How to Make It in America's second season was new territory thanks, in large role, to an influx of HBO money. The result? A quicker pace, more structure, and meliorate character development as the evidence'southward training wheels were removed. Flavor 1 felt like an experiment at times—especially during the earlier episodes. Season two took a noticeable stride forward as the evidence appeared to be finding itself.

Season 2

Farino: [In Flavour 2], HBO asked for more narrative of [the characters] progressing. For me, I would've been happy to do the evidence with them scraping around for $200 every week. I loved the ground-level chemical element of Season 1. I really did. Merely HBO was asking us to create a petty more in terms of upward trajectory for them. And so it became a flake less loose in slack.

Edelman: In the second season, nosotros had this new producer, Jill Soloway. Jill created that show Transparent. Jill came into the show similar, "I'm a Lake fan. Let's practice more with Lake." And I was similar, "Permit'southward do information technology."

Bell: Jill Soloway was the co-showrunner for Season 2 and wrote and so many beautiful, hilarious moments for Rachel, and I'm just indebted for that. I feel similar I have Jill to thank for a lot of the peachy Rachel story threads, and Jill also had a huge function in writing the episode where I go a tattoo from a famous tattoo artist, Scott Campbell, who ended up beingness my married man. So when I [run across Jill], Jill's like, "You lot're welcome."

Farino: In terms of making sure it was balanced, considering information technology was mostly blokes making [the show], Jill came in to challenge u.s. with a woman'south perspective. I call back just hanging around and chit-chatting; information technology didn't become that deep. And so, the side by side minute, Jill had ane of the all-time shows in America.

Greenberg: Jill'due south energy changed the evidence. It got a trivial more than interesting and a picayune weirder, which I liked. And I think nosotros sort of figured out our tone and what the prove was.

Rasuk: I think they just focused a lot more on what Ben and Cam really wanted. With Cam, he wanted his own crib. That'due south why I dear the whole scene when he'southward pushing the stove down Bowery [Street] and he's got his own crib. I think they humanized the characters.

Levieva: I remember when nosotros were shooting [Ben and Julie'south] breakup on the subway. Bryan and I really enjoyed that because and so much of the show lived in this fun, light atmosphere, so it was one of the few scenes where it was very dramatic and grounded in something different. Nosotros had invested then much fourth dimension in these characters and had congenital this dear story, so the breakup actually felt actually dramatic even though, on the page, it wasn't crazy. Information technology was deplorable.

Cudi: This season, my grapheme has a lot more depth than [in] the offset season. 1 of the things I took seriously was preparing. I got an acting double-decker. I wanted to step it upward. I studied the first season. I studied my performance. I knew I was gonna get a lot more this season. I wanted to deliver. I wanted to brand the people at HBO happy. I wanted to make my direction happy. I wanted to be able to stride on the camera with cats like Victor and Bryan Greenberg, who are pros at this shit, guys that have been doing this for years, and be able to exercise a scene with those guys and maintain and actually deliver. [via MTV]

Nunez: In Season two, they added my character into information technology more, which was absurd. Ane of the all-time scenes was probably when I burned downward the [Rasta Monsta] ramp. We got to be creative in doing that. We got to movie it on the Lower E Side, and a lot of my friends were in the neighborhood, so it was a absurd vibe.

Bell: There was this one scene, I'll never forget it: I'm high on something and I go into a bodega to become some soup, but I first ladling and eating out of the large soup bodega barrel. It was such a simple scene. Nosotros shot it at night in a existent bodega in the Lower East Side, and it was 1 of the more fun scenes I've ever been a role of in my life. I've always had the fantasy of fuckin' scooping soup out of a bodega butt, completely high off my rocker.

Greenberg: Getting loftier and going through the subway was cool because nosotros had to accept a training course. You can't just shoot in the subway on the tracks. Y'all accept to do an viii-hr course with [the] MTA and larn all this stuff, so that was fun. Merely the inner workings of New York City.

Farino: We all did that class. It was a full day and nosotros ended upwardly being led underground. I call up it was because we wanted to shoot on the tracks, as well. It's different if you want to get on the subway; you get shepherded onto a carriage and have some degree of command. I call back filming stoned is difficult to do considering it's often boring to watch people who are boozer or stoned. I believe Ian came up with the idea that his paranoia could be driven by seeing some kid who he idea was cooler than him. I call back a lot of claustrophobia; that clandestine experience wasn't for the fainthearted.

"I heard later that JAY-Z was supposed to exercise the Pharrell role... I recollect everyone thought JAY-Z wouldn't take done it. Nosotros found out later that he was a fan of the prove." - Victor Rasuk

Rasuk: You know what was the best office for me? When we shot in Japan. I don't recall a lot of people know this, just Bryan, Ian, and I didn't even shoot with a crew. Ian took a camera and we merely shot it. We had ane PA, but we were shooting illegally, with no permits, no nothing. And people who know my work know that's kind of the world that I came from, then information technology was nice to be able to have this big-budgeted HBO bear witness, go to some other country, and shoot for three days without people knowing.

