Uncategorized | 4:36 pm | March 23, 2011 | By Edirin Okoloko

‘The Real World’ is at Toad’s

How real is this?
How real is this? Photo by Edirin Okoloko.

Erica Santos, 22, looked down at us from above, courtesy of 5-inch platform heels. Her highlighted, brown hair was curled, and her makeup was flawless.

“Why would the world not want to see me on television?” Santos, who models in the city, said as her glossed lips parted to reveal a seductive smile. Touché.

Santos was among numerous other people who were waiting in the front lobby of Toad’s Place to be interviewed for the chance to be cast in the 26th season of the hit MTV reality series, “The Real World.” Although it was only 2 p.m., Santos’ attire made it easy to imagine her at Toad’s on a Saturday night.

The reality show has gained a steady following since its first season premiered in 1992. As its title would suggest, the show provides the conditions for “real life” to unfold, making it easy to relate to cast members. Many people waiting for their interviews named this ability to truly relate to such people and thus imagine themselves on screen as the main reason that they decided to attend the casting call.

Of course, the drama — resulting from alcohol and cameras — which has become attributable to the show, lured others.

Megan Principe, 21, a student at Sussex County College, said she thinks her personality would work well on a show like “The Real World”.

“Let’s be honest, I don’t like catty girls,” she said. “ I don’t start drama, but, if I have to, I will get in someone’s face.”

Jan Boria, 24, also embodied some of the stereotypical characteristics of a housemate: “I like to party. I like to get drunk.”

Don Savoy, 21, attends the University of Bridgeport and named, instead, the possibility of travel as his decision to audition. He admitted to never having been out of the country, and when asked where he would want to go, he said, without pause, “Canada!”

In general, the casting directors admitted that only two Yalies thus far had shown up, but Athena Liao ’12, was nevertheless excited by the prospect.

“When I heard that I missed the casting call last year, I was really upset, so I had to come today,” she explained and believed that combining her “chill” personality with the “typical crazies” usually cast on the show would make for interesting television.

Shannon McCarty, the senior casting director for the show, had already seen a couple hundred people in the few hours since the casting call began at 10 a.m. This will be her seventh season working with the show. McCarty said that she didn’t have drama in mind when looking for potential housemates. Rather, with multiple roommates living together, “conflict is simply sort of inevitable.” Yikes. Yale might want to reconsider its suite-style housing options.

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