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Brooke and the striped-shirt wearing Mr. Roboto. Photo from Thursday Night Fever.
– “The Real World” Denver’s Brooke, who by most reader accounts seems to be the nicest, most down-to-earth one of the seven-member cast, got a bit of notice from a hometown blog the other day, which posted a couple new pics of her…
– The Thursday Night Fever post didn’t reveal any new information about our girl, but it’s interesting to read the comments, which are all over the place. Everything from people that didn’t even know “The Real World” was still around to someone that’s tried out for the show in the past. Here are the comments a guy named “jag,” which reveal the forced, controlled nature of “The Real World”…
“i’ve been to a few ‘Real World’ casting sessions in the past. in 1998, i made it to the 3rd round of casting — the recorded telephone interview. the last time i went to one of these events, my girlfriend at the time made it to the final round — they flew her to LA and chose that Cameran chick for ‘Real World: San Diego’ over my ex. during that casting session in Austin, TX, we met Jason, who was on ‘Real World: Boston,’ then went on to work for Bunim/Murray, the folks behind RW and Road Rules, among others. he worked in their casting dept, before moving on to NBC.
“he mentioned his reason for leaving was due to the fact their casting philosophy changed somewhere around the 10th season. at that time, their approach changed from searching out the 7 most interesting people, no matter of their background/whatnot. their new philosophy was to ‘precast’, which meant with each season, they met to decide the 7 ‘types’ of people they wanted for that particular season, then it was the casting director’s job to find those 7 predetermined types. from what he said, they went into great detail with this new philosophy, going as far as psychological exams to help determine which types of personalities would illicit which certain situations (read: high drama).
anyway, Jason said he left B/M due to the casting change, and how he felt it not only watered down the show, but weeded out potentially great cast members. and that’s my report on the history of the Real World. each season i promise not to watch, but wind up succumbing to my own personal peer pressure. damn those slutty girls and their loose morals.”
“The Real World” Denver’s Brooke (left) and a friend. Photo from Thursday Night Fever.
– Perhaps most bizarre on the Thursday Night Fever post is the completely unrelated last comment about our man Jay Lafray (read about him here). He’s Denver cast member Jenn’s ex-boyfriend and is supposedly visiting the Mile High City in late August. He seems to have more vocal, Internet-ready supporters than a freakin’ right-wing talk show host. Seriously, who are all these people and why are they so quick to inundate the web with publicity for him?
After reading “JAG’s” article about real world casting, it all makes sense. It is very true: they ‘type-cast’, which means they know exactly the 7 types of people they want for each season and they have to find those people. I know from experience in casting and advancing along that they do type-cast… my casting tape talked about the exact same things as one of the cast members bio from Key West. The things they decided to highlight about that character is exactly what I just happened to mention during casting (by chance completely) and it is the reason I advanced, but ultimately I did not make it to the final round. If MTV/BMP reads this, I hope they understand that by type-casting they jeopardize the show’s REALNESS, which is what it is supposed to be about, right guys?? Bottomline, casting should be LEGIT; with an idea of a perfect cast in mind while still remaining open to flat out interesting people. The show is going downhill FAST. I have already lost interest in being a faithful viewer and pretty soon, I dont see myself watching it at all. Hopefully they bring this new version of ROAD RULES back to save MTV from sure disaster.
-Not bitter, just amazed at how f*cking stupid these “educated” producers are, Anonymous
Comment by anonymous — August 9, 2006 @ 2:52 pm
You could absolutly tell when they went from casting 7 strangers, to 7 “pre-determined” types. I didn’t watch a couple season, primarily after Hawaii, but I noticed it hardcore when the Vegas RW cast hit the Palms…they completly type casted those people. Without a doubt.
Comment by amanda — August 10, 2006 @ 12:09 am
more on the casting… my ex-girlfriend that made it to the final round wanted nothing to do with Bunim/Murray. she went along with me, complaining the entire time, only because i asked her to. during the roundtable that is the first round of Real World casting, the agent picked on her nonstop because it was obvious for everyone there that she did not want to be there. she refused to answer most questions, and mentioned several times she was only there because of me.
we broke up, then a few months later she called to say she was being flown out to LA that weekend, and they were choosing between her and Cameron for Real World: San Diego. we all know the rest of that story.
funny thing is that my ex and Cameron could have been doubles. they were both 19 at the time, from the South, somewhat sheltered in that they had yet to experience a lot in this world, but were obviously itching to do so. this furthered the point Jason made with us that B/M were no longer casting the 7 most interesting people, rather the 7 typecast they decided before the first open call auditions.
that being said, if you want to be on the Real World, go with the disinterested approach.
thanks for reading.
jag.
lifeaccordingtojag.com
Comment by jag — August 10, 2006 @ 2:42 pm
everybody does NOT love brooke. i almost hate to watch just because she’s on it. colie, jen and the rest of the cast rock !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by ?????????????????????????? — February 27, 2007 @ 12:24 pm