Friday, May 30, 2003 | 5:34 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: June 1, 2003
MTV describes Christina as a "petite, high-energy criminal justice graduate from UNLV" who is a "down-to-earth and fun-loving girl."
Sounds like "Real World" material to us.
Fans of the show can judge for themselves at 10 p.m. Tuesday when "Real World Paris" debuts on MTV (Cox cable channel 19) with an hourlong premiere.
Christina, 24, will be representing Vegas on the show. The daughter of an Air Force pilot, Christina first moved to Las Vegas while in sixth grade and has bounced around ever since. But Las Vegas, she maintains, has always felt like home to her. She graduated from El Dorado High School in 1997 and opted to remain in Las Vegas after graduating from UNLV.
She was working as a cocktail waitress at Mandalay Bay when she received word she'd been selected as a member of the "Real World Paris" cast, joining six Americans and one Irish lad to live in Paris with MTV cameras documenting their nearly every move for five months.
The Las Vegas Sun recently chatted with Christina (MTV won't divulge cast members' last names) about her experiences during her stay in Paris, as she was preparing to leave for her home in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Sun: When you announced to your family, friends and co-workers about joining the "Real World Paris" cast, what was the reaction?
Christina: "Real World" has become such a big thing because it was in Vegas and it hit so close to home. Some people were excited; my mother was scared. But I seized the opportunity.
Sun: Do you speak French?
Christina: My French is very choppy. But I'm very good in communicating in other ways, such as looking awkward and having this desperate look of, "I have no idea what I'm doing. Can you please help me?" I'm good at the Damsel in Distress, but other than that, my French hasn't gotten much better.
Sun: Because of the language barrier, were the cast members more isolated and forced to rely more upon themselves?
Christina: Yeah, we did. Even in the highs and lows, even on the lowest level, when we're just like, "Oh my gosh, I just can't stand you anymore, but I need you because you speak more French than I do and you know more about cheeses than I do. And I really need cheese right now. So, I don't like you, but you have to come with me."
None of us speak French in the house. So all of us crutched on each other and developed close ties to each other -- even in the worst, catastrophic events. I think as a cast we became closer because we had to rely on each other because of the language barrier and the culture barrier. Things are very different in Europe than it is in the U.S.
Sun: You were filming the show during the height of U.S.-French hostilities. Did you experience or feel any of those tensions?
Christina: Not at all, actually. There wasn't any anti-American sentiment here. My parents and my friends were worried about my safety. It wasn't anything that was important or shook the French up at all. I didn't see that I was in any imminent danger.
Sun: What did you think of the "Real World Las Vegas" cast?
Christina: Vegas isn't an easy place to live, sometimes, for all people. I think it's a very sexy city to live in and it's very money-oriented. Not a lot of people can live in Las Vegas and survive. It's Darwin's theory: survival of the fittest. It takes a strong person to live and work and survive through the Las Vegas lifestyle. I think that ("Real World" producers) portrayed it pretty well, what they could have, of Las Vegas and of people who are not from Vegas and not used to the lifestyle. It made for a very good series.
Sun: It seems, just as with other "reality" programming, landing a part as a "Real World" cast member is simply a springboard into another career attempt, such as acting or appearing on other MTV shows. Were you conscious of that?
Christina: Not really. How could you? You're living your life. Even if you were coming on to play someone or to be perfect, you're human. The cameras are on you 24/7; it's hard to disguise who you are, let alone do it for such a long period of time. You can't play someone else and you can't act.
Sun: Before filming began, were you concerned with how you would come across to the public?
Christina: Sometimes I question, "Oh my gosh, I don't want to be an (expletive). But I'm not an (expletive), so they can't portray me as an (expletive)." I really came here to have the opportunity to be young and live in Paris before I became an adult and had the restrictions and bounds of being an adult, such as being married and having kids and being unable to travel.
Sun: Would you be willing to live with all of your cast members again as a group?
Christina: Oh yeah, although we may need a maid. I'm a little traumatized and I may never have a big family -- ever. But other than that, I would pick up everybody and say, "OK, let's go do that somewhere else." I would do it all over again.
Sun: What are your plans now that filming is over?
Christina: I'm not sure. I think for the first time in my life I actually got spontaneous and did something that was a little out of character for me, the opportunity to get up and go and come here. I'm just going to go back home. I'm ready for my private life; I'm never going to take privacy for granted ever again.
Sun: Most of the participants on the "Real World" shows are summed up by one-word descriptions: "the slut," "the jerk," "the nice one," and so on. How will you be known?
Christina: I'm probably "the mommy."
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