genius. And it was with Scott. I think it was with Scott, too.

[Rory]

You hook up with a girl, leave the scar.

[Unknown]

But yeah, again, I don't know the name of Push's crew, but just. He was casted again as a drug dealer, and he.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, okay, so how did he get cast?

[Brian Greenberg]

I don't.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't know exactly, but I think Scott Venner, the music supervisor, might have something wrote mogul who was a huge part of the show. The music. At the time, he was.

[Rory]

Scott does the music for Ballers.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, he did Ballers Entourage, but he was breaking a lot of, like, musicians. I mean, Alo Black alone, you know? I mean, Alo Black credits How to make it the theme song for launching his career.

[Mal]

And that just speaks to, like, really understanding a show rather than what your resume is, because that was some interview. Entourage has his own podcast now.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, yeah.

[Mal]

And they were interviewing him. He was never supposed to score any of that show. The producer just brought it to him for, like, opinion. Like, what do you think about the show? They were just friends.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

He's like, this is great. The music just fucking sucks.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

So he replaced all the songs, and they were like, hey, do you want to just keep doing this for the rest of the show? Like, I know it's not your job. And he just ended up doing that shit.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yes.

[Rory]

Scott Venner is like. He's secretly one of the guys that has. Has had his DNA and his imprint on a lot of the iconic shows. In the.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, we also gotta get Gabe Hilfer. Gabe Hilfer is also one of the music supervisors who doesn't get as much credit, but he's also. Was a big part of it. He's huge now. He does, like, a lot of big. I mean, I did you people. He did that. He does a lot of big shows.

[Brian Greenberg]

But y'all on a side note, just real quick. Cause I know especially. I know Mal is, like, a big fan. So you want to hear the anecdotes. One of the best moments that I had on how to make it. There's a lot of moments, right? We can talk about the clubs, how we was living real life. You know, we've shut down the club. Yo. Yeah, we rap. We gonna stay. Y'all go. But there's a great moment had to do with Alo Black. So me and Brian, we shot the pilot, right? So we, like. Yo, we don't know if it's a hit, but we felt really good when we shot the pilot. So it was an eight day. We were just in la. I mean, it was just in New York. We flew back to la. So now we gotta do the adr, right? We gotta do all the school, you know, all the. Like, there was a helicopter in one season. We gotta, like, redo the voices or whatever, you know, since we in the studio. And they gotta start from the beginning, right? Cause they gotta do in chronological order, like, what we have to record with our voices. So they started with the beginning and the credit. And me and Brian don't know what we watching. We just. We just knew. We just shot. We just know what we shot and what was on the page, right? But visually, we don't know what we about to watch, right? So, yo, they started. First time we saw Aloe Black. And then we saw all the. I need a dollar. And then you see my name with the earring, and you see his name with it. And then the subway. And we looked at each other. I'll never forget this look. And we were like, oh, we got one. Like, it was like two dudes acting like kids. We like, oh, shit. And like, as actors, yo, it's like. It's crazy when you know you got something dope.

[Rory]

Yeah, it's pretty rare.

[Brian Greenberg]

Never forget that moment, bro. It was like, okay. And then ever since then, it was like.

[Rory]

It was like, well, how to make it? The theme song was so iconic. Obviously, I know Black.

[Victor Rasuk]

And the credit sequence.

[Brian Greenberg]

That credit sequence, that was just.

[Rory]

I think that made way for, like, the power.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Set the tone.

[Rory]

It set the tone for, like, shows. Like, listen from the gate. It has to hit the music, the way the names, the character. Like, everything has to. How to make it set that.

[Mal]

But even before we shit on hbo, they've always been great at that. From Sopranos opening to Wire, like, you just knew right away.

[Brian Greenberg]

But you got to remember for us, like, we didn't. We could have been the first. Like, we could have been the first thinker. We were like, we don't know. You know what I'm saying?

[Mal]

That's what's crazy about. They want to run it. Are we going to ruin the legacy? Exactly.

[Rory]

Exactly.

[Brian Greenberg]

So we were kind of nervous when we saw we're not gonna be that good.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

But I was gonna say, too, Like, I don't know. Like, even when you record music, don't you feel like sometimes. I don't know if you ever had that moment that we had where you're like, you recorded it, you think it's gonna be dope, but then you hear. You're like, oh, yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

If you have that overthinks everything, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

Like, you had that moment. So, like, it was just crazy. I never. In the simple fact I could talk about it and visualize it still telling y'all the story.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

You know what I'm saying? Like, that's what we had. Like, it was crazy. Anyway. Anyway, we were talking about Ilo Black, but Pusha T. I think it was Scott Venner. And by the way, I don't even know who he was at the time. Cause he didn't really, like.

[Victor Rasuk]

You didn't know the clips?

[Brian Greenberg]

I didn't really know, man. Like, I had to be put on by E and everybody. And then he came on and did that whole thing, like, you know, when he rapped, you knew who the clips were. Yeah, I knew the clips.

[Mal]

I didn't know. Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Him specifically, I did not know.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't think he was, like, super solo at that point.

[Brian Greenberg]

He was. And then when he broke. When he was after the show, like, then it wasn't because of the show. But I'm just saying, the chronology was he blew up after the show.

[Mal]

Obviously, 2010 was probably around the time Pusha T became the solo artist.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yes.

[Victor Rasuk]

You guys know you music.

[Unknown]

It was right around the same time.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

That's why I was at Jam in 2010 when it became like, the solo act, when he was doing all the Good Friday shit and Kanye came in and was like, yeah, one of my first signings that I want to push is this guy from the clips.

[Victor Rasuk]

Good music. Yeah, sure.

[Brian Greenberg]

He's from dmv, right?

[Mal]

Yeah, he's from Virginia.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's the first time I ever heard that term. Because I remember talking to him. Offset.

[Rory]

He's from the Bronx, man.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, what?

[Rory]

He moved to Virginia.

[Victor Rasuk]

Really?

[Brian Greenberg]

Okay. Because he told me Virginia, So I would have talked about the Bronx to.

[Rory]

Virginia at a very young age. But I still say pushers from the Bronx.

[Brian Greenberg]

Okay, well, that's the first time I ever heard the DMV, that term. You know, DC, MD, and Virginia. So I was like, oh, I don't know.

[Mal]

While we're on. Good music.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

What. What was your reaction when Cudi hit the group chat and said, yo, Puff just blew up my car?

[Victor Rasuk]

Honestly, I never even got into it with him, man.

[Rory]

Talk to him about.

[Victor Rasuk]

I'm close friends with Cut and we never. I never. I never brought that up. I don't know.

[Mal]

That'd be a weird thing to bring up, too. Like, years later, if I read somewhere.

[Brian Greenberg]

You said exactly what I was gonna say.

[Mal]

Leave that alone. If he didn't tell me.

[Brian Greenberg]

It's like, if you're a man, right? Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

If it comes up, it comes up. I'm not gonna.

[Brian Greenberg]

If you're my man and we talking about some shorty and then that happened. Am I really gonna ask you that? Like, I don't know. Maybe you would, but I wouldn't.

[Rory]

It depends on how close we are.

[Brian Greenberg]

And I think that's why we kind of just touch and go.

[Rory]

Like, I would look at you for a while and just be like that, so.

[Brian Greenberg]

And then this shit happened, obviously. What happened with Diddy. Even more reason why I don't even ask.

[Rory]

I don't even wanna touch it.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. I don't even wanna touch.

[Rory]

Yeah, I feel you.

[Mal]

And it happened so long ago, and it didn't even hit the press. Like, I'm sure that's something he's wanted to move on from.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

For quite some time.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I can relive that shit, y'all.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I'd leave it alone.

[Brian Greenberg]

If you. My man. I'm gonna leave it alone. I'm sorry. Especially if it came up again with this.

[Rory]

You want to talk about it? I'm sure. I'm waiting.

[Victor Rasuk]

Sure.

[Rory]

But I'm not all the. I'm not going to force it.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I mean, I'll read about it. The Ben holding the coffee in me would have been like, well, did you have auto insurance?

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Mal]

So there's ways around this to get a new car. You should have called.

[Rory]

All right, so, yo, That's. We end season two, y'all, at. This is my favorite season, y'all, at the beautiful rooftop. Yeah, I don't remember. Everybody has on the crisp jeans and.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, but you going right to the end.

[Unknown]

Yeah, that's Japan stories.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, let's talk about Japan. Okay.

[Rory]

Well, talk about Japan. So y'all shot in Japan? I read that there were no permits.

[Brian Greenberg]

Nope. Nah.

[Rory]

Y'all had, like, maybe one or two cameras.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yep. Yep. One PA and unlimited budget, which is probably why we got canceled.

[Rory]

Ran the money up in Japan, going crazy.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, the Yens were flying, and it's.

[Rory]

So much material that y'all never put out from Japan.

[Victor Rasuk]

There could be a whole episode.

[Rory]

Y'all only used, like, maybe 90 seconds, two minutes of it.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

So you talking about you.

[Victor Rasuk]

That, to me, is the biggest travesty because he shot so much good stuff out there. So that's on the cutting room floor.

[Brian Greenberg]

Where we start, y'all. You know where to start, bro. You take Cats projects, New York. You take them to Japan, Tokyo. You putting them up in. What's the hotel? That kid, man. Hold on, hold on.

[Rory]

Shut up, shut up.

[Victor Rasuk]

Canceled. Let's just.

[Brian Greenberg]

The Scarlett Johansson Hotel in Lost in Translation. The. What was it?

[Victor Rasuk]

The Park Hyatt?

[Brian Greenberg]

You put me at the Park Hyatt.

[Rory]

In Japan, it's a different level.

[Mal]

We love, you know, jet lag. Get your brain going.

[Brian Greenberg]

We shoot in kamikaze style, right? We got, like, you said camera, gorilla style.

[Unknown]

No camera kamikaze.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

You know, by the way, I come from that world in a lot of ways. Cause I came from the New York Indy, so I was like, oh, I know, I know. I know what we doing. This is the kind of shit we gonna do. We go. I know how to do this, right?

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

So. So we were shooting a lot, right? And then I would, like, sometimes be like, yo, we done yet? I'll tell you, yo, we done. I'm. No, we and Ian got it.

[Victor Rasuk]

You guys got into.

[Brian Greenberg]

We got into. Cause like, yo, we good club. Yeah.

[Rory]

You know what I'm saying?

[Brian Greenberg]

We were going to Harlem.

