Scott Kid Cudi Mescudi made his acting debut last year as party animal Domingo Brown on HBO's "How to Make It In America." While he was satisfied with his performance, this year, he aims to make strides.
"This season, my character has a lot more depth than the first season, and one of the things that I really took seriously was preparing. I got an acting coach; I wanted to step it up," Cudi told after filming a scene for season two. "With anything that I'm doing, I always want to take it to the next level — whether it's music or acting."
The first step toward the G.O.O.D. Music rapper/singer's acting growth was to review tape, similar to how professional athletes analyze game film. "One thing that I did, I studied the first season, I studied my performance. I knew that I was gonna get a lot more this season," he said. "I wanted to deliver. I wanted to make the people at HBO happy. I wanted to make my management happy."
Cudi also kept his series co-stars in mind using Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk as motivation to get better. "I wanted to be able to step on the camera with cats like Victor and Bryan Greenberg, who are pros at this sh--, guys who have been doing it for years, and to be able to do a scene with those guys and maintain and really deliver with the focus. I really feel like I stepped it up a whole lot, and I'm excited to see it."
The budding thespian may have to wait a few more weeks to watch: As of now, the series is rumored to begin airing during the summer with no specific date announced yet. When season two does eventually air, fans can expect to see Cudi's Domingo with an expanded role and a little more depth.
"The biggest lesson I've learned, I guess, is just the focus part of it, transforming into this character," he said. "First season, my character was in six out of eight episodes, and I kinda popped up and I was here and there, and my character was more perceived as the party guy. But I really did what I could with the first [season] without having many skills."
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