Spilling out of State Street Brats and winding down Frances St., hundreds of hopefuls waited in line Tuesday for a chance to be a part of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules casting call.
Now in their 15th and 13th seasons respectively, the “Real World” and “Road Rules” series were pioneers in the reality TV phenomenon, and thousands of students across the country are now willing to do almost anything for their fifteen minutes of MTV fame.
With eager applicants lining up a full two and a half hours before the 10 a.m. casting call, the energy level was high from the get-go. The series, which are both set to tape within the next year, do not have set locations, but the camera-ready hopefuls were not concerned.
“I’m from a small town, I don’t really know anyone who’s black or from another country, and I’ve never shared a room with someone,” Madison Area Technical College junior Adam Kendall said, “So I am definitely ready to expand my horizons.”
The long line remained steady throughout the day, and some students found themselves waiting upwards of three hours for the chance to talk to the production’s casting directors. A senior at the University of Wisconsin, Kevin Otten, said he had been waiting in line for more than an hour, but that he did not mind the wait.
“Everybody here seems to be really friendly, so it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long,” Otten said.
By mid-afternoon, nearly 600 people had already been interviewed, with several hundred still waiting in line outside. And it was not just Madison students involved; eligible participants between the ages of 18-24 drove in from all over the Midwest.
Matt Goetch, a Manager at State Street Brats, said he and his coworkers had been getting numerous calls from people curious about the event.
“A lot of calls have been from people not in the area,” Goetch said. “We’ve gotten calls from all over the Midwest; one person that called was even from Michigan.”
Madison was the casting company’s eleventh stop in a 14-city audition tour, and the possibility of actually being chosen to be on one of the shows has been rumored to be slimmer than the odds of winning the lottery.
The cast of characters awaiting the chance to have their every moment taped was not deterred by the slim chances of being chosen.
“I’m not really nervous because I don’t really care that much either way,” Madison resident Christy Spahr, 20, said.
When asked why they would want to be on a show that broadcasts their every waking moment for months on end to millions of people worldwide, participants gave a wide variety of answers.
For UW-Milwaukee freshman Jeanne Salmon, 18, the reasons were simple.
“Dude, you would meet so many guys. And think how many more guys than normal you would get because they would want to be on TV,” Salmon said. “Besides, everyone’s always trashed and naked.”
UW-Madison freshman Jessica Pizur, 18, tried out for the shows so she could bring more of an element of reality to the often-glamorized final product.
“None of those people on the show are actually real,” Pizur’s friend Mira Swanson said.
“Yeah, I’d be the one farting and burping,” Pizur added.
One of the prevalent parts of each series is the inevitable hooking-up of various cast members, and the ensuing fights, tears and on-screen nooky. When asked whether or not they would feel comfortable getting physical with fellow cast members in front of millions, answers ranged from a resounding “Yeah!” to “Not with my mother watching.”
UW-Madison sophomore Rachel Remley, 19, is currently in a long-distance relationship, but she is not completely opposed to the idea of hooking-up on-screen.
“I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to find a hook-up,” Remley said. “But if it happened, I’d roll with it.”
For UW-Madison freshmen Jordan Barringer and Jessie Kalin, both 18, the idea of getting freaky on tape was not pleasant.
“I would probably not do it because my mom and my grandma would be watching,” Barringer said.
“Yeah, I’d be very hesitant about hooking-up on national television,” Kalin said.
For one writer’s opinion of the events, see page 6.