[Victor Rasuk]

There's this hip hop club named Harlem we wanted to go to.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yo, I want to go to the hip hop club. I want to eat Scarlett Johansson sushi. You know what I'm saying? I was trying to do it up. You know what I'm saying? I was trying to do the Bill Murray thing. You know what I mean? So we was at Park Hyatt, and then we were like, on day three, I'm like, yo, we all the footage, I'm like, I'm not showing up at the 9 o'clock Avenue Diva call time. That. It's not really a call time. It's just. It's just heads being like, yo, what time we all meet up? It's not a real call time, right? So the third day, they're like, yo, it's Vic. I got my massage. I'm, like, up in the. I'm up at the park, high, getting the massage. I met, you know, some shorties. I'm like, yo, we. We. I'm. I'm good. I'm gonna meet you. Tell me where y'all at and I'll be there.

[Rory]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mal]

Storyline itself.

[Brian Greenberg]

I'm like, tell me where you at and I'll be there. Because we got enough. I was acting a fool, bro. I'm sorry. I'm gonna tell you right now.

[Rory]

But why didn't they use it, though? All of the footage I have, why was none of that used?

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't know, man. It was a great 90 seconds of television, though.

[Rory]

Oh, no, that was great.

[Brian Greenberg]

That was my favorite 90 seconds.

[Rory]

That was amazing.

[Victor Rasuk]

It was the best thing I've ever shot.

[Mal]

Two cameras. Maybe it just didn't match the rest of the season.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't know, man, but it was a vibe, you know, we caught a flavor of it and. Yeah, and that could have been a whole season.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yo, so let me tell you another part of the story. I don't know if y'all gonna keep this or not, but, yo, so me and Brian, right, We like, all right, we done done with Tokyo. Ian flies back, right? Me and Brian, like, we already here. Let's go to South Korea and, like, let's just go to Seoul, because my.

[Victor Rasuk]

Boy is a big DJ out there. So he had it all hooked up.

[Brian Greenberg]

And by the way, but besides that, like, we already knew it was a party time. So we're like, we already here. It's already paid for. Let's go. So we get there, right? Yo, tell me why I didn't realize 15 year olds can get drunk and, like, get stupid and fall on the street and be like. And I'm like, oh, this is this kind of town.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. Basically like New Orleans or, like, Bourbon.

[Brian Greenberg]

Street, but Bourbon street, like on a steroid.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, it was. Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

I remember I didn't sleep. I remember I was like, yo, I'm so tired at, like, the third day. But we ate, yo. We played. We ate. Well, yo, we were like, yo, hbo, we love y'all, man. I was thinking we coming Back season three. This. This season three money gonna pay for the season two money.

[Rory]

There's like too many massages.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. I'm like, this gonna pay for all that, man. Yo, but the crazy.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was getting the continental breakfast, trying to be good, man. Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

He was trying to get the continental breakfast. I was already eating sushi at 11am like, yo, bring that shit upstairs. You know what I'm saying? So can I keep this robe? I for sure blew that budget. It was crazy. But when we went to South Korea, the best part of that, there was a lot of good trip. There was a lot of good parts of that trip. But I remember we were on Korean airways flying the 747. We was on the bottom part, right? First class. Yo, there was nobody in the first class from Seoul to la. And me and Brian just looking at each other like, this is the best that's ever going to be.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's all downhill from here.

[Brian Greenberg]

It's all downhill from here. Like, we enjoyed this 12 hour flight. The girl was so bored at the flight attendant. Like, we would have a conversation and she'd be on her phone, like. Cause there's nobody to serve except me and him. Like, we was already like, let me get the third cookie. At this point, she got nothing to do. It was crazy. It was crazy. Anyway, I just had to throw that story out there.

[Rory]

Like, season two. Season two, you definitely could tell that the budget was bigger.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yep.

[Rory]

The way it was shot.

[Victor Rasuk]

We had a year. Yacht.

[Rory]

Yeah. Everything was y. It was beautiful.

[Brian Greenberg]

Tell the Jay Z story. After you asked the question, I got.

[Rory]

Yeah, like, but season two, as far as. Because I read that hbo, the people at HBO wanted the characters to progress.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

They wanted the writing to progress with the characters faster or something like that that I read. And I was just like, what? I know in season two, you wanted to just.

[Victor Rasuk]

Did you feel like it did, or do you feel like we kept. Did you like season one better or no?

[Rory]

Well, season one, the first one, is always gonna be special because it sets the tone. But I like season two because it was like, okay, y'all got the T shirts, y'all made, y'all first little bag.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Now y'all starting to rub shoulders with, you know, people that's really in it. They like y'all energy. They like y'all personality. Y'all entering this world, but y'all are still yourselves. Ben kind of gets caught, you know, Pussy blindsides him a little bit.

[Brian Greenberg]

It happens.

[Rory]

Yeah, Cam. You start to see y'all roles kind of switched in season Two. You become more like, yo. Responsible. Responsible.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Where Ben is, like, pulls the plot a little bit. Yeah. So that, to me, was the interesting part. Cause it's like. It's so. It's like, okay. The dynamics have shifted a little bit once they got into this new world of. Okay, now we're really mixing and mingling with these people.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And it progressed beautifully all the way to the end of it. Everybody's wearing the clothing, the jeans, the T shirt, and then we just don't get nothing after that.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

So it was kind of like we got a glimpse and. Okay, it's happening.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

It's taken off.

[Brian Greenberg]

Love season two, man.

[Rory]

And then it's like nothing happened.

[Victor Rasuk]

Well, what I liked about season two is the stakes got higher.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right.

[Victor Rasuk]

Like when you're just doing, like, the $1,200 to pay a pattern maker, like, that's cool and relatable, but, like, the drama isn't there as much. But when you've got, like, millions on the line for these charact who've just come from that world.

[Rory]

Right.

[Victor Rasuk]

It just feels like everything gets bigger. Right. Yeah. So I did enjoy that as an actor. Gave us more to play with.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And it does suck for the fans because it does. It felt like we were just hitting our stride.

[Rory]

Absolutely.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right. And then it. And then it just stopped.

[Rory]

That's it.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mal]

Do you think that goes back to the comparison of Entourage? Because it's. They're two totally different shows.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

If it's getting into that Entourage world. Right.

[Mal]

Season two and Entourage. She had already gotten Aquaman back to, like, more fantasy show. Must be the biggest movie star on earth. Season two.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right.

[Mal]

And maybe they're looking at this, like.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right. All right.

[Mal]

They need. Kith needs to be open by now.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

What the fuck are we doing? Just a thought.

[Victor Rasuk]

No, I see. I see it. I see it.

[Mal]

And progress quicker.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

But it can't just be struggling this long.

[Rory]

But why do.

[Mal]

They're different shows, though? That's why.

[Rory]

If it's working, it's not stupid. Clearly, this thing is working.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right.

[Rory]

The show is working. I don't know what the numbers look like and what HBO wanted, but where I was sitting at and where I was from everybody Sunday.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right. But see, you're not. The executives weren't sitting where you were sitting. Right.

[Rory]

And that's the problem.

[Victor Rasuk]

They were sitting in different places. Right. And it was registering on different frequencies.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

So I think it really registered hard. I'm on the same frequency as you. Like, I really would watch this show, this was. This was my kind of show.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

But I. HBO at the time, I think they were looking for super high ratings. Everybody was stealing our shit.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, that was another thing. Everybody was stealing our shit because a lot of cats that liked it, they couldn't afford hbo. Yeah, people like that too.

[Victor Rasuk]

I used to love your show. I ripped everything on BitTorrent.

[Brian Greenberg]

I was like, yeah, that's the reason why we got canceled. Thanks. So it was like a low key dis with like a compliment at the same time. See?

[Victor Rasuk]

Guilty.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right.

[Mal]

I was in a college dorm room when the show came out.

[Victor Rasuk]

See.

[Mal]

Yeah, Yeah, I didn't have HBO before that. I was ripping entourage off. Torrent and shit.

[Victor Rasuk]

Fault.

[Mal]

I didn't watch the high res. My Dell laptop.

[Brian Greenberg]

My Dell laptop.

[Rory]

You know, we were Sundays that ran on Gasoline.

[Victor Rasuk]

That was a big part of it.

[Brian Greenberg]

That was a big part of it.

[Victor Rasuk]

And then also I think hbo, what they were looking for at the time was, you know, the awards, you know, and we weren't getting the awards, but it was buzzing on. On the street level in very high looking. But I don't think there's no social media at that time, so you can't count like those impressions. There was someone. There's no way to quantify it, you know, So I think it was like they didn't really know what they had. And I can't speak for them. I'm just being. I was. I'm too inside. I can't be objective about it, but it feels like that, you know, And I think they wanted to make room for Girls, which is a good show, but it just. They didn't want too many New York young people in New York shows.

[Mal]

It's the same universe to me. That's why I think they worked.

[Victor Rasuk]

I mean, that kind of happened to me too.

[Rory]

Like Rachel could have been in Girls. Girls.

[Victor Rasuk]

I did a really cool show called Unscripted on hbo. Yeah, you know it. Okay. So it's hard to find how to make an America's.

[Mal]

Hard to find the way they push things on Max.com right now.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, but you can't find Unscripted on. On streaming. It's gone.

[Mal]

It's on me TV though. If I.

[Victor Rasuk]

No, you can't find it or if.

[Mal]

You haven't seen it, let me know.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, let him know because he's trying to find it. Because I love.

[Victor Rasuk]

This was like one of them.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it doesn't look like it's available anyway.

[Mal]

I don't know where it was before it went to. And even before HBO Go. You were able to find it on the tv. Like, okay, in the depths of hbo, like, before they had.

[Victor Rasuk]

This was one of the things I've ever done, right? This. This show called Unscripted, that George Clooney shot.

[Unknown]

I think I found a link to it on YouTube.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, see, yeah, you can rip it on YouTube. There you go.

[Brian Greenberg]

You know what's funny, though? But if how to make it came back, let's just say.

[Victor Rasuk]

So. The thing is, this was a really cool show. Actors love the show. It's about actors trying to make it Hollywood. I play a version of myself. I play Brian Green. Greenberg. This is before reality shows became reality shows. So I was playing an actor trying to make it. I was sort of playing myself, like. But I wasn't. They would book me. It's kind of hard to explain. They would book me on shows like ER and just to be an extra. But we'd be filming all that stuff. Like me talking to no. Wiley in the past, right?

[Unknown]

That was cool.

