The reality is that there is life after reality
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, July 06, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Is there life after reality television?
"I've gone five years without a 'real' job," says Rob Mariano, a star of both "Survivor" and "Amazing Race." "So, I guess, the answer is 'yes.'"
A stint in reality television, however, doesn't necessarily translate into an acting career.
Ask Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, a roommate on "The Real World."
"Agents aren't sitting at parties waiting to see you and bring you in. That doesn't happen." Still, he says, other reality show stars expect acting careers to blossom. "You'll ask them, 'Have you gotten headshots? Have you gone to acting classes? Have you talked to agents? Have you gotten a manager?' And they'll say, 'No.' Well, you have to make things happen."
Even when he was on "The Real World," Mizanin expressed an interest in becoming a professional wrestler. When the series ended, "I worked my --- off to get on the WWE. I was in the backyards of high schools wrestling. I'd do anything I could to get them to notice me. Finally, they called and I got on 'Tough Enough,'" a World Wrestling Entertainment competition show.
Mizanin placed second but still got a development deal.
"I trained for a year in Louisville and then they let me host 'SmackDown.'" Today, he's a full-fledged professional wrestler, "living my dream."
So, too, is Stephen Colletti, one of the stars of the original "Laguna Beach." Now filming "Normal Adolescent Behavior," the 21-year-old has been a regular on "One Tree Hill" and a co-host of "Total Request Live."
"Laguna Beach" opened the door for a show business career, he says, "but acting has always been something I've been into. I did small theater efforts when I was younger and, then, when I hit high school I took a sports route. Athletics took me out of drama but doing 'Laguna Beach' brought me back in."
Unlike "The Real World," "Laguna Beach" wasn't entirely spontaneous. "It was like doing an improv show. You knew where (the story) was supposed to go."
Acting? "You played to the camera. It was basically a (scripted) show without the script. Yes, it was acting."
That put him in prime position for more traditional shows. If he hadn't had previous stage experience, Colletti isn't sure how far his reality exposure might have taken him.
"You find people who do something like 'Survivor' and, all of a sudden, decide, 'I got attention off that show...I want to be an actor,' and they have nothing. They make the decision but people won't take them seriously."
Like Mizanin, Colletti believes training is key. Although both dropped out of college to pursue show business careers, they've studied acting.
Mariano and his wife, Amber Brkich Mariano, however, haven't strayed far from the reality genre. After appearances on "Survivor" (where she was a big All-Stars winner), they landed spots on "Amazing Race" and, then, their own reality series, "Rob and Amber: Against the Odds," on the FoxReality Network.
"We'll keep doing it as long as they let us," Mariano says.
Colletti, however, says there's a brief window of opportunity for reality stars. "The real trick is to get (casting directors) to see you as someone else."
"Laguna Beach" fans were so certain they knew the "real" Stephen, they approached him on the street and "automatically assumed I was that kid...that I could somehow relate to them. It's flattering, but what they saw on television was heightened and hyped."
The real Laguna Beach, in fact, isn't filled with rich, spoiled kids, he says. "There are lot of great people there. It's well-known for its arts community and, yet, you never saw that on the show."
Colletti and Mizanin, though, aren't about to badmouth their reality experiences.
"It was like the brick that hit me in the head," Colletti says. "It brought me to where I am now. It made me passionate about acting again."
Mizanin figures he'd still be in Parma, Ohio, "working for my dad in a fast-food restaurant. I guarantee you I would be like everyone else in town. ('The Real World') taught me so much. I was completely naive before I got on the show. When I went back, I realized couldn't live there anymore."
Hollywood? New York?
The destinations are obvious. The results? Hardly as clearcut.
Jennifer Hudson found a career in acting after "American Idol" and won an Oscar. Justin Guarini made one film, then disappeared -- only to surface on a TV Guide Channel show about... "American Idol."
Broadway stages boast a handful of reality stars (even "Dancing with the Stars'" Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin have a summer gig in "Chicago"). But for every success story, there are at least two or three failures.
Rob and Amber, perhaps the only contestants to sustain a career in reality television, haven't stretched beyond the boundaries. But they know they're not actors.
The key to reality television, Mizanin says, is "being yourself. That's what makes you different. That's why people want to watch you."
Life after reality? "It's all what you make of it," he adds. "I'm a goal-oriented person. I go after what I want and I try as hard as I can."
