Jonathan Kite on Friendship, Humility and Values in the Entertainment Industry EP 06

Summary: Jonathan Kite (@jonathankite) is an actor, comic and an incredible impressionist. You may or may not recognize him as “Oleg,” the hilarious Ukrainian cook from CBS’ 2 Broke Girls.  When Justine met Jonathan he had not yet booked 2 Broke Girls, but was nailing a near perfect impression of Vince Vaughn, preparing for a role on a sketch comedy show for Fox.  Since then, Jonathan has shot six seasons and 138 episodes of a hit comedy show and remained virtually the exact same person, including driving his 1999 Chevy Cavalier until it’s death just last year. (RIP) In this episode, Jonathan and Justine discuss the relationships you build filming a six season show, the motives and drive behind why he does what he does, his midwest values that have stuck with him through his journey and a whole lot of sneakers and Chicago basketball.  As always, thanks for listening! Please be sure to subscribe and download so you know when the next episode is coming and also rate and review Show Me Your Friends on Apple Podcasts here: http://bit.ly/showmeyourfriendspodcast You can find Jonathan Kite on IG and Twitter @jonathankite. You can follow Show Me Your Friends on IG at @showmeyourfriends and on Twitter @SMYFPodcast. You can find Justine on IG at @justineslife and on Twitter at @justine_brown. SHOW NOTES 8:36 Working in theater again on “The Nerd” 11:13 How Jonathan and Justine met 14:48 On their friendship together and real friendships in LA 18:27 On basketball and sneakers 22:12 On growing up in Chicago watching MJ 26:59 On college players and getting paid 29:28 On doing six seasons of 2 Broke Girls 32:17 The bond created with co-stars Kat Dennings, Beth Behrs, Matthew Moy and Garrett Morris 33:07 The end of 2 Broke Girls 34:31 On enjoying the road and the journey over “the championship.” 35:58 On how the people make the experience  40:33 What it’s like to be “playing with” people at the top level in entertainment 44:02 On driving his ’99 Chevy Cavalier “The Hulk” 45:51 On what made him want to be an entertainer and who inspired him 47:02 Why being an entertainer doesn’t make him any better than anyone else 49:05 On being inspired by Robin Williams 51:16 On leaving this place a little better than he found it 53:46 His Midwest values and valuing relationships over money 58:00 Getting his first pair of Jordans 1:00:00 What his dream project would be 1:01:00 On doing impressions and a few incredible examples 1:08:00 What characteristic he looks for in a friend 1:09:09 The Mantra he lives by