Bleav presents On The List with Brett Gursky

It’s the fifty-fourth episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guest Gene Stupnitsky (“Good Boys”) talks all about his career as a writer and director. He shares behind-the-scenes stories from the making of his feature directorial debut "Good Boys"- an R-rated comedy starring kids. He discusses writing the script with his writing partner Lee Eisenberg, bringing Seth Rogen on as a producer, and casting the kids, including Jacob Tremblay. Then Gene takes Brett back to the beginning, where he grew up in Chicago as a self-proclaimed "comedy nerd", and how an internship with his mentor & friend Harold Ramis set him on the path for his career. Gene talks about starting out as an assistant on "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and how his TV spec "Lonnie and Gordo" led to a writing job on "The Office". Brett and Gene chat about the famous "Dinner Party" episode- written by Gene & Lee- which Rolling Stone calls "the greatest 'Office' episode ever". They also discuss the HBO series "Hello Ladies"- created by Gene, Lee, & Stephen Merchant- which Brett and Gene worked on together, and which is how they became friends. Other projects they discuss: "Year One", "Bad Teacher", and "SMILF". Gene also offers advice to aspiring writers and directors. Be sure to check out "Good Boys" when it hits theaters August 16th.

It’s the fifty-third episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guests Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (“Cobra Kai”) talk all about their careers as writers and directors. They share behind-the-scenes stories from all of their projects, including the “Harold & Kumar” trilogy, “American Reunion” (the 4th film in the “American Pie” franchise), and “Blockers”. They discuss how they came up with the idea for their hit TV series “Cobra Kai” (based on the “Karate Kid” movies), how they got Ralph Macchio & William Zabka to reprise their iconic roles as “Daniel LaRusso” & “Johnny Lawrence”, and how they cast the new characters. Brett asks them the question everybody’s thinking: Will Elisabeth Shue be back as “Ali”? Jon & Hayden also reveal “the legend of Brett Gursky” that they created on the set of “Harold & Kumar 2”. And they take Brett back to the beginning, to when they first became friends at Randolph High School in New Jersey, and how it ultimately led them to Hollywood. Last but not least, they give their advice to aspiring filmmakers.

It’s the fifty-second episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guest Jonathan Kite ("2 Broke Girls") talks about his career as both an actor and a stand-up comic. Jonathan discusses growing up in Chicago and the theater program in high school that helped him find his calling. He also shares his story of moving to LA and getting his start in the entertainment industry. Jonathan tells Brett about his sketch comedy show with Jamie Foxx, his guest spots on the Disney Channel series “Suite Life on Deck” and “Wizards of Waverly Place”, and finally his big break on the hit CBS sitcom “2 Broke Girls”. He discusses his 6 seasons on the show, acting alongside Kat Dennings, Beth Behrs, Garrett Morris, and love interest Jennifer Coolidge. He also gives advice to aspiring actors and comedians.

It’s the fifty-first episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guest Jonathan Sadowski ("Young & Hungry") talks about his career as an actor, how he got started, and what brought him to where he is today. Jonathan shares the story of how he played Brett Gursky on "Entourage"- and how they've been friends ever since. Jonathan discusses growing up in Chicago, moving to LA, and booking his very first role on "NCIS". He shares behind-the-scenes stories about all the roles that followed- from TV shows like "American Dreams" with Brittany Snow to movies like "She's The Man" with Amanda Bynes & Channing Tatum and "Live Free or Die Hard" with Bruce Willis. Brett and Jonathan also talk about his sitcoms "Shit My Dad Says" with William Shatner and "Young & Hungry" with Emily Osment, which just completed its successful 5-season run on Freeform. Jonathan also reveals his next sitcom: "Patty's Auto", coming soon to FOX.