Greenberg: Nosotros shot so much footage [in Tokyo] that you could fill up an entire season with it, merely it was all squeezed into a xc-2d montage. That'south actually the concluding How to Make It in America footage that was ever shot—think of it like a calendar week-long wrap party. Nosotros went pretty difficult, striking all the Tokyo spots. I remember ending up at some random party, hanging out with Verbal and Yoon [of AMBUSH®]. Fifty-fifty their people had already seen the show, so were getting some absurd access to in-the-know spots.

Edelman: Nosotros wanted to earn every cameo. Pusha came to us through Scott Vener. We were looking for a dude who could sing or rap for that role specifically. He auditioned and I thought he was awesome.

Rasuk: I heard later on that JAY-Z was supposed to do the Pharrell role. Apparently everyone thought we weren't gonna exist able to get JAY-Z. But, as the story goes, JAY-Z had heard about it and was expecting to go. But whoever he talked to, his assistant, who was gonna set it all up, was like, "Oh, nosotros're not doing that anymore." I recall everyone thought JAY-Z wouldn't take done information technology. Nosotros establish out later that he was a fan of the evidence.

Thomas: The very final affair [I] shot in Season ii was that party scene on the roof that ends with the sun rising over the Williamsburg Span. Cudi and I are wearing the [Crisp] jeans and nosotros're all excited. I actually had to bound [on a plane] right after. I think nosotros wrapped at, similar, 6 a.m., and I was on a aeroplane at seven:thirty to go shoot American Reunion. I didn't even have a chance to think about it, which I'm grateful for. I wouldn't have wanted to harp on the goodbye for as well long. Shooting that scene was literally simply the producers partying with united states, and I was actually surprised when it came together. I was like, "Oh, we actually got an episode of television receiver out of that." It felt similar we were merely having a good time all night.

Edelman: The feedback was awesome on the second flavor. The first season of any show is really tricky, just the 2d flavor ran so much smoother. HBO was very supportive, and I had gone in to pitch a third season. And so everything went nighttime.

Photo courtesy of HBO/Eric Liebowitz

HTMIIA Gets Canceled

Edelman: Everybody felt good near the show coming back. All of u.s.—producers, cast, writers, everybody—were happy with the second flavor and kept saying, "Oh, it's going in the right direction. Information technology's coming upwardly." We were getting better at making the show.

Greenberg: I was so surprised [when the show was canceled] because I felt like we were getting such good press and fans were tuning in. I thought we were just getting warmed up.

Rasuk: This was one of the rare moments where I thought nosotros were good. I was genuinely shocked when nosotros got canceled. I didn't find out exactly what happened, because I knew there were rumors about it, but I knew it had nix to practise with the product we put out.

Farino: We but defenseless a very bad moment. I remember information technology was around the time when [HBO was] challenged by the success of Mad Men and Breaking Bad. There were a lot of other contenders, and our shows didn't have massive audiences. It was our show, Hung, and Bored to Expiry that, I think, were seen as a bit niche. They cleaned us all out together to make more commercial shows. I don't know. But they were gracious plenty to say maybe they were a bit hasty.

Greenberg: Executives at HBO [now] are like, "Oh, nosotros shouldn't have canceled that." And information technology'south like, "Well, what the hell? So why'd you guys do information technology?" And that's the thing: I never got a direct respond. I still don't know why.

Bell: I remember Lena Dunham, who I'm friends with, telling me most Girls. And I was like, "Oh, shit. HBO's not gonna have two shows well-nigh 'New York hipster culture' on concurrently."

Greenberg: HBO didn't have HBO Get yet. Now, I feel like this could just live online. People were ripping it and watching it online [back then]. I don't know if the numbers necessarily reflected that. I don't know how you quantify what a show like this does for the civilization. Sometimes it'south bigger than a Nielsen rating number. And I'1000 not sure the executives at HBO, at the time, were keyed into that. As for Girls, I tin't really speak on that, but I call back that might have been a part of it. Maybe information technology was as well like.

Rasuk: The show would've gone five, vii, eight years if we had gotten Flavor three because I think we had just gotten our rhythm in Season 2. It was just starting to take off by the fourth dimension Season two was over.

Greenberg: It was really hard for me when the testify ended considering I felt like a role of me died. Nosotros became the characters, so I had to become on my own soul-searching mission after the show ended. Possibly I fell a little also in love with Ben, and maybe it'south a cautionary tale as an histrion. These things always cease. It'due south like a double-edged sword: You lot want to give all your heart to something, but, at the same time, it hurts when information technology ends.

Photograph courtesy of HBO/Eric Liebowitz

Legacy

Bell: I just don't think people were ready to say goodbye notwithstanding. They got actually invested in these characters who were actually super fun, who were imperfect, and it was really funny. It spoke to culture, really. And I call back it was a really specific time in New York that people are probably nostalgic for. Nearly a decade later on, we're all kind of peckish that fourth dimension.

