April 21, 2005 |
The O.C.'s Swingin' Spring Break
8:30 am I can see the O.C. spring break set from my hotel room window. The stage. The banners. The pool. Wait a minute. Pool? Suddenly, the outfit I brought seems oh-so-inappropriate. What was I thinking? Cue my inner scream.
10:40 "It's the Nana. The Nana!" Linda Lavin laughs as she tells me about the previous day's encounter with a group of screaming O.C. fans. "I had no idea that just from one episode people would even care about me."
12:30 pm Call time. I head to a tent in South Beach along with 300 extras. "You should have brought a change of clothes," casting agent Ellen Jacoby scolds before sending me to wardrobe for costume approval.
1:20 Costume designer Karla Stevens arrives and gives me a quick once-over. My turquoise tank, she says, is a "very Miami" color. Her verdict on my outfit: "Fine."
1:25 "Stand there," a production assistant tells me. "There" is between two Asian women from the planet Pretty and the country Fine. When Rapper T.I. starts performing, we're told, we need to dance, smile and pump our hands in the air. "T who?" Jessica Wen, 22, (aka Model No. 1) asks. My sentiments exactly.
1:45 I've been here for 75 minutes and still no Seth or Ryan. "I have them under lock and key," Schwartz jokes.
2:00 It's official: Most of the people here are models. Not fans. No one wants to sing the O.C. theme song. Most of the "background" — the extras — are hoping the power-tripping guy in the Punisher T-shirt will tap them to stand next to Ryan at the bar or dance beside Seth. The rumor on the set is, if they're picked, they'll be paid double the extra's day rate of $75.
2:15 Ryan, er, Ben, won't make eye contact with me. I've cornered him during a break to ask how the Miami shoot compares to last season's Las Vegas road trip and about nightlife on location. "It's awesome," he says. "No lines and I haven't paid for anything yet."
Next question: "So if Ryan were real, do you think you two would get along?"
"Yeah," Ben answers. "He's a smart, motivated, helluva guy. He'd be one of my boys."
"But why would he want to hang with you?" I blurt.
"He probably wouldn't," McKenzie says. "He's a lot cooler than me."
3:00 "Stand up. I want to see how tall you are." It's too late. The inappropriate words I thought are out of my mouth, and a puzzled Adam Brody dutifully stands. "You thought I'd be, like, 5-foot-6," he says, smiling. "Dude, I'm 5-foot-11!" And broader than I expected. But his rapid-fire, half-completed sentences are pure Seth. I spend the next 15 minutes grilling him about his episode of Punk'd, the rainy Spiderman episode of The O.C. and why he hates Vegas. I also try to get him to talk about his real-life love Rachel Bilson, aka Summer (who's watching us from a few feet away). No luck. At one point, I have to remind myself that even if he were Seth and not Adam, even if his girlfriend weren't sitting a few feet away, it would not be appropriate to put my arms around his tiny little waist. "Summer's not in this episode," Schwartz says later. "Rachel got down here on her own."
4:50 "We're losing the light here, kids," director Ian Toynton says after Ben flubs a line.
5:20 Assistants pass out St. Pauli Girl nonalcoholic beer and warn us not to drink yet. I do.
5:40 Cameras roll for the kegger shot and everyone starts smiling, laughing, gesturing wildly at a circle of guys who hold one of their friends upside-down so he can guzzle straight from the beer keg. And they do it all without making a sound. It's like the freakin' Twilight Zone. Model No. 2, Eva Leung, pulls my arm and rushes toward the group so we can get in the shot. I step back. Now is not the time to have the spring break I never had in college.
7:25 I've found exactly three people who, like myself, are geeked to be within kissing distance of Seth Cohen.
7:50 A group of bored extras starts to practice yoga. One of them, Caitlin Whiting, 18, turns out to be a hardcore fan. We bond over the Chrismukkah episodes. "I would do this for free," she says. I don't get that carried away.
8:25 Apparently, there's a method to the whipped-cream application. To prepare for a scene in which Adam Brody licks whipped cream off guest star Jamie King's body, director Ian Toynton shows how he wants the cream to be applied. First on the right breast. Then the left. Then draw a line down to the woman's belly button and draw a belt around her waist. Imagine this said, in all seriousness, with a British accent.
8:45 My turn! The Punisher lets me join a line of extras in one of the night's last two scenes.