It’s the fiftieth episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guest Charlie Wachtel talks about winning the Oscar this year for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Blackkklansman". He shares behind-the-scenes stories about writing the screenplay, meeting the real Ron Stallworth, and eventually collaborating with Jordan Peele & Spike Lee. Charlie tells Brett how he and his writing partner David Rabinowitz first came up with the idea for the movie and what it felt like to finally see the finished product at the Cannes Film Festival. He also reflects on his journey to winning the Oscar- and reveals what he would have said in his acceptance speech. He talks about bringing his parents to the Academy Awards, who they hung out with at the after parties, and who surprisingly snubbed him. Brett and Charlie, both from the same hometown of East Brunswick, New Jersey, reminisce about how Brett encouraged Charlie to move to Los Angeles and got him his first internship. Charlie also reveals what's up next for him and his writing partner.

It’s the forty-ninth episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guests Jaime Ray Newman & Guy Nattiv talk about winning Oscars this year for Best Live Action Short for their movie “Skin”. They share behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the short film, as well as the feature film- also called “Skin”- which will be in theaters everywhere on July 26th. Guy discusses being born & raised in Israel and how it led to him becoming a director. Jaime tells Brett how she wanted to be an actress since the age of 10 when her dad brought her on a birthday trip to Los Angeles and they ended up at a taping of the pilot for “Saved By The Bell”. Jaime discusses her first movie role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Steven Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can”, as well as her starring roles on the hit TV shows “Eastwick”, “Drop Dead Diva”, “Wicked City”, “Bates Motel”, “Midnight Texas”, and Marvel’s “The Punisher” on Netflix. Jaime’s parents Fred & Marsha also make appearances- Fred takes us through his FaceTime call with Jaime & Guy from backstage at the Oscars, while Marsha explains how the family navigated Jaime’s childhood acting career in Michigan.

It’s the forty-eighth episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week's guest Tinashe goes in-depth about her career as a musician and an actress. She explains how she got her start and talks about everything from the release of her first hit single "2 On" to her starring role as Mimi in "Rent" on Fox. Brett and Tinashe also share never-before-heard stories from their recent trip to Fiji.

It’s the forty-seventh episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week’s guest Edi Gathegi ("Pimp") talks all about his career as an actor. He discusses being born in Kenya and raised in California, before ultimately going to graduate school at NYU, where he majored in theater. He tells Brett about his very first roles, including “Crank” opposite Jason Statham and “Gone Baby Gone” for first-time director Ben Affleck. He also tells Brett about his guest arc on “House”, which was also the first time he started to get recognized. Edi then shares behind-the-scenes stories from the set of “Twilight”, which is currently celebrating its 10-year anniversary. He explains how he got the role and tells Brett what he remembers most about each of his castmates, including Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart. He also talks about filming the sequel- “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”. Edi goes on to tell Brett how he got his role in “X-Men: First Class” and how it fulfilled his dream of being in an X-Men movie. He talks about his relationships with his cast members, including Kevin Bacon and Zoe Kravitz. He also gives the inside scoop about more of his television projects, like the shows “Justified” and “Proof”, and his experience working with director Cameron Crowe on the movie “Aloha” with Bradley Cooper. Edi goes on to discuss how he simultaneously worked on the NBC shows “The Blacklist” and its spin-off “The Blacklist: Redemption” at the same time as his series “Start-Up” on Crackle. He also talks about his time earlier this year starring in the off-Broadway play “Jesus Hopped the A-Train”, which won him the Drama Desk Award, as well as his 2018 films “Better Start Running” opposite Analeigh Tipton and “Pimp” opposite Keke Palmer. He talks about what’s next for him, including a reunion with Ben Affleck for the Dee Rees film “The Last Thing He Wanted”, where he stars alongside Affleck, Anne Hathaway, and Willem Dafoe. Look for that in theaters in 2019.