[Victor Rasuk]

Playing scenarios, right? And then in real life, like, they came on One Tree Hill and we would create scenarios that, like, okay, Brian's doing this. And, like, we'd film with the cast, and they filmed on prime as well. And we would shoot with Meryl Streep and McDermond. It was. And we'd feel we'd film all these. Like, for example, we did this scene in. In Unscripted, where my character, Brian Greenberg. It's very surreal to talk about, like, that shows up drunk to work, right? Like, I didn't know that.

[Rory]

Brian would never do that.

[Victor Rasuk]

I would never. I'm. Yeah, but so, like, they changed my call time. I didn't know I was supposed to work that day. And I got to come in and I'm wasted in front of Meryl Streep, right? Not. Not real. Didn't happen. But so I would film the seat. I had two mics on me, right? I had a mic on me for. For Unscripted. A mic on me for. So I'm shooting this scene on Meryl Streep. And then we. We all cut. And then I'm. And then. And Meryl's in on the joke. And then I'd say, oh, my God, I'm so hungover. I'm dying right now. She's like, oh, my God, you want me to get you some Advil from the prop table? You know, so it was like filming two things at once. So very surreal, right? But anyways, point is, great show, but at the time, HBO had extras. They had Entourage just premiered.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And they had the comeback. So. And they had c. Enthusiasm. So they had all these, like, enter. The comeback was with Lisa Kudrow.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's right.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's all these, like, actor type shows.

[Rory]

Okay.

[Victor Rasuk]

And I think they were just like, there's too many. We got. Yeah. So you can't have too many of the same thing on the same network. So I felt the same thing would happen with how to make it. Like, can have too many young New York shows.

[Mal]

Have you seen Dave yet?

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, I like Dave. Do you like Dave?

[Mal]

That has some comparison to it, I think.

[Victor Rasuk]

How to make it my two.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

You know. Yeah. But I really like that show. I think it's really smart show. I think Kirby enthusiasm has more.

[Mal]

The comedic side is definitely dry Larry David humor, but more so the scenarios he's put in with real life rapper to actor. I see an unscripted with Dave.

[Victor Rasuk]

I'm glad you saw that, man. Not a lot of people have seen it. I'm really proud of that show. That's one of the coolest, most unique show.

[Brian Greenberg]

For real, like, legit. I watched it.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. It was fun, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

That looks like he had fun too, man. And I always quote it because, you know, the movie that he. His character gets on is going tough zone. Yeah. So he's like, tough zone. Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

When we're playing ball and Vic scores, he always says, I'm like, every time.

[Brian Greenberg]

I score, we play ball. Like, tough zone.

[Rory]

Keep saying, I played that out.

[Brian Greenberg]

You talk about Japan.

[Mal]

Mo. Sometimes intimate moments can happen spontaneously. Unfortunately. I've talked about this moment on the podcast. I was on the road with the track team in college. Had two girls in the bathroom, and I got a little too nervous.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Mal]

And I just wasn't ready.

[Rory]

Yeah. Got to get that blood flowing.

[Mal]

It still makes my stomach hurt even thinking about that moment. Where was hims when I knew they could have given me the treatment where I could have stayed hard and I would have lasted longer?

[Rory]

Rory, nothing is worse than not being able to perform when it's time to whether you're busy. You got a lot of stress in your life going on. Luckily, hims get you in the game. True.

[Mal]

But thank God HIMS is changing men's healthcare by providing you with access to affordable sexual health treatments from the comfort of your couch. HIMS provides access to a range of doctor trusted ed treatments like chewable hard mints and Viagra and Cialis and their generics for up to 95% cheaper. Mal, I'm sure you're wondering how you just have to answer a series of questions on their site and a medical provider will determine the right treatment option. If prescribed, your medication ships directly to you in very discreet packaging for free.

[Rory]

Start your free online Visit [e-mail] rorymall that's H I M S.com Rory Mall for your personalized ED treatment option options. Hims.com rorymall the products mentioned are chewable compounded products which are not approved by or verified for safety or effectiveness by the fda. Prescriptions require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if appropriate restrictions apply. See website for details and important safety information. Subscription required. Price varies based on product and subscription plan.

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[Rory]

We keep talking about Kith, right? How much do you think? Crisp inspired.

[Victor Rasuk]

I've talked to Ronnie about this. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Kith and what Ronnie's done with the brand. And I. And by the way, he's gonna come on the pod, we're gonna talk about.

[Brian Greenberg]

Ronnie said it inspired him. He said, yeah, he's inspired.

[Mal]

Yeah, I can imagine.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's kind of.

[Mal]

And I. Teddy, too, with Ame. I don't.

[Victor Rasuk]

I mean, I haven't met Teddy. I'm a huge fan. Obviously, I'm wearing this right now. I love. I love what I make does. I'd love to talk to Ty. I think he'd be great, a great guest as well.

[Brian Greenberg]

But.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, Ronnie always says, you're telling. You told our story. You told my story. You know, So I just.

[Brian Greenberg]

To get Ronnie, like, it was just a.

[Victor Rasuk]

No, we're gonna get him. He just.

[Brian Greenberg]

No, we're gonna get him. I'm just saying we had an episode ready to go like two weeks ago. It was like a scheduling thing, but he's coming on, but damn, so close.

[Mal]

Jeff staple would be good.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, yeah, Yeah.

[Mal]

I feel like that was that era too. Like, in real time, you know, I think.

[Brian Greenberg]

Wasn't he one of the pitches? I feel like we. He was. His name was brought up already.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I mean, when you guys were filming, he was. Yeah, y'all in the show at the time in Lower East Side.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Putting the pigeon everywhere.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Jeff staple.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

To me, I thought they were kind of telling his story at the time.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. A lot of these guys. The hundreds. Those guys out of la. A lot of these streetwear fashion guys have come up to us throughout the years and have said, we've told their story, and we told it authentically. So I'm proud of that.

[Mal]

What. What was the Jay Z story that you had?

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, yeah, yeah. All right, so check this out. So.

[Mal]

Does he blow someone's car up?

[Brian Greenberg]

Nah, nah, nah, nah. I gotta. I gotta lower the expectations. To me, I think it's dumb because you put help in anything.

[Rory]

No cars are blown up.

[Brian Greenberg]

No cars are blown up.

[Rory]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

So. So when we have. When we got Pharrell, Right. So before that episode was already written, it was about. It was about that we met somebody at the. On the boat, Right. Somebody influential. Like. Like, you know, like a Jay Z or Pharrell. Anyway, so Jay Z, apparently Ian was cool with Rick.

[Victor Rasuk]

It was going to be the first. All right. It's going to be the first episode of the second season where Ben and Cam were having a pop crisp.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. I'm sorry. Not the boat. Yeah, it was the pop. But Ian was cool with who's his man?

[Victor Rasuk]

It was Rich Kliman. Yeah.

[Mal]

Rich friend.

[Brian Greenberg]

So rich. So rich. So apparently, Ian brought up to Rich. Jay. Yo, can we get Jay? So Rich didn't say yes or no, but, like, kind of like, well, let me talk to Jay. But so this was, like, weeks before we shot, right? So when we were about to. I mean, I guess the day. The morning of when we were supposed to shoot that scene, the story goes that Jay gets to the office, looks at Rich, is like, yo, aren't I gonna do that? How to. Whatever that show, the how to make it show. And I guess Rich was like, you know, nah. Or like, no, that's not gonna happen. Whatever. But it was on Jay's radar. So, like, I guess Rich did think.

[Victor Rasuk]

That it was like, a miscommunication.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was a miscommunication. So had the miscommunication not happened, we would at least have HOV for some. Which I think that would have been just like, how you. Like, I'm like, I'm good. Like, if you would have came on the show, granted, we got Pharrell later, which, by the way, like, we were still happy.

[Mal]

Okay. I guess.

[Brian Greenberg]

Can you imagine if HOV just lowered the window? Be like, yo, what's going on over here? And it just raises the window, and.

[Rory]

That'S all you would need.

[Mal]

Even then, I think Pharrell makes more sense.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

And, like, but if you a music.

[Brian Greenberg]

Fan, like, we all are. Like, we would have been like, yo, I think.

[Victor Rasuk]

I think the bit was going to be that Ben and camera are. We're super hyped that Jay might stop by. Yeah, right. Yeah. And then, like, the thing was, like, I think there was a shooting at the pop up or something like that wasn't there, like. Yeah, that's why the pop up dispersed. Yeah, and then. Yeah, and then. And then Jay was supposed to roll by at the end, roll his window down, and be like, it's not happening. And then fire. Yeah, but it didn't happen.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was a miscon, bro.

[Rory]

Could have had H. And he was still tight.

[Brian Greenberg]

I'm still tight, bro.

[Rory]

And he's still tight, so that made sense.

[Mal]

But HOV is like, HBO Sunday guy.

[Rory]

Oh, yeah. No, that was. It was a thing. Soul food Sundays at J. Like, a real thing back then. Have y'all ever really thought about taking crisp and making it a real thing?

[Victor Rasuk]

It's funny because you see this merch here. Year for our podcast, it's like, I think we're just doing the podcast as a Trojan horse to make some merch.

[Mal]

No, it's just to talk about the merch.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. No, I mean, it's. It's been fun because we're kind of, like, reliving our characters by doing this. It's pretty fun. We've talked about it, but I think with this, we're sort of reliving that. The Ben and Cam world. Like, you guys know how it works. Like, make a merch and make it. It's been truly enjoyable, you know?

[Brian Greenberg]

Also, like, I don't know if y'all remember, but, like, four, five years ago, we linked up with a boy of ours who had a brand, and we did. Like, we weren't playing Ben and Cam, but it was a little thing that. To promote his brand. It was like me and Brian were chilling on a cafe, and we were.

[Victor Rasuk]

Like, new York Nico shot it.

[Brian Greenberg]

New York Nico shot it.

[Rory]

Shout out to New York Nico.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, shout out. Yeah. Yeah, yo. So you saw it? Yeah. So it was kind of like, not.

[Victor Rasuk]

A spoof, but, like, it was a nod.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, it was a nod.

[Victor Rasuk]

Exactly.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was a nod. And, yo, that shit went bananas viral. Like, everybody was like, season three coming back.

[Rory]

So that's what started the talk that.

[Victor Rasuk]

I'm a Felt bad. Yeah. I was like, what do we do?

[Brian Greenberg]

Fell back for the fans. That's not what we would.

[Victor Rasuk]

I didn't mean to tease people.

[Rory]

Everybody started hitting me, like, yo, they coming back. And I was like, what? Then I was looking at it. I looked at the clip. I was like. I was like, I don't know, man. They don't look like. They don't look like they've filmed anything. They look like they're, like, playing with the idea and kind of like. Kind of like nudged the producers. Like, look, the Internet is going crazy over this one clip.

