For me, the only drag about the whole thing is that a lot of my childhood friends had to be relocated to the outskirts of New York because of the gentrification. But I think it's always a good thing when you bring people of all different backgrounds together, that's sort of what New York is.

Just watching Robert De Niro was all the words of wisdom I really needed.

If you look at the rest of my stuff, I always play characters that kind of don't look like me, 'cause I love transforming into someone else. I love being able to act, work and act, and then doing it under the radar.

One thing I had on my side when it came to How to Make It in America is that I'm a born-and-raised New Yorker. Filming in New York... I'm so thankful and humbled by the whole experience. A lot of it takes place in old neighborhood I'm an East Village kid, so I get to see my old friends from the neighborhood, my family still lives there.

I'm going to try and focus on doing more theater things. I come from that background. I honestly feel so comfortable being on stage, it's really weird. It's one of those things I love to do.

Even with or without the show I'm always thinking of the next thing. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. That's kind of been the story of my career.