This past Valentine’s Day, HBO left the country fried vampires behind to make space for the disctinctly urban adventurers of How To Make It In America. The new show chronicles the lives of Ben (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam (Victor Rasuk), a pair of ambitious friends determined to make their way in New York. Bounding around the city on borrowed time and money (courtesy of a loan shark cousin), they set their sights on launching a denim line, a long shot idea that requires long hours hustling leather jackets, skateboards and sneakers. This isn’t Sex and the City’s Candyland Manhattan, where Manolos grew on trees. As the endlessly energetic Cam, Victor Rasuk provides most of the jokes, and nearly all of the good times. A vetran of indie films Raising Victor Vargas and Lords of Dogtown, Rasuk, a Lower East Side native, talked to me about the making of Make It. (PHOTO: GREENBERG AND RASUK IN HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA)
GILLIAN MOHNEY: The cast includes some amazing New York people—Martha Plimpton, Luis Guzman, John Varvatos. What’s it been like working with them?
VICTOR RASUK: Varvatos is an awesome guy on and off camera. He was great–so supportive–he was such a fan of the pilot. And then Luis Guzman–Luis has actually been my mentor since I entered into the business….We grew up in the same neighborhood, Lower East Side. He grew up in the 60s and 70s when it was real New York. And I was sorta like new school in the late 80s and all through the 90s There’s always been that mutual respect. When this thing came along, the producers felt they weren’t going to get someone as great as Luis Guzman to play this part. I called him right away, and I begged him. I begged him. I was like, “Please read it." I think he was sorta on the fence about it. I seriously begged him. You can really put that down. So Mark Walberg, who’s also producing the show, called Luis–thank God they were friends. He convinced him to do it and he did it and then we did the whole season. And he’s been thankful ever since…I think he’s definitely enjoyed shooting this a lot because it’s shot in his old neighborhood.
MOHNEY: And Kid Cudi’s in it. It’s his first aciting thing—he was good.
RASUK: I know, he was. First of all, he’s awesome to work with, and when you have someone like that, who’s an ill lyricist–just such a dope artist–you just get super excited. Not only are you already happy–“I’m in an HBO series. This is gangster! Mark Walberg!”–but then you’re like, “Oh, we got Kid Cudi now? Oh man, we’re on top of the world.” You know, what’s great about Cudi is like, he’s a fucking fast learner. When he shot the show, he was so devoted to the show. I would overhear him talking to his music managers: “Dude, I’m focused on this. I don’t want any calls." Such a focused young man, and funny as hell. He helps me with my stuff, because I’m funny in it, but having him with me brings a whole other dynamic. I love that scene where he’s like, “Legit with a capital T!" It’s like "What, who says that?"
MOHNEY: The city itself is also like a character.
RASUK: It is. It is a main character. We would shoot, and I would have a scene with Bryan Greenberg. We would be shooting a walk-and-talk scene, and instead of using extras as background, they would be like, “Dude let’s get some real people, real people coming out of the subway. Let’s use them even if they don’t know they’re on camera, just let them walk by.” Sometimes Bryan and I would get stopped by random people while we were doing the scene, because they were like, “Hey what’s going on over here, what are you guys shooting?” And we’re like, “You’re on camera, man. We’re shooting a scene.”
MOHNEY: I noticed you guys go into places that you don’t see very much in real life—these old clothing factories, a meatpacking plant. It’s kind of an older vision of New York, even though the characters are young.
RASUK: I think that’s why the show’s awesome—not just because I’m in it!—but because it also depicts old New York, and the old neighborhoods that are never shot in, especially the exteriors. I mean, sometimes I know movies and shows would recreate a place from the inside. But you never see it from the outside, and then we shoot it inside. I think that brings an authenticity to the show.
MOHNEY: As a New Yorker, did you ever feel compelled to tell them to change something, to make it more authentic?
RASUK: Yeah, but you gotta be political, too. You can’t just be that actor that’s like, “Fuck you, I’m changing the lines." It was a creative environment. You had to have a defense to back it up…But when it came to the fashion world, I knew nothing about it. I purposely didn’t want to know anything about it, because I think what makes Cam’s character so funny and endearing is that he keeps pushing for this dream. He really doesn’t know the fashion industry, but he believes so much that it’s gonna work.
How To Make It In America is on HBO at 10PM on Sundays.
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