Now that's a real world challenge.
"I've gone five years without a 'real' job," says Rob Mariano, a star of both "Survivor" and "Amazing Race." "So, I guess, the answer is 'yes.'"
A stint in reality television, however, doesn't necessarily translate into an acting career.
Ask Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, a roommate on "The Real World."
"Agents aren't sitting at parties waiting to see you and bring you in. That doesn't happen." Still, he says, other reality show stars expect acting careers to blossom. "You'll ask them, 'Have you gotten headshots? Have you gone to acting classes? Have you talked to agents? Have you gotten a manager?' And they'll say, 'No.' Well, you have to make things happen."
Even when he was on "The Real World," Mizanin expressed an interest in becoming a professional wrestler. When the series ended, "I worked my --- off to get on the WWE. I was in the backyards of high schools wrestling. I'd do anything I could to get them to notice me. Finally, they called and I got on 'Tough Enough,'" a World Wrestling Entertainment competition show.
Mizanin placed second but still got a development deal.
"I trained for a year in Louisville and then they let me host 'SmackDown.'" Today, he's a full-fledged professional wrestler, "living my dream."
So, too, is Stephen Colletti, one of the stars of the original "Laguna Beach." Now filming "Normal Adolescent Behavior," the 21-year-old has been a regular on "One Tree Hill" and a co-host of "Total Request Live."
"Laguna Beach" opened the door for a show business career, he says, "but acting has always been something I've been into. I did small theater efforts when I was younger and, then, when I hit high school I took a sports route. Athletics took me out of drama but doing 'Laguna Beach' brought me back in."
Unlike "The Real World," "Laguna Beach" wasn't entirely spontaneous. "It was like doing an improv show. You knew where (the story) was supposed to go."
Acting? "You played to the camera. It was basically a (scripted) show without the script. Yes, it was acting."
That put him in prime position for more traditional shows. If he hadn't had previous stage experience, Colletti isn't sure how far his reality exposure might have taken him.
"You find people who do something like 'Survivor' and, all of a sudden, decide, 'I got attention off that show...I want to be an actor,' and they have nothing. They make the decision but people won't take them seriously."
Like Mizanin, Colletti believes training is key. Although both dropped out of college to pursue show business careers, they've studied acting.
Mariano and his wife, Amber Brkich Mariano, however, haven't strayed far from the reality genre. After appearances on "Survivor" (where she was a big All-Stars winner), they landed spots on "Amazing Race" and, then, their own reality series, "Rob and Amber: Against the Odds," on the FoxReality Network.
"We'll keep doing it as long as they let us," Mariano says.
Colletti, however, says there's a brief window of opportunity for reality stars. "The real trick is to get (casting directors) to see you as someone else."
"Laguna Beach" fans were so certain they knew the "real" Stephen, they approached him on the street and "automatically assumed I was that kid...that I could somehow relate to them. It's flattering, but what they saw on television was heightened and hyped."
The real Laguna Beach, in fact, isn't filled with rich, spoiled kids, he says. "There are lot of great people there. It's well-known for its arts community and, yet, you never saw that on the show."
Colletti and Mizanin, though, aren't about to badmouth their reality experiences.
"It was like the brick that hit me in the head," Colletti says. "It brought me to where I am now. It made me passionate about acting again."
Mizanin figures he'd still be in Parma, Ohio, "working for my dad in a fast-food restaurant. I guarantee you I would be like everyone else in town. ('The Real World') taught me so much. I was completely naive before I got on the show. When I went back, I realized couldn't live there anymore."
Hollywood? New York?
The destinations are obvious. The results? Hardly as clearcut.
Jennifer Hudson found a career in acting after "American Idol" and won an Oscar. Justin Guarini made one film, then disappeared -- only to surface on a TV Guide Channel show about... "American Idol."
Broadway stages boast a handful of reality stars (even "Dancing with the Stars'" Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin have a summer gig in "Chicago"). But for every success story, there are at least two or three failures.
Rob and Amber, perhaps the only contestants to sustain a career in reality television, haven't stretched beyond the boundaries. But they know they're not actors.
The key to reality television, Mizanin says, is "being yourself. That's what makes you different. That's why people want to watch you."
Life after reality? "It's all what you make of it," he adds. "I'm a goal-oriented person. I go after what I want and I try as hard as I can."
Now that's a real world challenge.
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