9:00 "Have you been through wardrobe?" a woman barks at me, frowning. I nod yes. "And she approved you in that?" I look down. I'd forgotten I'd taken off the turquoise tank that make me look like, well, a tank, leaving only my black T. I put it back on. "You can't just change clothes," she says. "We have to worry about continuity!"
9:10 Ben passes by my group on the way to the bar. He does this over and over for the next 15 minutes. Between the third and fourth takes, he stops. "Hey, don't I know you?" he asks. "What are you, background now?" |
Why Survivor's Gay Guy Wears "Manties"
TVGuide.com: You were so much fun to watch. Survivor won't be the same without you.
Coby Archa: I had a good time — a real good time. [The remaining contestants] are not going to be entertaining, but it will be fun to watch them eat each other. And don't worry, I'm going to give you some good [final] tribal [council comments] to look forward to. TVG: What a tease! As this season began, you bonded with Angie, but then you didn't pick her to join the Koror tribe. Do you regret that?
Coby: [Smirks] Aren't I awful? I stabbed her in the back and twisted it. I'm just cruel. Hindsight is 20/20. Do I wish Angie had been on my team? Yeah. But, at the same time, I didn't pick her because I knew she had a target on her back, and so did I. I think we would have stuck out too much. TVG: This season's Survivors were stranded with only the clothes on your backsides. What was the deal was with those teensy underpants you wore?
Coby: Don't be jealous of my manties. TVG: Manties? Very funny. But weren't you uncomfortable?
Coby: Totally. I didn't want to be on national television in a pair of black bikini underwear, but Survivor is good at tricking you, and we didn't know the game was going to start. Those were the clothes I had on. TVG: What would you have worn if you were prepared?
Coby: I probably would have worn something that was breathable and not denim. That is my fashion tip for the day: Don't take denim to a tropical island. TVG: Did you get rid of your big, unruly beard?
Coby: About an hour after getting voted out of the game. I could not stand it. After eating some pizza, I ran for a razor and shaved it off. Sasquatch is not my look. TVG: Good plan. You gave a up a shot at immunity for doughnuts. Were they worth it?
Coby: The doughnuts were worth every lickable bite. Really, it wasn't about the doughnuts; it was a strategic move on my part. I knew I was going to jump [off the post] first before I even got there. I was going to call their bluff on the game. Either you want to play this with me or you [want to vote me off]. I'm not going to sit up here all day long begging for you to play with me. [But daring them] obviously didn't work. TVG: Did you give up?
Coby: No. I stirred up a lot of trouble before I left. At the end, I was trying to play the Jonny Fairplay card. I was going to be the crazy a-hole that nobody liked, in hopes that somebody [would] want to take me to the final two. TVG: But reaching the final two doesn't necessarily make you a winner.
Coby: Right, but that is all right. I didn't care about winning. I cared about playing the game as long as I could, and if I won the $1 million, then great. For me, it was the life experience. That is why I had so much drama with Tom, because he kept getting in the way of my experiences. He drove me out of my mind. TVG: Did you get along with anyone?
Coby: [Laughs] In the beginning, I got along with everybody, but once we kept winning and winning and winning, things changed. I did get along with my whole tribe, including Tom. After a while, I just got so bitter and twisted against everybody that, toward the end, I wasn't crazy about anybody. I think I knew my time was up, and I was an unhappy little kid storming off the playground. TVG: You were less than subtle about letting Steph in on the Kororian secrets. Why?
Coby: It was strategy, in that I was trying to help Stephenie, because I really like her. It wasn't to get her to trust me or vote with me. At that point, I had no numbers. It wasn't going to do me any good, but I thought it might do her some good. TVG: You mentioned several times that you always felt left out of sports as a kid. Did you ever feel like part of a team on the island?
Coby: I totally felt like I was part of the team when it came to challenges. But when it comes to camp life and playing the "game"? No. That is why I got so bitter and twisted. No matter how good I was in challenges or how much hard work I put into the camp, still nobody wanted to play with me. TVG: I loved when you kicked James' butt during the wrestling game.
Coby: That one was good. TVG: He made some comments about the fact that he lost to a gay guy. Did that bother you?
Coby: No, because I loved James. Any kind of trash he talked was welcomed. I think he's great. TVG: Would you ever do another reality show?
Coby: Sure, only because I am an experience junkie. I would love to do The Amazing Race. But I think Rob and Amber are going to ruin that for me, because if they win, there is no way they'll put me on. TVG: Who would you take with you?