[Victor Rasuk]

But apparently that got up to the execs, of course. Yeah. People are like, oh, is this.

[Brian Greenberg]

But I think that gave us the inspiration to do our own joint as well. After we saw that, we're like, we.

[Rory]

Do our own thing. Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

So.

[Rory]

But what y'all are doing is dope. Like, rewatching it.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Talking about each episode, reliving it.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

I think that's a genius idea.

[Victor Rasuk]

But the pot, like, when we pitched the pod during the actress tracks, we're like, we gotta do something, man. So that's when the pod idea came around. And also people coming up to us all the time. What happened to the show?

[Brian Greenberg]

What happened to show?

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

We're like, let's do this podcast.

[Victor Rasuk]

Let's do this for the fans. Right. But then we're thinking, there's so much more here. There's so much more meat on the bone than just the 16 episodes we shot. It's like, all the themes are still relevant. You know, the hustle never ends. And, like, you know, we're just so curious to talk to people about their ambitions and how they went about their achieving their goals and all the failures they had. And I just think it's. It's super relevant for all these fields. Chefs, actors, you know, musicians. It's like athletes. It's been. It's been really cool.

[Brian Greenberg]

So, you know, we're gonna hit y'all to come on our podcast.

[Mal]

Absolutely.

[Brian Greenberg]

Both y'all stories, man. Just the way y'all at now. Like, the Hustle whenever. But I'm just saying, like, y'all of the epitome of the Hustle, which is. I think we're was saying about our podcast, is like, there's only 16 episodes. Right. That's all we did.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

We can't do a full season of podcast, so I think now we're starting to sort of, like, find our way. That, like, okay, it could be about everybody's hustle game. Yeah. Right.

[Mal]

That's the theme of how to make an America.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right. The theme of how to make an America. But, like, Everybody got a hustle. It's like, you talk to people. You're like, what you did what like that. How you blew up to where you are. Like, what was the journey that got to you? And all the anecdotes, too. Like, people find that interesting, as you guys know, you know what I'm saying? So I think our podcast, we. We having fun. That's the biggest thing is, like, y'all know we ain't getting rich off of it. Straight up. Let's just call it what it is. But as long as we having fun and then we catching up, and we've already been homies for all those years, but, like, to have an excuse to, like, sit at the studio, chop it up, leave our family. You know what I'm saying?

[Mal]

Abandon your family.

[Brian Greenberg]

You know already what it is.

[Victor Rasuk]

You know what I'm saying?

[Brian Greenberg]

It's a workshop right now, man. Tell the wife it's a workshop.

[Mal]

Y'all networking.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah. But it's been fun. So now we, like, now after this New York trip, we like. Oh, yeah, we definitely. We were already excited.

[Victor Rasuk]

We got to do more work trips.

[Brian Greenberg]

We do more work trip, maybe. Yeah. We might see y. Detroit, London, go.

[Unknown]

To Japan, get those 20.

[Brian Greenberg]

20 pound burgers.

[Rory]

Yeah, absolutely. I think that y'all should definitely try to do something with Chris, I think.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't know, but I don't know.

[Brian Greenberg]

If legally we can tell. Probably the rights to, like, HBO might have the rights.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't even know.

[Brian Greenberg]

I haven't looked at it.

[Victor Rasuk]

I know that somebody else bit crisp. Like, it's a denim line now. I think that cr. Yeah. I don't even want to give them a plug, but whatever. Crazy. They did that. Yeah.

[Rory]

I don't know, but that just speaks to exactly how real the show felt, how much people connected to it.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

How many people, like, you know, meeting the plug. Where we from, you meet a plug for something else.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right, right.

[Rory]

Meeting the plug for the denim.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

And for the blank tee. Like, that's such a New Year York thing.

[Victor Rasuk]

We.

[Rory]

Rory, were just going through that with our merch.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Trying to find, like, the correct blanks.

[Victor Rasuk]

Hard right.

[Rory]

20, 24.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

You know what I mean? So it's like just that Rory's face.

[Brian Greenberg]

Says it all right there.

[Mal]

Do you enjoy the process or not really? Because it's not my passion. I enjoy it, but it just speaks to, like, when you're ignorant to how other businesses move, they are the same as the ones you understand. People think podcasting. Let me just set up a Mic and talk. It's so much to this.

[Victor Rasuk]

I know.

[Mal]

So when it comes to merch.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Ignorant to that entire process right now I see why this is people's entire life's passion.

[Victor Rasuk]

I know.

[Mal]

Because it takes so much time to get something right.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

It's not just printing a logo or a fucking T shirt. This is an entire lifestyle.

[Rory]

Right. Yeah. Like, it has to. It has to sit right. It has to, like. You have to see it and be like, okay, that's the vision. That's what I thought it would look like, what it would feel like.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right.

[Rory]

People wearing it. One of my favorite parts of season two is when y'all see the kids in the street with the. With the. The. The creeps on Japan, and y'all like, yo, look at this. Like, we. It's moving. Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

That's such a real thing.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yo, that happened to me yesterday, right? Like with the podcast. We were. We were over at. Where was that pizza spot? It's dope over on.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. It's got a weird name over side.

[Victor Rasuk]

Come on. What is Scars.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, Scars.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, we were down there.

[Unknown]

Great spot.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I walked out.

[Victor Rasuk]

Great music. Phone call, and someone's like, yo, love the pod. I was like, that's the first fan. You know what I mean? It's a nice moment. It's a very nice moment.

[Rory]

See the.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's reacting.

[Rory]

He watches the pod. The same feeling you get when you have something, an idea. You execute the idea, and it gets out into the world, and you now see people gravitating and connecting to the idea.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's amazing.

[Rory]

It's an amazing.

[Victor Rasuk]

And this is a new world for us, right, as actors to come into the podcast world. Like, first of all, we're not the first ones to do that.

[Rory]

Right.

[Victor Rasuk]

But it's just such. Such a different. It's just a different muscle. Right. And I. People like, what's the pot about? I'm kind of like, I don't know. Like, I don't know, because I think.

[Mal]

I still struggle at Thanksgiving dinner to explain, so.

[Victor Rasuk]

But I don't think it's better, though. I don't want to have kind of push an agenda.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

Like Vic said, I'm not even doing it for the money. We're just hanging out and just vibing, and we're just. That's kind of like what the show was. It didn't really have a plot, just like, it sort of at a plot, but it was really just hanging out with these guys. You know what I mean? That's the same Thing as the pot.

[Rory]

I think what y'all are doing is. It's so dope, man. Like, again, something like how to make it in America and what it's meant to so many people, including myself. And to see y'all still have this chemistry in this relationship and now do it podcasting, but then actually going back and reliving.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's been fun.

[Rory]

Such a great, iconic show.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Is there a possibility for a season three?

[Brian Greenberg]

Can I chime in? I'm in. Cause I don't know what you do.

[Victor Rasuk]

All you do is chime in, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

Let me not cut you off, but I'm gonna cut you off anyway. I always do that. Let me not cut you off, but I'm gonna cut you off anyway.

[Victor Rasuk]

Well, I'm gonna let you finish. So, you know, Beyonce had one of the greatest albums of all time.

[Brian Greenberg]

That was good. That was good. I deserve that one. So this crazy thing is happening, right? So shout out to bg. He just. He got cast in Suits la.

[Rory]

Wow.

[Brian Greenberg]

Because Suits had a resurgence, and a lot of. A few shows have had a resurgence where it came out X amount of years ago, and then it gets on Netflix, and then it has, like, a whole new audience. Suits LA is one of them. So he's about to go shoot that new show, though.

[Victor Rasuk]

Different than the original.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, different than the original. Yeah. Suits la. The point I'm trying to make is that I think if the right audience, right, like, we. On your show. We've been on other shows, too. Like, if there's somebody in hbo. Right. Cause it always takes just, like, the right person to just hear and be like, why didn't we. Oh, you know what I mean? You never know, but you gotta at least try and put it out there. So to answer your question, I think that if we had the same resurgence as. Put us on Netflix. Put us on Netflix and maybe show just the first season and see what happens. I almost feel like we will get the love and the. Cause it'll get the same kind of, like, suits.

[Rory]

100% love.

[Brian Greenberg]

Like, why do we not see Suits? Like, why do we not.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's not the worst idea, but, you.

[Brian Greenberg]

Know, I'm not saying it would happen, but I said if we. If that would have happened, if it would happen, I think we'd come back.

[Victor Rasuk]

I mean, here's the thing.

[Brian Greenberg]

And we would all do it. Just, you know, because everybody's always asking us, like, would we do it? Yes, we would do it.

[Victor Rasuk]

But I don't want to be this actor out here trying to campaign For a show that got canceled, like, 10 years ago. Like, that's not. I don't want to live in the past. Like, that's not good for me mentally.

[Rory]

Right, right, right.

[Victor Rasuk]

But that being said, like, I'm so proud of this show. It's one of the coolest things I've ever done. Like, it's. I've done a lot of shit, but this is one of the only shows or projects that have people come up to me and say, this changed my life. This actually got me to move to New York City and start a business, and now I'm having success. It's just so cool. It's inspired people.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And as an artist, like, I mean, look, I didn't create it. I was just a part of it. I can't. I can't claim it, but it's just. I feel very proud to be a part of that. And so this. This, how to make an America will always hold a very special place in my heart, my life, and in my career. But, you know, that being said. Yeah. People don't do it. We're all game. Like, everybody's game. I think Ian would be game.

[Mal]

Everybody's caught up with that. The way movies now, you just get sequels or reboots, repurposing everything because no one wants to take any risks. They don't have the data, lose their job. Everyone wants to stay in the same position.

[Victor Rasuk]

They want ip.

[Mal]

You can't fire me because I took something that happened already.

[Victor Rasuk]

They want to play it safe.

[Mal]

I think TV is going to catch up with that, and I hope they do it correctly.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

I would think they could do it with HBO shows that are already in their catalog.

[Victor Rasuk]

I would only do it if Ian Edelman was.

[Brian Greenberg]

But Ian would do it, though. Ian would do it, but I would.

[Victor Rasuk]

Only do it him. I wouldn't do it some other.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Also, like, there's a level. Just to add to your point, like, there's also a level of, like, nostalgia, too.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Where they're bringing back, like, I just saw the Fresh Prince of Bel Air is back. I mean, obviously not, but it's original.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Mal]

But they did a cool reboot nostalgia.

[Brian Greenberg]

Of, like, TV coming back. So who knows, man? But, like, I really think the more that we do this, that somebody's gonna hear us. Somebody's gonna hear us.

