Long wait sours MTV audition

'Real World' casting call fails to open stardom's doors

By: Dana Moran

Posted: 9/29/04

We've all watched them for years. Seven strangers picked to live in a house and have their lives taped.

Yesterday was my chance to try to join the 100-plus cast members who have been lucky enough to call MTV's "The Real World" their home. Unfortunately, more than 900 of my fellow Syracuse University students had the same chance.

I arrived outside the Schine Student Center at about 10:15 a.m., after hitting my snooze button four times and then just resetting my alarm altogether. I figured there couldn't be too many people in line yet since the average college student is as lazy or lazier than I am.

But I was wrong. When I arrived, nearly 200 people were already corralled between Day-Glo strips of fabric and had clearly been camped there for hours.

As the doors opened at 11 a.m. and more and more people filled up the snaking line behind me, I worked with my best friend Adrianne on the survey handed out by MTV minions. The survey raised important questions such as, "What is the most important issue in your life today?" Today, specifically? Well, the possibility of failing my 2:30 p.m. psychology test I'd only studied 36 minutes for before starting the damn survey.

Three hours later, I was still waiting in line, glancing at the hundreds of people surrounding me who were all dressed to the nines to impress the MTV bigwigs. And although they were trying their very best, I'm not sure that they were up to reality TV standards.

I won't gloss over this-you have to be pretty damn hot to get on "The Real World." Back in the early '90s when the show debuted, there were a few less-than-attractive faces (Puck, anyone?). But it was OK back then because you could get by on personality.

Not so much anymore. Take a look at the casting trends of the past five years: fresh-faced, thin coeds who've all been boring as hell. I miss the days of Ruthie overdosing and getting dragged off to the hospital, of Steven slapping Irene and of Melissa's massive booty-shaking.

So what was it about SU students that qualified them for MTV fame? Tracy Halpin, a junior finance and accounting major, said she deserved to be on because she's "attractive, outgoing and a fun-to-be-with person."

Still, at 1:30 p.m., I was beginning to panic. My test was in an hour, I was fewer than 20 people from the door, but a huge pack of VIP pass holders had just been let in ahead of those of us waiting in line. I had just begun mapping an excuse for being late to class with the guy standing next to me, Andrew Martino, a junior management major, when we were ushered through the doors along with eight others. 20 minutes later, we entered the casting room, sat in a circle with eight other hopefuls and met with casting director Sarah Levin.

Given the four hours plus I spent waiting for this very moment, the actual amount of time we were interviewed for was ridiculous. Levin asked if any of us were in a relationship, and then came out with the big question: "What is your definition of cheating?" Well, I thought, obviously if the person fools around with another person and puts emotion behind it, that's cheating. After going around the room questioning each person, Levin told us someone from MTV would contact us if we'd been selected for the next round-a one-on-one interview with producers.

And that was it. After less than 15 minutes with Levin, we were let back into the light of day. Martino and I bolted for psych, arriving just before the tests were passed out.

Will I get called back? Probably not. Was it worth waiting for more than four hours? Also probably not. But though I may not be among the seven selected for the next season, I can hold my head up and proudly declare that I am among the thousands who weren't hot or interesting enough to have their every waking move captured on film.