It’s the forty-sixth episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week’s guest Sanaa Lathan (“Shots Fired”) talks all about her career as an actress. She discusses growing up in New York City with a TV director dad and a Broadway actress mom, then going to college at Berkeley and getting her masters in Drama at Yale. She tells Brett about her very first roles, including Steve Urkel’s love interest on “Family Matters”, which was followed by her first break in the movies with “Blade”, co-starring Wesley Snipes. She then shares behind-the-scenes stories from the sets of her films “Life” with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, “The Wood” with Omar Epps and Taye Diggs, and “The Best Man” with Taye, Regina Hall, and many more. Then Sanaa tells Brett all about how she got her fan-favorite role in the cult classic “Love & Basketball”- and how the director first wanted a female basketball player who could act, not the other way around. Sanaa gives the inside scoop on what it took for her to learn basketball and win the role. Sanaa and Brett discuss her roles in “Brown Sugar” with Taye and Queen Latifah, “Out of Time” with Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes, and “Alien vs Predator” which took her to Prague for six months. She then talks about her Tony-nominated role in the Broadway play “A Raisin In The Sun”, which was followed by a season-long guest arc on the hit Ryan Murphy show “Nip/Tuck”. Sanaa and Brett also cover her roles in Tyler Perry’s “The Family That Preys” and Steve Soderbergh’s “Contagion” with Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow. She also shares stories from her Starz series “Boss” with Kelsey Grammer, the long-awaited sequel “Best Man Holiday”, her hit movie “The Perfect Guy” with Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut, and the summer blockbuster “Now You See Me 2”. They also talk about what’s next: “American Assassin” in theaters September 15th. Sanaa currently stars in the FOX 10-episode event series “Shots Fired”, which airs every Wednesday night at 8pm. She leads a cast that includes Stephan James, Mack Wilds, Richard Dreyfus, and Helen Hunt. Be sure to tune in- or binge all 10 episodes OnDemand or on Hulu.

It’s the forty-fifth episode of On The List with Brett Gursky. This week’s guest Geoff Stults (“Unforgettable”) talks all about his career as an actor. He was born in Michigan and raised in Colorado, before making the move to California to play college football. When his older brother George got discovered for acting, Geoff went along for the ride. His first role was on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, followed by a recurring role on MTV’s “Undressed”. From there, he joined the cast of the hit show “7th Heaven”, playing TV brothers with his real-life brother. Then his first leading role in a movie was “D.E.B.S.”, starring Sara Foster, Jordana Brewster, Megan Good, and Devon Aoki. He followed that up with memorable parts in two hit comedies: “Wedding Crashers” with Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Bradley Cooper and “The Break-Up” with Vaughn again and Jennifer Aniston. He then went back to his roots and played a football player in the movie “The Express”, a bio-pic about Ernie Davis. Soon he was starring on the ABC series “October Road” opposite Bryan Greenberg and Laura Prepon, which then led to his own series “Happy Town” from the same creators- Scott Rosenberg, Josh Applebaum, and Andre Nemec. Geoff next starred in the comedy feature “She’s Out Of My League” playing “Cam”, the boyfriend of Alice Eve’s “Molly”, who is the object of Jay Baruchel’s affection. He then worked for director Clint Eastwood in the film “J. Edgar” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, where Geoff played the role of real-life FBI agent Raymond Caffrey. He also played the character “Walter Sherman” (which is now the name of his dog) on the hit Fox series “Bones”, which led to his own spin-off for the character called “The Finder”. On his next show “Enlisted”, he starred opposite Parker Young and Chris Lowell as three brothers enlisted into the army. Now he appears on both “The Odd Couple” on CBS with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon and “Grace and Frankie” and Netflix with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, playing husband to Brooklyn Decker. His new movie “Unforgettable”, Geoff is fought over by Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson. It hits theaters April 21st. And next up, Geoff stars in “Granite Mountain”, the true story of the crew of men who battled a wildfire in Arizona in 2013, with co-stars who include Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Taylor Kitsch, James Badge Dale, and Andie MacDowell. In January 2018, Geoff will star in “Horse Soldiers”, co-starring Chris Hemsworth, Austin Stowell, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, and Trevante Rhodes- another true story about CIA agents and special forces who go to Afghanistan right after September 11th to dismantle the Taliban. But first, check out “Unforgettable” when it hits a theater near you on April 21st.