[Victor Rasuk]

Next. Campaigning. Either Europe or the campaigning.

[Brian Greenberg]

Another on our own podcast. I don't know. But, like, at some point, even if.

[Victor Rasuk]

It'S a movie, I think Lake Bell was like, I'm doing movie, movie, movie.

[Brian Greenberg]

Would be a movie. Did she say Lake wants.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, I think Lake wants to do it.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, you know, she directs. She's been directing since how to Make It. She's been directing a lot of tv.

[Unknown]

Are you guys in touch with any of the other cast? I know you guys are obviously very close. Are there. Are the other cast members from that show? Like, is there a chat, a group chat or something?

[Victor Rasuk]

Well, we.

[Brian Greenberg]

That we should start.

[Victor Rasuk]

The pod is bringing us all back together. Like, we just had Lake on. She's coming out to. Well, I don't know when this is, but she'll be on. And then we had Louie. We just did Eddie K. Thomas yesterday. It's great to catch up with Eddie. We played capo.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, we did Cudi. Like a. Yeah, yeah.

[Mal]

I mean, that's the biggest asset as far as a reboot to me. Yeah, it seems like Cudi would.

[Victor Rasuk]

He loves it.

[Mal]

He'd want to do something like a reboot of this rather than something new.

[Brian Greenberg]

And Rod loves, you know, he. He. He's actually like, look, sometimes I'm like, oh, I should not say that, you know, because whatever. I don't want. I don't want to not get hired or whatever. He. He's so open about it, man. He. If he. He was on the pod, I mean, he kind of said it on our podcast a little bit, but he was like, yo, who do I gotta make a call to at hbo? Like, what do I gotta do? Cause he's still. I think he's still tight about the cancellation.

[Victor Rasuk]

I know Louis was too. Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, Louie was very loud.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was super. I was blindsided. I didn't see it coming.

[Brian Greenberg]

But really, Louis was dead.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, yeah. I had no idea.

[Mal]

What was the call like that day? Did he and Carl find out at the same time?

[Brian Greenberg]

Tell us where you was at. Tell us where you was at.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was skiing him, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

He was already spending season three money he didn't even have.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was like, yo, we got been there before.

[Rory]

He's blowing the bag.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was gone, man. In main, he was in Mammoth skiing, and I was chilling on the top of a mountain.

[Mal]

You've definitely been there before.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And then Ian called me. He's like, it's not happening. I was like, what? I felt like my soul just pulled out of me.

[Mal]

I bought a two day pass at.

[Brian Greenberg]

That five night trip. Became a two night trip.

[Rory]

Wrap it up.

[Brian Greenberg]

We going back home.

[Victor Rasuk]

Ski out. I was good, man. So it was. It. It wrecked me, man, because I just didn't see it coming. And I just felt like we were on our way and we had so much to tell with that, you know, so. So many more stories to. To unfold. I feel like we're just getting started, so. I also like the audience. I just was blindsided.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

And.

[Brian Greenberg]

And, yo, you know what I was doing? I was in LA in my car. Ian called me, too, and I was actually looking at cribs in la. I was like, oh, man, I'm gonna go. Let's go to West. Okay. Let's go to Hollywood. Oh, wait. Okay, that's. I can't afford that. I was putting numbers together. See three Money. You know what I'm saying? He calls me, say, vic, I wish I had better news to tell you. And I knew right there.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Damn. Yeah, I. You know, it was. It was, you know, naturally, but it was.

[Rory]

Was it strictly because of just the numbers weren't performing at the time?

[Brian Greenberg]

We don't know.

[Victor Rasuk]

We still don't know. Like, I can't. I can't say it was because of this reason. I. They don't tell you that. They just say you're not coming back. That's what they tell you.

[Brian Greenberg]

They tell you they're not coming back.

[Victor Rasuk]

Thank you. But nothing.

[Brian Greenberg]

And also, so, like.

[Victor Rasuk]

But I love hbo. Like, I'm not going to. I'm not going to shit on them because it's like, I'm so. And I've worked with them since, and. And honestly, they gave us our shot. Like, there was no show without hbo. Like, I'm forever grateful to hbo. It was a beautiful story. And maybe it's cool that it's just like this cult classic that just lives for two seasons. Like, maybe it's better that way that we don't touch it again, you know? I don't know.

[Brian Greenberg]

I would.

[Rory]

I understand what you mean by that, but it's just so hard for the.

[Brian Greenberg]

Story to end on that note.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's like, what if Nas just did ill and then never came back to Fonte's Biggie comparison?

[Brian Greenberg]

That's true.

[Mal]

It's just the legs. It stopped right there. It's the greatest to us.

[Victor Rasuk]

And it's James Dean. Right? You know, you. You burn fast and die.

[Mal]

And have you heard the Chris Rock joke when he's like, yeah, everyone talks about Tupac. If he continue to live. Yeah, I hope he would have been a senator.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right.

[Mal]

But he might have just been kicking Jill Scott down some steps in the Tyler Perry movie. Like, the legacy could have. It could have gotten worse.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

We don't know where Pac Would have taken it.

[Rory]

That's true.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Hopefully he would have been this political.

[Victor Rasuk]

You never.

[Rory]

It's just in watching it this past weekend, watching both seasons, it just felt like this was something that I'm watching for the first time. And then you realize, like, this was 13 years ago.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

I'm so happy that you actually took the time to watch it again. And the whole thing, not only just, like, the first few episodes.

[Rory]

This is my favorite show.

[Victor Rasuk]

It means a lot, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

Like, honored. Yeah. I was like, damn, you watched the whole thing. I would watch the whole thing at once, too, if I could. But I think for our. It benefits our podcast for me to do that.

[Victor Rasuk]

I watched it right the way y'all are. You guys are podcast pros. Give us, like, what are we doing wrong? Tell us, like, how can we.

[Brian Greenberg]

How can we improve on and off camera, by the way, we. You know.

[Rory]

I think what y'all are doing is great because y'all are reliving a very special moment. But the way y'all incorporating, like, you're having Ronnie Fig, I think that's, like, super unique that only you two could do something like that.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

We're just talking about.

[Rory]

Because the show represents a streetwear brand trying to start. Started.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

In New York City, where Ronnie has been able to do with Kith is amazing.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Sitting down talking with you two and, you know, being able. Which I know Ronnie would give you your flowers on camera and tell you how your show inspired him. He was at David Z's and doing shit like that in SoHo.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Oh, I was there.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah. No, I know you. That's like. Let's talk about.

[Rory]

He was doing this thing working there at David Z's, but absolutely. How to make it in America and create crisp. Inspired kid. That's not. I don't. Ronnie doesn't have to admit that to me. And I would know his mind.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rory]

You understand. Because it's just. How could it not?

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Rory]

So I think what y'all are doing, it's a very unique podcast, but it's so real to who you obviously are, to something that you're a part of forever. Something that's in the culture forever. And I think that anybody that is in streetwear brand now.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

If they haven't already watched how to make it in America, somebody that's in the fashion business at the streetwear will tell them. You have to watch how to make it for sure.

[Victor Rasuk]

For sure.

[Rory]

If you want to be in this game. And I think that that alone with your Podcast is. Because what make podcasts special is it has to be a uniqueness to it. There's a million podcasts. Everybody has a mic, camera and talking. But what y'all have is so special and unique. I think it's amazing.

[Brian Greenberg]

Okay, we gonna be texting y'all too. Like, if you hear. If you. And you like, yo, Vic, you should have done so. Y'all should have talked about that. Let me know. Let us know.

[Mal]

I mean, we'll say the off mic conversation, the visual stuff.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Mal]

I just think the idea of the theme of how to make an America and telling other people's stories, to spread that out in the middle of each episode.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, okay.

[Mal]

If you just go episode four, season one, episode five. Like, I would spread it out in between telling some of these stories.

[Victor Rasuk]

You mean in the actual episode? Are you saying, like, do a recap?

[Mal]

Do a whole recap for season one, episode one, then have a guest to just. That's kind of what we're doing.

[Victor Rasuk]

That's kind of what we're doing.

[Mal]

I'm saying spread that out even more.

[Brian Greenberg]

Even more.

[Victor Rasuk]

So spread the recaps out.

[Mal]

Like, I watched the Sopranos episode Base one.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Chris, Malta, Sante.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

They have so much to work with that they can keep that pace going.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right, right.

[Mal]

You guys have two seasons.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. And that shit out.

[Mal]

Because you want people to really anticipate when we get to the finale.

[Victor Rasuk]

Like, see, I told you, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, you did say that.

[Victor Rasuk]

I did tell you.

[Brian Greenberg]

Why don't you. If you've been in Camel, you get.

[Mal]

To see the royal right away. It's like, all right, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, okay. Yeah, that's cool.

[Mal]

Because people are going to be waiting for those. Those are like the bonus. Bonus episodes. Looking for that in between. Find people to tell their stories.

[Victor Rasuk]

Got you, got you, got you.

[Mal]

And just focusing on streetwear, people.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, you gotta get more into that fire.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, no, we are gonna get. We are gonna get that. Speaking of streetwear, real quick, just pivot. What was the name of that spot you talked about? David Z's. And I remember getting my Tims and take David Z's and then across the street, just west of it, that's where I got my Broadway North Face Bubbles from. It was. It was that spot right there on Broadway. It's like you cross the street and David Z, you go a little bit north and it's right there. You remember that spot?

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, rat. Yellow rat.

[Brian Greenberg]

No, not that one. It was a mad big spot, man. It was like, that's where you Got your little bubbles. North faces. You got everything there.

[Rory]

And it was on the same block.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was. It was across the street, but on the same block. So, like, you cross the street and you make a right. You go away from Houston.

[Rory]

I can't.

[Victor Rasuk]

This is going to be the best.

[Brian Greenberg]

And I was like, of course it's not there no more. And I'm like, damn. What was the name of that spot? I used to go there religiously. And then I used to go get my Jordans from the. Really? The only footlock I could get if I stayed there early in the morning. Right down Broadway. You know the one that was right on St. Mark's I used to get the new Jordans there.

[Rory]

I'm gonna have the name of that store.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. I feel like once you. Once you. Once you hear the name, you're like, oh, yeah, I've been there before anyway.

[Victor Rasuk]

Cause you guys are like. You guys are still in New York. What's. And, like, we're back in la. I'm sort of. I live in la, New York. But, like, what's good now, man? You guys put us on. We're not those guys anymore.

[Rory]

I'm not that guy anymore, either.

[Victor Rasuk]

What?

[Rory]

I don't go out.

