The world took notice of Utkarsh Ambudkar with his freestyle performance on the Oscar telecast but he was almost a classic cautionary character: The guy who blows his big break because of struggles with substance abuse. Utkarsh tells Marc about his early love of hip-hop, how rap battles and general swagger opened doors for him on Broadway and in Hollywood, and why he knew he had to sober up when he torpedoed his shot at a little musical called Hamilton. Utkarsh also talks about his friendship with Lin-Manuel Miranda, his hero worship of Ice Cube, and his scene-stealing turns in The Mindy Project, Pitch Perfect and Brittany Runs a Marathon. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace and SimpliSafe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.