Real World TV Show - The New Orleans Melissa Interview, Part I - Real World Photos & Videos, Real World Reviews & Real World Recaps | TWoP

Melissa: And they were tired of the Melissa show, and then they're panning into the Julie show. Like, now it's going to be the Julie show, because she's the character in the middle. Julie is the touchstone character. Kim: Yes, she's the Julie from New York. Melissa: She's the focus. In the end, Julie learned about gay people. Julie learned about black people. Julie made friends with a pretty girl. Julie really liked Jamie as a person. Julie understood David as a person. Julie had a crush on Matt, it didn't work out. And so all of our stories tie into Julie learning about different people. So, that's why at the end -- and undoubtedly they'll play some Rusted Root song or some Dave Matthews song -- and she'll be walking away with her skateboard. Kim: Julie learned about life. Yay! Melissa: And at first, when it was like the Melissa show, they had to get all that good groundbreaking, "Oh shit, we've got another Ruthie on our hands!" and "Oh shit, we've got another Kevin Powell on our hands." To get you to watch. Honestly, if they started the show with, "Julie met a boy." You'd be like, "What the fuck?" Kim: Right. Who cares about Julie? Who's this Julie person? I want a fight. Show me a fight! Melissa: And they did! In every preview -- "Time the fuck out!" I was like, "Oh my God, was it that big of a deal?" Kim: I know, but that was so funny. And the thing is, everybody in the room was laughing when you did that. In the previews, they made it out like it was this big fight. But then when you saw the episode, Jamie starts cracking up. Everybody was laughing, and it was awesome. Melissa: And they were laughing because all of us had been very aware that David was not going to change his shit, and we were all like, "Dwee bobboo dwee bobboo what?" And we were all cracking up. And the fact that I got so angry, they were all like, "Melissa's going to lose her temper." They edited that down really cleanly. It went on for a long time. I was like, "And another thing, bitch, don't use my towels." It just went on. Kim: "And you left the food out of the fridge last week, and it pissed me off!" Melissa: I'm like, "I'm going to tell you every fucking thing you've done since we got here." I remember I got in trouble from the whole staff of NOA-TV. They're like, "We know you guys are doing Real World but this is still an office." And what's scary about that is, again, we're perpetuating the fact that black people are always angry on TV. But I was standing up for myself. Kim: Because all the camera crews were occupied with Paul and Julie's parents. Melissa: People are always like, "Oh my God, Melissa, you hogged the cameras in the beginning of the season." And I was like, "No. I am not in the editing room! I do not control what they put on." Undoubtedly my friends were doing stuff, but it probably wasn't as juicy as me having a nervous breakdown. It probably wasn't as juicy as me telling someone, "You can't call me a nigger." And so, it's really not camera whoring. It's just where the storylines are, and what they're doing with them. Kim: Well, you were just being yourself, and if that's more exciting than Matt surfing the web for four hours, then you are going to be on camera. Melissa: Right. After a while, though, I started to become very aware of it. Anytime I wasn't near the house, when I was just living my life like a normal person should, my pager would go off. This attorney that I worked for came down to visit for Jazzfest. He had a mansion that he rented. And he says, "I changed my mind. I want to stay at a casino. So Melissa, you can have the room." Which this was like $1200 a night. And he was like, "You probably need a break. We'll give you the room." So I go there, and I have the room for four nights. I remember the crew was like, "You can't sleep there." There was this curfew, and we had to sleep in the house. I was like, "Um, Kelley never sleeps at home." They were like, "You have to come home." I was like, "No!" And so they said I had to come home. I'm one of these people that doesn't break rules. And now I think about it, and I should've, because everybody else did. That's why they've got my whole life on tape -- because I wouldn't break rules. And they knew Julie wouldn't break rules either. They knew there were some of us that respected the project and respected that we were cast on the show to do the show. Now that the show has turned, and it's become "Julie's internal strife with her parents", I love the show. Kim: So, they [BMP] give you the house, and they pay utilities, like electric, gas, and whatnot. But you pay for food and everything else. Melissa: I have credit card [bills]. I talk on the phone to my family. I was not surviving on $200 a week. Any time parents would come, we'd make them cook. And then at the end, you get paid for your story rights. And any bills that you didn't pay come out of your story rights. So Jamie, you know he's a businessman, and he'd be on the phone to New York, or to California, and his phone bill must have been astronomical. We got that taken out, and anything you stole.