[Brian Greenberg]

For real. I'm shocked.

[Rory]

I don't go out. I don't club. I don't do nothing.

[Brian Greenberg]

Cause you and I felt like we met in a club.

[Rory]

If y'all want to go eat and get some dope spots, like, oh, then we could do that all day.

[Brian Greenberg]

You don't want to go clubbing? I want to go clubbing. Yo. Yo. So. Because you and I felt like we met at a club when we met each other.

[Rory]

I met you in 2014.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, yeah.

[Rory]

@ a club in Manhattan. I can't remember the name of the club club, but I remember walking in Penthouse, and I was like, no, it wasn't Pen.

[Mal]

Oh, Griffin.

[Rory]

Nah, I was like. I said, yo, that's him. And I. And I in 2014. I was like, yo, that's Cam right there. I was like, I gotta say what's up to him.

[Mal]

You were definitely our room, for sure.

[Rory]

I can't remember where the. I was the red wine, probably. You were standing up, talking to some people, Avenue, and I just gave you a quick salute. I was like, yo, big fan. And I just kept it moving. Like, that was like. It was like 20.

[Brian Greenberg]

Okay. Okay. As soon as you came out the elevator, I was like, we met before.

[Rory]

It was.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was real quick, obviously, the podcast.

[Rory]

It was real quick. And I just gave you A salute and, you know. Told you. I love the show.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rory]

But this is our first time, actually.

[Victor Rasuk]

The club thing. I can't do it anymore, man.

[Rory]

You know, I'm done.

[Brian Greenberg]

I'm not. So I got club let me know.

[Victor Rasuk]

Exhausted.

[Mal]

I wouldn't know what club to go to now.

[Victor Rasuk]

That's what I'm saying.

[Rory]

I don't know.

[Mal]

Because I don't think you'd like little sister.

[Unknown]

Little sister would be the best bet for, like, the club.

[Victor Rasuk]

Right.

[Mal]

I feel like you wouldn't like that.

[Brian Greenberg]

I would like. All right.

[Unknown]

I. It depends on who I'm with.

[Brian Greenberg]

Crowd.

[Victor Rasuk]

Do it if I need to. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Jeans on Lafayette.

[Brian Greenberg]

Not a good look.

[Unknown]

Jeans on Lafayette.

[Brian Greenberg]

It's, like, gonna be here.

[Unknown]

It's right around the quits. Yeah, it's great.

[Victor Rasuk]

Okay.

[Unknown]

It's a good spot. That's the one that I would recommend.

[Victor Rasuk]

I like a lounge. I like a good lounge. Yeah.

[Mal]

Speaking of clubs and the era of how to make an America.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yes.

[Mal]

Rest in peace. The Gold bar closed last month.

[Brian Greenberg]

But you know what?

[Victor Rasuk]

Gold bars closed before, and it comes back, but it's like, not.

[Mal]

I think it's official.

[Victor Rasuk]

Dead.

[Mal]

Dead. You have to it its credit.

[Victor Rasuk]

All right.

[Mal]

Is that probably the longest lasting.

[Unknown]

Let's go.

[Mal]

Since I was 18.

[Victor Rasuk]

Longest lasting, still going.

[Mal]

Never really got.

[Brian Greenberg]

Cor. I agree with you.

[Mal]

Anybody going to Marino.

[Brian Greenberg]

Right, right, right.

[Mal]

The longest lasting club. That did not get corny to me.

[Brian Greenberg]

Which is crazy to me.

[Victor Rasuk]

Okay.

[Brian Greenberg]

I went, yeah, it's corny. But he's like.

[Mal]

Too. I'm not. I'm just saying.

[Brian Greenberg]

With you on that.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

But, yeah, I was shocked that Marquee was still open. I was like. And during the pandemic, too, I was like, yeah, yo, this is crazy.

[Victor Rasuk]

Well, that's the thing about New York, though.

[Mal]

If Marquee was open during the pandemic.

[Unknown]

That'S what we were talking about. I went there a couple times.

[Mal]

I went to, like, some underground clubs they created out of, like, office spaces during the pandemic.

[Unknown]

My nightlife scene in the pandemic was like, I occasionally did the Marquis, but I luckily have a lot of friends that own, like, bars and restaurants. And what they would do is they would just pull down the, like, the metal grates, like, just draw the shades, and then, like, you just party in the back of the restaurant.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Unknown]

It was great. They leave the kitchen open, bring food.

[Brian Greenberg]

Byob.

[Victor Rasuk]

We'll just get up in everybody getting co.

[Unknown]

It was so much fun.

[Brian Greenberg]

Party super spready. Yeah.

[Victor Rasuk]

There's only one way to Go. Everybody gets.

[Brian Greenberg]

I let a few of us.

[Unknown]

If we all get it.

[Rory]

If we all get it, then we'll be just fine.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, it's crazy. I was in the subway the other day and I was like, yo, let me pull out my mask. What's food was like, mask? What you talking about? Nobody wearing masks. I'm like, yo, it's crazy to me, man. I was just here.

[Victor Rasuk]

I didn't say that.

[Brian Greenberg]

It wasn't you. No, somebody told me that. Somebody. It was.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was like, no, I said. I said, you don't need a Metro card, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's what it was too.

[Victor Rasuk]

Because, you know, he's like, how do.

[Brian Greenberg]

I get a metric card? Can we just talk about New York? I remember back in there, it was just a coin with the little. Oh, no. That's what I was like. And now I'm like, damn, they charging what?

[Rory]

Two sound for the 291 way.

[Brian Greenberg]

290. Back then when I was in. Les was like, you have to turn.

[Rory]

That was a day of food slices, soda, and I could get on the bus.

[Brian Greenberg]

Dropping the mic. Mic. I gotta touch the mic, but I'm dropping.

[Rory]

It's a Hawaiian punch, and I can get on the train for 290.

[Brian Greenberg]

Tropical fantasy, dog. Sperm killer, bro. Come on, dog.

[Rory]

Absolutely.

[Brian Greenberg]

There should be. Yo, there was a podcast talking about the sperm killer. Just, you know, it was called. I forgot what it was called, but there's a podcast out there that was talking about the myth of tropical fantasy. But that's a whole nother topic.

[Rory]

That was real. That shook the hood up. Like, Covid, bro. When we thought tropical fantasies lowered your sperm count, yo.

[Brian Greenberg]

Cause I'm play ball, right? I'll play ball. 10th and yo, Rory's like. He's like, yo, I play ball. 10th and D, right?

[Mal]

So lit. I forgot that was a.

[Brian Greenberg]

That's what I was saying.

[Mal]

But we going back there with Lil Kim getting her stomach pumped.

[Brian Greenberg]

Crazy, yo, yo, so that when I used to play ball because like, a Sprite or whatever was a little bit more expensive. So you get the tropical fantasy. But then the myth started happening. I was like, well, yo, I'm not going to be able to play ball because I used to play ball 10 hours, you know, like from literally sun up to sundown, because, you know, they had the lights on the court. But I'm like, if it's going to kill my sperm, I'm like, I'm not going to be able to last play ball. I'm like, so I used to just pay the extra 50 cent and get the Sprite or whatever. Because, you know, Sprite was, like, targeted. It was targeting the hood hard back then.

[Rory]

Grand Hill was drinking.

[Brian Greenberg]

Grand Hill was drinking it anyways.

[Victor Rasuk]

And you get. Taking me back.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yo. Y. Taking me back about the Nutcrackers.

[Victor Rasuk]

You ever get the Nutcrackers?

[Brian Greenberg]

Nah.

[Victor Rasuk]

No.

[Rory]

Never had a.

[Victor Rasuk]

In the Parker?

[Brian Greenberg]

Nah. Which one's that one with?

[Victor Rasuk]

That's what they sell them in the park.

[Brian Greenberg]

No.

[Rory]

You never had one?

[Brian Greenberg]

No. Maybe I must have moved to la. Maybe the Wick wasn't covering that.

[Victor Rasuk]

Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows, though.

[Rory]

You can get them uptown in Dyckman. They got them if somebody's outside in Brooklyn.

[Victor Rasuk]

I still get them every now and then. I'll get one.

[Rory]

Yeah. Definitely wasn't covering that.

[Victor Rasuk]

People making their own drinks, but they.

[Brian Greenberg]

Got Tropical Fantasy still out there.

[Mal]

Oh, that.

[Brian Greenberg]

I doubt it. Okay.

[Rory]

Yeah. Where Tropical Fantasy is still around.

[Mal]

I don't go to that part of them.

[Brian Greenberg]

The bodegas, man.

[Rory]

I don't go to that. I don't go to that freezer in the bodegas.

[Brian Greenberg]

I think that's why I don't know either.

[Rory]

I'm gonna stop. I just get a bottle of water and I'm out of there.

[Brian Greenberg]

Or the Roster Monster.

[Rory]

Or Roster Monster.

[Mal]

Far, far from that shit.

[Brian Greenberg]

Look how he lit up. He lit up.

[Victor Rasuk]

He lit up.

[Rory]

That was that shit. Roster Monster.

[Unknown]

Oh, my God.

[Mal]

Last quick, quick question before we leave. What was it like working with Johnny Knoxville as a serious actor?

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, you worked with Johnny Knoxville?

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Cause he played my manager on Lords of Dogtown.

[Mal]

It was his first, like, real role.

[Victor Rasuk]

I didn't know.

[Brian Greenberg]

No, no, no, no. Well, yes and no. Because he had come off that movie with the Rock, and that was a big deal. That's why.

[Mal]

Oh, and in Men In Black, he played, like, y. Those are all caricatures. He then played the kid in the Special Olympics.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yes.

[Mal]

But this was the first time I feel like he got into sort of a serious role. He was still funny.

[Brian Greenberg]

But so how he got that role is that at the time, his agent at CAA was Heath Ledger's agent, which Heath Ledger, obviously, in the movie. Yeah. So he was. I think he was just trying to find kind of like what I was saying. What I was saying. I was a New York actor. I was trying to do different things. And so I think his agent found that, oh, this is a good role. And obviously, like, it's such a historical moment, and people are gonna watch this movie, which they kind of didn't at the time, but his agent was like, yo, you should do this. And this is a great role for you to play, a serious role. The crazy thing about Johnny Knoxville and I.

[Victor Rasuk]

The crazy thing about Johnny Knox, a.

[Brian Greenberg]

Lot of crazy things about him.

[Mal]

Starting at Lord's, a dark town of.

