Over a late lunch at a small diner in Hollywood mostly surrounded by Russian immigrants and old gay men, I talked with Msaada from Road Rules 9: The Maximum Velocity Tour. She's extremely friendly and smart and well-spoken...and late. Always with the lateness. She showed me the very nice photo album given to all the cast members by Bunim/Murray, featuring a shot of Theo wearing nothing but a wine glass on his penis, and an ice-skating photo with Theo behind James, his hands lovingly cupping his ass. There is also a great photo of Msaada throwing her "West Side" sign -- something that apparently annoyed the two blondes to no end. Msaada ordered salad and chili; I ordered fries. Don't tell me you don't care.
Stee: So why did you audition for the shows?
Msaada: Okay. I auditioned for the shows because I saw Road Rules: Semester at Sea and I dug it. I said, "Hey, they get to travel and stuff." I am a travel junkie and I really wanted to get involved in that and to do crazy stuff, because, you know, I'm from the ghetto and ain't nobody bungee jumping on Western and Fifty-Fourth. So I just wanted to get involved in that excitement and travel and make some cash. Real World was never an option for me because there's too much drama, too much exposure, and too much stress, and I don't need that. So from the time I made up my mind to audition, every interview I had I said "Road Rules" and always said Real World was not something I wanted to do. I made it very clear.
Stee: Really? That's probably the exact opposite of what most of those who try out say.
Msaada: Yeah. People think Road Rules people are rejects from Real World, which is not it. They cast for both shows. So it's not like we're the rejects from Real World, 'causeHolly could have been on Real World, I mean, Jim [James] could have; any one of those kids. I could have been on Real World -- I worked at a TV station -- that would have been right up my alley. But they cast for both, with equality. But I lived in a static world where I went to school, came home, stayed for a little bit, went to work, and then came home, did homework, went out on the weekends with friends -- and it was like a standard routine for years. So I wanted to break out of that and have some excitement and do something crazy.
Stee: So what was on your audition tape?
Msaada: Tap dance. It's all about the tap. It was an interview sandwiched between tap. So the first thing you see on the tape is from the waist down and you these feet just...tapping away. And it's like, "What the hell is this?" And then I did this in-step and then it cuts to me saying, "Bonjour..." I said it in different languages, and then I said, "I'm Msaada from South Central L.A." So then I went to my little spiel for ten minutes and then afterwards I said, "Au revoir. Adios. Hasta Luego." Then it cuts to me tapping and I do a full body thing and then that's it.
I didn't let anyone know I was auditioning except for my sister, and my friend who filmed me tapping. My little sister, god bless her, helped me make the tape and prepare something so I wouldn't just be rambling. I edited on my camera and my VCR; I did a rough ghetto-budget cut. And I wasn't going to put the tap on there initially because I almost ran out of time, but I did put the tap on. So I drove it up there and they opened the door a crack, took my tape, and closed the door, and that was it. But as I was walking away this guy came down and he waved at me, but I walked away. And then I thought that might be the guy who gave me directions so I came back and waved at him, and then I left. So after I left I forgot about it and I was like, "I did my part. If something happens, cool, if it doesn't, cool." So then the day they called me and that was first round.