Coby: I'd take my best friend. We'd add some drama because I'd probably scream at her. But [if I chose someone] from Survivor, I think it would be fascinating if Wanda and I were on The Amazing Race. She could sing, I could do the challenges, it would be great. TVG: What's next for you?
Coby: I'm going back to Tyler, Texas, where I own a salon. [I'll] be enjoying my family. That's what matters in life, being with your family. That is what Survivor taught me. TVG: So no acting aspirations?
Coby: I'm not going to move to L.A. and chase down that dream. Honey, there are enough people out there. If something came to me, great, but I'm not chasing it. TVG: Wait, so you didn't go on Survivor for the money?
Coby: Correct. TVG: And you aren't trying to break into showbiz?
Coby: Correct. TVG: So you really went just for fun?
Coby: I just had a lot of skeletons in my closet that I wanted to bury. Being on a team sport was one of them. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. At the end of my life, I can say I've been there and done that. I've been in TV Guide. I can die a happy man! |
Apprentice's Angry Chris Sounds Off
TVGuide.com: So you cried in the boardroom. Where has that sensitive side been hiding?
Chris Shelton: Nobody got to see that very often. TVG: No, we only saw Angry Chris.
Chris: Yeah, angry, angry, angry. TVG: Do you have a tendency to cry in public?
Chris: The whole [Apprentice] thing is just so emotionally draining: going from day to day with sleep deprivation; not knowing what the next task is going to be; not knowing if you are going to win or lose or who is getting fired; and you have to go after each other in the boardroom, fighting with your friends. It was such an emotional release when I was told, "You are fired. It is over." TVG: After appearing the boardroom seven straight times, were you surprised to go home?
Chris: Not necessarily. I had been in there so many times and, at this point, I knew I had to be the project manager and step up. If I was not successful on the task, I felt very confident that I was inevitably going to be fired. TVG: During the pizza task, you and Alex were at each other's throats. The very next week, you were best friends. What's up with that?
Chris: We were always good friends. That was just a spat that was blown out of proportion. It was just a disagreement and it wasn't as big a deal as it was made to look like. TVG: Are you surprised by any of the comments made about you, like how people were scared of you?
Chris: No. You know what? You get in there and everybody is there to win. There are people who are willing to kind of stab you in the back. I was prepared for that mentally. In reality, I'm friends with all of them. TVG: As I've been interviewing people, some commented on your temper, but others just said you were a great kid. Who is the real Chris?
Chris: I am just a very passionate individual who is just very much about life. That passion [is] sometimes perceived as being angry. TVG: Trump advised you to control your temper. Then we heard you were arrested for disorderly conduct. Doesn't sound like you listened.
Chris: It was not appropriate of me to be raising my voice. But there was a disagreement between myself and a manager at the [Hard Rock] hotel [in Tampa]. It escalated so quickly and was blown so far out of proportion, it was ridiculous. There was no reason for the arrest; there was really no reason for any of it. It was all uncalled for. I live in Vegas and I'm used to a lot of hospitality, especially when you are spending a significant amount of money in a hotel. They didn't really show that hospitality, and it was quite disappointing. That's what the conflict was. TVG: Did they give you a hard time because they recognized you from The Apprentice?
Chris: I wouldn't want to go down that road and say that, but you never know. Maybe Hard Rock isn't getting enough publicity and this was a great opportunity for them. But let me tell you, they surely knew who I was. After I was arrested, I talked to a couple of friends. [They said that] when the [cops] threw me in the car, [the hotel staff] were all laughing, "Oh, it's the guy from The Apprentice. Ha, ha, ha." TVG: Are you working on controlling your temper?
Chris: Absolutely. In life, I think we all have certain issues that we have to work on just to become better people. That is one of my issues that I have to keep in check. TVG: Have you considered talking to a therapist?
Chris: No. I don't think that is even necessary. I just have to check myself on a daily basis. TVG: Chewing tobacco was another thing The Donald told you to stay away from. How has that been going?
Chris: I quit for about three and a half months. Recently, I've kind of been on and off. Maybe about a week ago, I had a dip or two every now and then, but nothing like before. Presently, I'm not [chewing] at all. TVG: Trump and Carolyn really had a soft spot for you. Think there's still a job prospect there?
Chris: I would love to work with him, not for him. TVG: Are you hoping to get your own TV show out of this?
Chris: Noooooo! I'm not interested at all. I'm interested in what pays the bills every day and what got me on the show — that's my success in real estate. I don't want to be famous at all. TVG: OK. Well, stay out of trouble.
Chris: [Laughs] I will try very hard. |
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