[Brian Greenberg]

The crazy part of Johnny Knox, that movie, it really. How do you say? Encouraged a lot of bad behavior. Let's. Because we were trying to capture a moment. 70s hippie, Dippy, you know what I'm saying? Like, everything's free. Let's try this new drug, all this thing. And Knoxville brought that kind of. You know what I'm saying? He was like. It was some. I remember one time we were working together, and we were doing that scene. I don't know if you remember, but when I rolled up on Emile Hirsch, and I was like, yo, man, I'm signed with whatever. Johnny Knoxville's character in the convertible. In the convertible. Yeah. You remember?

[Mal]

I really love that movie.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So right before we shot that, you know, it always amazes me, like, how actors get. I mean, I'm not saying I don't get nervous, but the level of nervousness where you literally feel them shaky.

[Victor Rasuk]

Who was nervous? He was.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, he was. And so he was like, hey, buddy. Hey. It was like some shit from the Matrix. You want the red or the blue pill? And I was like, nah, man. I'm good on the pills, man. He goes, good. I'm gonna take both of them. I was like, you're gonna do this right before we roll?

[Mal]

Be polite.

[Brian Greenberg]

I was like, you gonna do this right before we roll? Boop, boop. Didn't even answer me, bro. It was. Murdered the scene. Oh, no, I murdered the scene. He did murder a scene later. And I was like. And a scene that he did later, which I think he murdered. He didn't offer the red and the blue because there was a lot of people in the other scene. That one scene, the convertible, it was just me and him. So I think there was a lot of eyes that weren't looking at us at the time. Cause he could do it on the low. The red, blue pill. I was like, nah, I'm good, bro. And the reason why. I was like, you gotta remember, they took me from the hood. Like, I'm in Hollywood. And I'm like, oh, this is how they roll out here. Okay. Yo, this is. But the one thing that they let us do. Well, they didn't let us do it. Let me take that back. The one thing that I was doing, I was puffing trees in New York. And I was definitely puffing trees on that movie.

[Victor Rasuk]

You could puff trees and act, but hold up.

[Brian Greenberg]

I was puffing trees when they were like, cut. Cause it was the same thing, like, how to make it. We would shut down the. And if you watch Lords of the Dark side, there's a lot of party scenes. We weren't at clubs. There's a lot of partying. And it was. It was like my introduction legit. It's like you took homeboy at the hood. You put him here. You like, yo, everything you're doing, it's okay. Keep doing it, but just don't use your accent.

[Rory]

Wow.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was crazy. It, like, tripped me.

[Mal]

Sound like Venice.

[Brian Greenberg]

Exactly. To answer your question, he was mad cool. I just wasn't on that vibe that time. But he was really trying to his. I think he kind of sat back at times and was, like, watching all these dope actors and was like, yeah, I want to step my game. He was so nervous that that's what he had to do. I don't want to blow up his spot, because I don't think he does that.

[Mal]

No. But I think that's super interesting, because you would say, why would Johnny Knoxville be nervous about anything?

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

He shoots himself out of a fucking can. He fights butterbeans.

[Brian Greenberg]

I would say, bro, the butterbean.

[Angie Hicks]

Like, that's it.

[Mal]

That way, too.

[Brian Greenberg]

Like, he drinks his sweat after, like, running on the treadmill. I was like, what the. You nervous about this little scene with me and Emil? Hush. Who, by the way, we weren't household names, and we still kind of weren't. I was like, okay. He was like, the red or the blue? I was like, I'm good.

[Mal]

I feel that way, too. Like, we perform in front of thousands of people. We talk for a living, but if you put me, like, in a Starbucks with someone I've never met to have a meeting, like, I'm like, I don't.

[Victor Rasuk]

You get nervous.

[Mal]

I don't know how to take. That's not my world.

[Brian Greenberg]

But you're gonna take the red and the blue. I mean, I would understand one, right?

[Rory]

Ani said, fuck it.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. And until this day, I don't know what that is. Like, it was. And it wasn't like, yo, bro, he.

[Mal]

Wouldn'T know what it was.

[Rory]

Yeah, he didn't know what it was.

[Brian Greenberg]

What's the difference?

[Rory]

They're like horse pills.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. It was like. It wasn't. It was like, the. The gel one. So, you know, like, it's Tylenol, man. No, no, it wasn't bro, you might.

[Mal]

Have stopped with you, it could have been.

[Brian Greenberg]

No, bro. No. Because later in another scene, Emil was like that. He did the same thing to him. Listen, I don't know if he took it or not, but he's Michael Doshi. Did he offer you maybe early on? That's pretty. He was on in some shape. Maybe he was Michael Dosing.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, the acting thing's funny because, like, it looks easy, right? Everybody's. Oh, there's talking. But, like, you get people who haven't been trained or haven't been on set before, and they just freeze. And you're like. It's like that Will Feral thing, like, what do I do with my hands? You know, it's really. It's a skill you have to hone, and it's not. It's not. It doesn't come natural.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yo, another part that we were nervous about, just. And I'll leave it at that, is like, Knoxville was nervous about that. Like, I remember we were shooting how to make it, and we were like, yo, this is a walk and talk right now. Me and Brian out in the middle of Canal Street. And action. And I. I was always nervous because, you know those walk and talk scenes that we were doing in the streets.

[Victor Rasuk]

We were doing down here.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, we do, right? If we. If one of us fucked it up, go all the way back to one. And I would feel bad because he was giving a dope performance, but I fucked up this line. So we got to go back to.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was kill it.

[Brian Greenberg]

So it's like, the nerves are there, but I want to carry this guy. He had to. He had to carry me. Yeah, but I wasn't like, the blue and the red pill. I never did that to you. So, anyway, I'll leave it at that.

[Victor Rasuk]

I can't. I can't. Like, I've worked with some actors who. Who spoke before they. I don't know how that is. All right. I did a movie once where it was similar to that. That story I was telling about unscripted. But this was the real thing. Like, I was smoking, and this is why I don't really smoke anymore, but I was smoking. And then they did change my call time, and they brought me in, and.

[Rory]

I was still so stone stone.

[Victor Rasuk]

And like, you know when you get paranoid, like, and it's like, you think everybody's looking at you.

[Rory]

Yes.

[Victor Rasuk]

What if they really were looking?

[Brian Greenberg]

It was really. Been on the train you just saw recently, was Ben on the train being like, am I talking too loud? I gotta get off this train.

[Victor Rasuk]

I was like, I don't know how some act, but I've worked with comedians who just, like, you go into their trailer and it's just weed. Blunt after blunt. I don't know. I can't. I'm not a functional stoner like that.

[Rory]

I've noticed that.

[Victor Rasuk]

I can't do it.

[Rory]

I can't smoke before I pod. I can't smoke during because it's gonna kick in, and I'm either gonna start, like, looking into your soul.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

Or like, my mouth is gonna get so heavy that I can't even talk.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Oh, no, you're getting great.

[Brian Greenberg]

Then you're like, yo.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

You're like, yo, get that, Chantasy. Yo. Let me get that.

[Mal]

I'm not really a smoker like that. As a matter of fact. What was it, two weeks ago?

[Unknown]

It was two weeks ago. Rory took an edible. It was awful.

[Mal]

I'm not a weed smoker at all.

[Brian Greenberg]

How was it?

[Victor Rasuk]

Okay.

[Mal]

Right before we started recording, I could barely read the tv.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh.

[Mal]

And I told everyone in here before we hit record, I just took an edible. I'm not sure I'll be able to get through this episode where it was like, three. I wanted to run home.

[Brian Greenberg]

Why did you take it through it, though?

[Mal]

Yeah, and then we went to Philly.

[Rory]

And they loved it.

[Mal]

We went to Philly and we did, like, you know, meet and greets before and after talk with the fans, and they were like, yo, you should take edibles more often.

[Victor Rasuk]

Why didn't we.

[Mal]

I thought that was the worst fucking episode I've ever.

[Brian Greenberg]

Why did we get high roaring today?

[Victor Rasuk]

I want to come back and get high roaring.

[Mal]

So you hate me now?

[Victor Rasuk]

No, I'm just saying I want to see that.

[Rory]

I'm going to do your show. I want to do your. I want to be high when I do.

[Brian Greenberg]

All right. All right. Bet. All right.

[Victor Rasuk]

All right.

[Rory]

That's what I want to do.

[Victor Rasuk]

I'm going to take.

[Rory]

You don't smoke no more.

[Victor Rasuk]

I'm going to take the blue pill.

[Rory]

You going to take the blue pill?

[Victor Rasuk]

No. You know what I do? I take little edibles just to sleep. It's like, I just. Yeah. I'm not going to have fun with it still.

[Mal]

You got to.

[Brian Greenberg]

And I don't.

[Victor Rasuk]

You know, something changed in my body chemistry where it's like, I smoke every day all the time. And then all of a sudden, it was just like my. I got paranoid, and it was the opposite of fun. It's kind of like clubbing. Like, I do not want to Be.

[Brian Greenberg]

That used to be fun.

[Victor Rasuk]

It's not fun anymore.

[Rory]

Yeah, it's not.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't know.

[Brian Greenberg]

I don't like how the edibles sneak up on you because I like. I like when I puff. I know when it's going to come. I don't like, like, when it's going to come with, oh, I'm high. Not only that.

[Mal]

Second wave.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Higher.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, bro. That's why I don't like doing it.

[Mal]

I would have preferred to hear the story of Meryl Streep doing the Red Pill, Blue pill. Thanks. That would have been weird.

[Victor Rasuk]

Meryl was mad cool, dude. She was. She was like.

[Brian Greenberg]

She.

[Victor Rasuk]

She's. She knows that she's a legend, but, like, so I think she goes out of her way to, like, disarm you and. And be very.

[Rory]

I love people like that.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. Like, she doesn't.

[Rory]

So you. You know that you're this huge, iconic figure.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yes.

[Rory]

And, you know, people know.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Rory]

When they're in your presence that this is Meryl Streep.

[Mal]

Yes, it's me.

[Rory]

Does everything to be like, yeah, she.

[Victor Rasuk]

Used to come into my trailer and just want to hang out, and she's like, oh, I have my guitar in there. She's like, oh, you. You playing music? Oh, yeah, I play guitar with her and just hang out.

[Rory]

I love people.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was.

[Victor Rasuk]

She was so fun.

[Mal]

She was so cool. If I was high and Meryl Streep.

[Victor Rasuk]

Came into my trailer. Yeah.

[Mal]

This isn't real.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Seeing Goats everywhere with Heath on the set. I mean, obviously, unfortunately, we know the end of his story, and that was before Dark Knight. He played that role a little too well on Lords of Dog Town.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Mal]

That's one of my favorite Heath roles. And after you found out what happened with Dark Knight, was he acting?