Greenberg: I've had people come up upwardly to me and tell me, "I used to alive in Turkey and I saw that show and it made me desire to motion to America." Or I've met designers who take been on Project Rails—someone who won information technology—and they've been similar, "Oh my God, I got into fashion considering of your show." It'south just amazing how many people this show has inspired. I remember I was sitting at a Knicks game and A$AP Ferg was like, "Dude, that show was my biggest inspiration." That's crazy to me.

I had the head omnibus of the [Los Angeles] Rams, Sean McVay, come up to me the other day and say, "I've seen every episode. I loved that show. What happened to it?" It's so beloved because it captured that hustler's spirit.

Cudi: How to Go far in America was the best experience I've ever had out of anything I've ever done, and I don't call up it'll e'er be topped. [via Kid Cudi, Twitter]

Nunez: Kids are still about that hustle and figuring it out. That show gave a lot of insight, and there were then many good characters in it. HBO didn't really give us a chance to unfold every graphic symbol; it was merely starting. I still believe it could pick right upwardly and be relevant today.

Greenberg: I actually think it would piece of work better now because I recall people take caught upwardly to it. People have told me it was ahead of its fourth dimension. If you remember about it, it was before Instagram. Men didn't really talk virtually style then, you lot know? I feel like the globe would exist more ready for that.

Rasuk: The hustle is still real the same way information technology was eight years ago. When there's talk about a possible revival, plainly I get skeptical, simply I hear those reactions and I'm similar, "Oh, yeah, we tin can all the same do this revival as long as we all kind of still look the same." Which I think we exercise.

Photo courtesy of HBO/Ali Paige Goldstein

Reboot?

Bell: I'm gunning for a reboot in some way so we can have a window into what these guys are doing at present. I hope that Rachel has had many failures, too as successes, and that has deposited her to a place where she has a family unit now. Or who knows? Mayhap she hasn't fifty-fifty done that yet and is struggling with what that means. Is she feeling a ticking clock?

Greenberg: It'due south funny considering I e'er saw Crisp becoming what Complex is—a media visitor. That's how Marc Ecko started, right? He started with a fashion brand, then he transitioned into media. I saw them growing in that world and becoming this streetwear/media conglomerate. I had a lot of ideas of what could've been. I can come across them having families and still trying to go along that together. But there's a lot of coulda-woulda-shouldas, y'all know?

Rasuk: I always idea that they would've sold Crisp and created something more tailored, a little more Tom Ford-ish. I feel similar Cam would've done something more like sneakers. I always thought Crisp would've been their platform to sell information technology and do what they really wanted to exercise. I e'er thought Rene would've been, like, a eating place connoisseur.

Ransone: Dudes similar [Tim], who are pieces of shit, always brand it out on top. I think Tim would have some fuck-off deal with J. Crew and he'd exist a full poser designing for a surfboard company even though he's never surfed a 24-hour interval in his fuckin' life.

Greenberg: It's funny considering I'm friends with Bobby Kim and Ben Shenassafar of The Hundreds and I would consult them on a lot of stuff because this was very shut to their life. The streetwear world is small, but information technology's very competitive. All these people know each other, so I like that nosotros captured that. You go to events and in that location's always the other coiffure or the other brand. But when yous go to a sure bespeak, your enemies just get your co-workers. I saw Crisp doing absurd collabs with dissimilar brands and peradventure becoming a Supreme.

"Executives at HBO [at present] are like, 'Oh, nosotros shouldn't accept canceled that.' And information technology'due south like, 'why'd you guys practise information technology?' I never got a straight respond." - Bryan greenberg

Rasuk: I remember nosotros'd all like to practice some version of a comeback, even if it's a moving-picture show or a season. Listen, I tried a few years ago and it didn't piece of work, merely maybe it just wasn't the right time.

Greenberg: I would dear to slip on those grumpy shoes and play Ben again and kick it effectually the streets of New York with Cam.

Nunez: If everyone else came through, we there. For sure. I believe a lot of people would still like to come across what happened with Ben, Cam, Rene, Wilfredo, and all these characters.

Levieva: That'd be astonishing for all the fans. The corporeality of times we become approached by people who are genuinely bummed out and miss the prove and characters… It would be a great way to wrap things up.

Farino: In like Flynn. Without blinking.

Ransone: Fuck aye, dude, but I'd only practice it under the status that Tim was really fat and disgusting, practise you know what I hateful? Like, fifteen years later. I would totally get male pattern baldness. I'd be actually gross.

Bong: Oh, yeah, 100 pct. I'1000 going to be at the forefront. I call up it's time, personally. I think there's an opportunity.

Additional reporting by Frazier Tharpe

This story appears in our special, limited-edition "If You Build It, They Volition Come" volume, which features Child Cudi and NIGO® on the embrace. Purchase a copy hither.

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