Not gonna lie, MAX is cool and all but we kind of miss the old HBO and along with it, one of our favorite shows of all time, How To Make It In America.
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If you’re anything like us, you probably felt a void when HBO didn’t make a third season of the NY-based show, which follows two friends intent on breaking into the streetwear business, despite their lack of funds.
Fortunately, fans of How To Make It In America can now enjoy recaps of the show from series stars Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk, who launched their We Almost Made It podcast earlier this year.
“I feel like everybody felt so robbed when this show got cancelled,” Bryan Greenberg told BOSSIP Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden. “Everybody’s always like ‘Season Three! Season Three!’ and like we can’t control Season Three, if that’s ever going to happen. Maybe, maybe not. It’s not really high priority for us but I think what this podcast is doing is filling a void that the fans needed. The reaction has been really really great and and that’s kind of why we did it.”
“Me and Brian, we see each other all the time,” Rasuk told BOSSIP. “Our kids they’re about to go to school together soon… We were homies before this podcast, I don’t know if we’re gonna be homies after the podcast,” he joked before continuing. “He’s probably tired of me… Every time we bring in a cast member from the show on to the podcast, it’s like our own little like milestone. We had Kid and we had Lake Bell… We’re having Eddie Kaye Thomas. It’s me and Brian getting the band together kind of thing.”
The initial idea for the We Almost Made It podcast came when both Greenberg and Rasuk found themselves with plenty of free time on their hands, thanks to the WGA strike.
“It started during the strike — we were talking about, ‘What are we gonna do with ourselves?’” Greenberg recalled. “Enough time has passed that it’d be kind of fun for the fans too, to just go back and re-watch and as we were talking about it we were like, ‘There’s more here than just to re-watch.’ I think it spoke to a whole entrepreneurial spirit, anybody who felt like the underdog, or a hustler, it’s still very relevant — the themes of the show. We were like why don’t we just take the themes of the show and apply that to what’s going on today? So it’s kind of a mix of the fan base rewatching. If you like the show, we’re gonna give you those recaps and we’re bringing people on from the show. But even if you aren’t familiar with the show, I think we’re growing into this hustle space where it’s very relatable, and we want to hear people stories of success stories and failure stories of how they got to where they are. We’re just interested in what makes people tick.”
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Speaking of which, talking to and watching Greenberg and Rasuk’s dynamic, whether onscreen or off, is extremely entertaining. Even when it comes to podcasting, the two have radically different approaches to their show.
“Maybe I’m bad,” Greenberg said of his casual approach to pod hosting. “I should come up with questions. Maybe it’s working, maybe it’s not. I don’t know. I just think it’s better if I’m not — like prepared. I just wanna feel the moment. Vic does a little bit more of the work I think.”
“I didn’t know this part about Brian until we started the podcast, but when it comes to the podcast he’s best when he’s actually not prepared,” Rasuk joked.
“It’s an exercise of being in the moment and letting it flow you know?” Greenberg added.
“I like my questions bullet-pointed,” Rasuk said. “I think it’s a little bit of insecurity about a world that I don’t know kind of thing. I think the more I get comfortable, I may not be as like, ‘bullet point on my laptop…’ Trust me, when I’m slacking BG picks me up. Like when I’m slacking, my energy is low, he knows. What’s the funny thing you say about me?”
“The train has left the station…” Greenberg finished.
As much as this convo is giving Ben and Cam vibes, we’re also excited to see Greenberg and Rasuk share updates from their new work lives. Both actors have seen their stars continue to rise, with Greenberg snagging roles on The Vince Staples Show and Emperor Of Ocean Park and Rasuk starring on Onyx Collective favorite Reasonable Doubt. While How To Make It co-stars Lake Bell, Kid Cudi and Luis Guzman have already guested on the show, Greenberg and Rasuk recently welcomed Emperor of Ocean Park creator Sherman Payne and Rasuk told us that both Reasonable Doubt creator Raamla Mohamed and executive producer Kerry Washington are expected to pay the show a visit pending when their schedules allow them.
“We’re going to do recaps of Season One and Two, but there’s only 16 episodes of How to Make it in America right?” Rasuk said. “So the actual podcast has to become something bigger than just that. It’s about people’s hustle, so not necessarily everybody who comes on is gonna talk about what they’re promoting. They can if they want, but the essence of the show is about, ‘How did you get to where you are? What other jobs did you have? What obstacles did you have to overcome? It’s meant to inspire. We’re going to get athletes, UFC fighters, chefs, comedians, sneaker designers…”
Speaking of athletes, both Greenberg and Rasuk are avid Knicks fans, who have already devoted a good amount of podcast airtime to their beloved NBA squad. They told BOSSIP that the We Almost Made It will continue to cover the team’s progress into the next season.
“The thing is with the Knicks, Vic and I are diehard Knicks fans,” Greenberg told BOSSIP. “We’ve been suffering for our whole lives pretty much. So now that they’re actually good we’re so hyped. We’re gonna talk probably TOO much about them.”
“I was like five-years-old the first time I stepped into MSG,” Rasuk recalled. “I wasn’t even seeing the Knicks. My aunt took me to go see Barnum & Bailey circus and I’ll never forget the image of like walking through MSG and seeing the Knicks signage. It’s like deep deep in me. I’m taking my 4-year-old to her first game. I got floor seats for the Sparks and Liberty game.”
Gotta love a girl dad looking out early!
New episodes of We Almost Made It drop on Thursdays, check them out where ever you listen to your podcasts!