Think college is tough? Try reality television. In the cutthroat, inundated world of scripted – yet real – shows, the shelf life for a star is short. Nonetheless, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin of MTV’s “The Real World: Back to New York” has managed to outlast many of his counterparts.
He has ridden the coattails of his reality TV fame all over the country – even to Hugh Hefner’s infamous parties at the Playboy Mansion. Five years and eight reality shows later, “The Miz” is still in demand, having signed a developmental deal this summer with a World Wrestling Entertainment subsidiary.
This weekend when “The Real World,” the mother of all reality shows, lays down its casting couch at Tiki Bob’s Cantina, throngs of young Richmonders will flirt with the statistically slim shot of becoming the next big thing. Franchise alumnus Mizanin shared his words of reality TV wisdom with the CT.
So, what does it take to make the cut out of thousands of fame-hungry, off the wall hopefuls? Making it to the audition is the first step.
Mizanin recalled being ridiculed by his friends when he mentioned wanting to try out for the popular show. He surprised even himself when he auditioned and was chosen out of more than 40,000 to be one of the seven roommates.
“If you try, you never know what can happen,” Mizanin said, his motivational pitch perfected from years of doing college speaking tours.
Keeping it real is the next step. After all, it is reality TV, isn’t it?
When Mizanin asked the producers from Bunim-Murray Productions why they picked him – a fresh-faced, handsome-yet-awkward, 19-year-old frat boy from the suburbs of Cleveland – they told him they liked that he was an open book and let his real personality show.
“Be yourself and you’ll be fine,” Mizanin said Thursday in a telephone interview.
That’s one way to avoid making a fool of yourself in front of millions of viewers. People on reality shows get so caught up with being a character or stereotype, Mizanin said.
Then, they become upset with how the show portrays them because they aren’t true to themselves. He, on the other hand, had no problem with his portrayal on MTV.
Mizanin advised VCU students trying out Saturday to “be themselves, be entertaining and stand out.” This is one situation where shyness could silence someone’s chances.
If he hadn’t made the cut in 2000, Mizanin, who attended the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, said he’d probably be working toward a business degree, which is what his father wanted.
At that age, he really had no idea what he wanted to do in life, he said, but being on the show helped him find his purpose.
“Getting on the ‘Real World’ made me realize I could do anything I want,” he said.
Growing up, Mizanin dreamed of becoming a wrestling superstar, a fantasy he played out on MTV through his alter-ego, “The Miz.” In 2004, he made it to the final round of “Tough Enough,” a wrestling competition presented by MTV and WWE that offered the winner a four-year, one million dollar contract. Although he lost that match, his wrestling career is still growing.
Two months ago, he signed a developmental deal with the WWE-sponsored Dirty South Wrestling. It is a professional wrestling promotion located in Georgia, where he now lives, that trains wrestlers before they can be promoted to the main roster.
While driving to go see an ultimate fighting-type match, Mizanin last week told the CT that he was taking a break from reality TV.
“I don’t want to be the 30-year-old on the show,” he said, adding that he hasn’t altogether ruled out future appearances.
As for romance, Mizanin, who has had his share of rendezvous’ broadcast for all to see, expects hook-ups to happen when a group of good-looking twenty-somethings get together. But, it’s a fantasy that ends when the reality show ends, he said of the brevity of on-camera hook-ups.
Aside from the constant prank calls and bar room encounters with drunken guys who want to challenge “The Miz”, Mizanin said there has not been a downside to his fame. He’s gained friends, like Coral Smith, his well-known Big Apple roommate, and Trishelle Canatella, his one-time love interest.
Asked how he handles critics of reality TV, Mizanin pointed to its more poignant moments such as 1993’s Real World: San Francisco. Season three emphasized HIV and AIDS awareness through cast member Pedro Zamora’s battle with the disease that later claimed his life.
Mizanin admitted that while some reality shows are cheesy, viewers and critics should keep in mind that “they’re just entertainment.”
For more details, visit www.mikethemiz.com.
The “Real World” comes to Richmond
10 a.m-5 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 24
Tiki Bob’s Cantina, 110 N. 18th St.
Open to ages 18-24
Bring recent picture and photo ID