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah. Did you ever meet Heath or did you just meet the character?

[Brian Greenberg]

No. So, like I said, it was my first, like, Hollywood movie. So when they flew. When they flew us out there and I got cast, Heath actually went out of his way to call me Emile and John, and he was like, hey, come to my house. And, you know, this is me. And so his vibe. We were just talking about this with somebody, Abby Cornish, who's another Australian actress. He wanted, like, he wanted to start kind of and indirectly start right away, like, just building the chemistry between us. Right. It's like kind of what you said. And by the way, he was already, like, pretty known already. He had done. He had already done the Patriots and Knights tale. The Patriot was like, you know, was.

[Mal]

That before Brokeback or So I got.

[Brian Greenberg]

A story, a real quick story, a funny story about Brokeback. But so he. So we all get his crib. And it was like my first time going up in the hills. We were just talking about the hills. You're telling me that you had rented a house House and, I mean, you stayed up.

[Victor Rasuk]

No, that was.

[Unknown]

They were there.

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, it was. You guys saw.

[Unknown]

I was there too.

[Brian Greenberg]

Okay. Yes.

[Unknown]

The house we had in the Hills.

[Brian Greenberg]

So it's my first time. So I'm like, you know, this is before ways and like. So, like, I'm gonna get my. What is it, Garmin? The old school. What's it called?

[Victor Rasuk]

The navigation.

[Brian Greenberg]

The navigation you had to put in your car because. Oh, yeah, it was called the garment system or whatever.

[Rory]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Or Gemini. Whatever.

[Victor Rasuk]

Shout Out Garmin.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, Shout Out Government Come back sponsor. So I'm like, all right, I'm going here. I'm like, you know, I'm not a drive. I'm like, yo. So we get there and yo, just. It felt like I was like, not in a Buddhist temple, but it just felt like his crib was set up in a way where, like, he's definitely. It was a lot of pillows, but it was. He was definitely on a different frequency on, like, on his personal level. So we got there, we sat down, puffed, you know, he had the bowl of herb, and we was just like, yo, can I. I was like, yo, can I touch this? He was like, of course. And I love Australia. So I was like, he's playing his music. I'm like, this is the first time I'm getting put on to, like, I knew Rolling Stones, but, like, I was really getting put onto, like, real old school Rolling Stones. And like, just even that whole movie, I was put on, like, old school Black Sabbath. Like, all the music, which, by the way, we talk about how to make it music, like, really, like low key. Lords of Dogtown music was kind of an amazing sort of soundtrack, too.

[Mal]

Clearance budget, I'm sure, was.

[Brian Greenberg]

No, you know what happened. You know what happened when we wanted certain big songs, like even Iron man from Mike Sabbath, Osborne's son. What's his son's name?

[Victor Rasuk]

Jack.

[Brian Greenberg]

Jack, Huge fan. So the sound. The sound, the supervisor was like, I already know Jack. I already know. He's a fan. He's gonna give it to us on discount. We got all of that on discount because all these guys were fans of the people that we played. Tony Alva and all that back in the 70s when they were nobodies. And then they became these big stars. They were like, oh, my God, we would be honored to be. So anyway, long story short, he thought, set the tone. And then once yo, once we started shooting, yo, he was already in the Venice Surf Club. He already knew cats. Like, we would get on set, he already knew all these old school cats. Cause he already went out of his way to go meet these cats to get that, the research. But then he brought. Nobody knew this, but back in the day, Heath was already a surfer in Australia because he's Australian, so he was already a surfer. It was just a different sort of frequency when it came to Venice. But the surfing he already knew. And so I guess my point is that he really took the time and he knew it was a big deal for us, and he just like, embodied that. And I think that he was already on his way to not doing these big mainstream movie. He was like, yo, I want to do something that is character based. And right before he rapped, he had just booked Brokeback Mountain and it was in the trades and all of us young dudes was like, yeah, so you're going to go break Jake's back. It looks like Montana. Oh, yeah. You guys are funny. I think that's his best performance.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, well, you don't think it's better than Dark Knight?

[Brian Greenberg]

I think Dark Knight was great, but.

[Victor Rasuk]

I think those two.

[Brian Greenberg]

He had a different frequency with Brokeback. I just.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, he was incredible to be able.

[Brian Greenberg]

To, like, do what he did and like just kind of strip everything.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Literally and figuratively.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

As an actor, I thought that was his best performance. Yeah, he definitely. He definitely broke into something in Dark Knight, don't get me wrong. But I think for me, just as an actor, like, I just kind of knew where he had to go to do those things.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, it was.

[Brian Greenberg]

It was more. It was more here and not like, so, you know, the. The whole Joker thing, like, but that thing broke back.

[Victor Rasuk]

He did have this, like, physicality where you could see that, like the secrets and was torturing his. It was twisting him up and he. The way he contorted his body. It was. He was. That was the first time I was like, this dude's on another.

[Brian Greenberg]

For me, it was all here, man. So, like, when he. All that was happening, but you're going to see it through the eyes. And so you see how. And with Joker, like, yes, it was all there. There was so much distraction with that. But, like, he couldn't escape this. You couldn't escape that.

[Victor Rasuk]

And broke down.

[Rory]

And then Joker 2 costume makeup.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah, it, like, it helps the Illusion. I think with Brokeback, there was no illusion, bro. Yeah, it was like. Yeah. And it was here.

[Victor Rasuk]

Joker. To me, that's like, one of the most iconic performances I've ever seen, period. For sure.

[Rory]

But I also think I do like Joaquin Phoenix's joke.

[Victor Rasuk]

He's great as well.

[Rory]

I mean, yeah, Personally, both those guys.

[Victor Rasuk]

Their work, they go deep, they go real.

[Brian Greenberg]

Which, by the way, they were. They were. You know, they came up together. So, like, I would go to these parties, and Joaquin was kind of known just from the Ridley Scott Gladiator.

[Victor Rasuk]

Gladiator.

[Brian Greenberg]

But he hadn't, like. He was doing stuff, but he hadn't, like, really pop. So they would always hang out, and I was like, oh, yo, yo, Homies with Joaquin Phoenix. That's crazy. Can you imagine the amount of times they probably, like, audition for the same part? Like, it's crazy.

[Victor Rasuk]

Anyway.

[Rory]

Yeah, but thanks for the question, man.

[Brian Greenberg]

I haven't talked about Heath in a long time.

[Mal]

Even his performance in Lords of Dogtown, like, he didn't just play some stoner burnout. It wasn't a Cheech and Chong role that he did. He was very much like the joker in that movie, too. His performance in Lords of Dogtown, I don't go back and watch that enough.

[Brian Greenberg]

Because you see, like, oh, man, I'm about to lose these kids who I was really, I was hard on them, but it was kind of like that tough dad love. And then when you saw he was about to lose everything he worked for, just like what Heath did again without kind of a Louie Goose, two different type of actors, but where it was all internal, like, I'm going to do whatever it takes and not lose all this. And then he kind of loses his mind at the end. Yeah, it was crazy.

[Mal]

Yeah, it's an incredible role.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mal]

And just of I'm trapped here, and all the kids that I used to make fun of are now going on with the rest of their lives.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah.

[Mal]

Oh, I'm the fucking loser out of this entire thing. No, that's really his role.

[Victor Rasuk]

I go back on that.

[Mal]

All these kids that I thought I could control now have moved on with their lives and wanted to do shit. And I used to clown them for trying to do other shit, and now I'm this fucking loser still trying to make a fucking circle. Surfboard.

[Brian Greenberg]

Yo, that last.

[Mal]

Going through fucking overpaid bills.

[Brian Greenberg]

And, yo, remember that last, last party scene? And then he throws the bottle at the end of the room. Everybody got out of his way, man. Like, no, I'm talking about Literally, like, he had. Cause, you know, he had that surfboard.

[Mal]

He was like, hey, man, leaning off the shit.

[Brian Greenberg]

And yo, I was like, this is an actor that you want to get out the way because you were gonna get hurt. And I know later he's not gonna mean to hurt you, but he's giving that kind of performance. Get out the way. So if you catch me in that scene, like, I'm on the wall just like this. Like, I don't want to get hit, but not in a bad way. Like, not. It was control, but it was in a way where, like, I'm not going to take this moment right now. This is this moment. It was crazy. Sorry. Yeah, I'll shut up.

[Mal]

No, no, that's great.

[Rory]

Tell the people where they can catch the pod and listen to you guys.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, you can get on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. You can Follow us on eAlmost Made it podcast on Instagram, or follow me, Ryan Greenberg. And we also people comment on the We Almost Made it podcast. Tell us what you want to hear. We answer fan questions. So slide. Slide in the DMs.

[Rory]

Yeah, this has been a nostalgic. Just like listening to you guys. Watching you guys sit right here in our studio has been amazing for me personally, on a personal level. So I want to thank you guys for coming through today, spending time kicking it. Thank you for how to make it in America. Thank you for being a presence in my circles. Lives every Sunday for some years. And I'm looking forward to season. Whatever. Whatever the next season is from you too. I'm looking forward to it. I support you guys.

[Victor Rasuk]

Thank you. It's an honor to be here.

[Brian Greenberg]

Honor to be here, man.

[Victor Rasuk]

For real.

[Rory]

We'll talk to y'all soon. This is how to make it in America. How to pod in America.

[Unknown]

Before we go, I found the scene that we were referencing earlier of him robbing and running away.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, yeah.

[Unknown]

Oh, can we just. We could watch this. Let's watch this on the way out.

[Mal]

Yeah.

[Brian Greenberg]

Real others. 150 a piece. Mark Buchanan butter.

[Victor Rasuk]

Sold.

[Brian Greenberg]

150 a piece. Get one.

[Victor Rasuk]

Still chilly.

[Brian Greenberg]

Hey, get one for your boyfriend. There you go, right there. Check one out. Check one right there. Okay, guys, let's see the vendor's permit.

[Victor Rasuk]

What?

[Brian Greenberg]

Oh, yeah, yeah, it's right here. See it?

[Mal]

He's in a lot of hbo, like.

[Victor Rasuk]

I don't know.

[Brian Greenberg]

Big. Well, call your friend back here, please.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rory]

I gotta go. I'm gonna call her right now.

[Victor Rasuk]

Yeah, yeah, we'll talk to y'all.

[Rory]

Soon be blessed. I'm that he's just Ginger. Peace.

[Victor Rasuk]

Oh, thank you guys.

[Angie Hicks]

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