Brooke LaBarbera hails from Nashville, TN, the daughter of two clinical psychologists.  After moving out to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, Brooke was discovered by MTV and cast in the 18th season of The Real World, which was filmed in Denver, Colorado.  Brooke took time out of her schedule to talk with us about her time on The Real World.


How did you get involved with the Real World?

Um, well, I was actually found on MySpace.  What happened was I had moved out to Los Angeles about this time last year and about two weeks after I moved to Los Angeles I got an email on my MySpace account and it was from Bunim and Murray and they just said that they were looking at different profiles and mine had sparked an interest for them and they were interested in me coming and trying out for the show.  So, a few meetings later I ended up landing it. I never thought in a million years that I would be interesting enough to get on the show so that’s why I never really tried myself to do it. 

Was the Real World something you had always wanted to get involved with?

It was more so years ago I’d say, so like maybe, you know five years ago just because I thought at the time that it would be something I’d be good at.  And then, as time passed, I really just didn’t think that I had what it took to do it.  I mean, I just kind of thought I would never be interesting enough, that they would never choose me and that’s just kind of how I felt about it.  It just never crossed my mind that I would actually have any chance in hell of getting it, so that’s why I never tried out, especially when I really wanted to, I never tried out then because I just didn’t think I would ever make it.


What would you say your main motivation for being on the show was?

I think at the time it made sense because I did go out to LA with the intention of pursuing something in the entertainment industry.  I didn’t really know what, specifically, I wanted to do but I’ve always been a very creative, artsy type person and I’ve always been interested in acting and modeling and all that good stuff.  I was just trying to find something that would kind of help me with that and I definitely thought that this opportunity just landing in my lap like that, it would be insane to not take it so I had to just take it.  I though that everything happens for a reason and this was meant to be.  For some reason, this was meant to be, and so I just did the show.


What were your first impressions of your house mates once you entered the house?

I thought that everyone seemed a little immature.  I thought everyone seemed, you know, different than me, much more different than me.  I’m used to being around older kids that are generally in their late 20’s, early 30’s, so I thought that everyone seemed pretty young.  I was the oldest in the house; I was 24.  I thought that, I don’t know, I thought that everyone seemed really just trying to amp it up for the cameras.  But then I realized that after a few weeks, that that’s just who they were.  They were just as kind of eccentric and wild personality wise as I was and I really don’t think they were trying to play it up for the cameras.  That’s just how they were. They were just very unique, crazy, vivid personality individuals like myself.  So, I don’t think I really understood at first.  Like, I think at first I was like, “Oh man, what have I gotten myself into?”  Because I just thought that they were just so silly.  And I would just be like, “Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?’ And then a week into it I was like, “Alright, I’m just going to have to let it go, let my guard down and go along with this.”


What was it like being on the outside looking in on the Colie-Alex-Jenn love triangle?

I thought that it was just frustrating and irritating, to tell you the truth.  I thought it was so stupid and a waste of their time, for all three of them.  And I just thought, this is something I’ve been through a thousand times before, I’ve seen my friends go through it a thousand times before and I thought it was ridiculous that Colie was doing that on the second night, that she was getting upset about some guy that she had already claimed in her mind when it’s like, “Come on, this happens all the time.  We know it, get used to it, you know, you’re a grown woman.”  And I thought, as far as Jenn goes, whatever, she does what she wanted to do and I don’t really blame her.  I thought Alex was just kind of a typical 21-year-old player. 


What was the most challenging part or moment in the house or on the show in general?

I definitely think just being around the people, you know, just being around everyone was the most difficult part.  I’m used to being alone a lot; I’m an only child and after I graduated high school I lived alone mostly throughout college.  I’m not used to living with a lot of people, I’m not used to living with anyone and I’ve always been know as the girl that can’t have a roommate because I’m just, I’m kind of set in my ways and I’m not very easy to live with and I know that.  So it was hard because I was like, “Ugh, I don’t want to deal with these people.” And their different habits, like them being up until 5am when I’m trying to sleep and you know stuff like that.  It was hard to just adjust to everyone’s different personalities, but I am sure it was just as hard for them to adjust to mine. 


Did you ever feel yourself changing how you acted while the cameras were on?  How much did the cameras affect what was going on?

I think that before I watched the show, after filming and before I watched the show, I would say that what you see is completely, you know, how I was feeling or whatever and I wasn’t hamming it up or anything.  But, now that I’ve been watching the show, I definitely think that there were parts, especially in the beginning of filming, that I was just so excited to be going through the experience that I think, maybe even subconsciously, I may have tried to amp it up a little bit but I don’t think that I did that throughout the whole thing.  I would just say maybe the first month I was just so giddy, trying to adjust and trying to see how to go about dealing with it, that I think I did kind of make the mistake of being a little too exaggerated in my personality and I definitely, if I could go back, would not have acted like that.  But like I said, I only did that about the first month.  I don’t think I did that after that because I think I learned pretty quickly that I would not be happy with the result if I kept that up. 


Thus far into the season, how do you feel about the way you’ve been portrayed on the show, editing wise?

I had mixed reactions.  I don’t think that it’s 100% accurate of who I am.  I definitely think it’s a very exaggerated view of who Brooke is.  I don’t think that I act like that all the time.  I think the situation that I was put in and being with people I didn’t know and people I had nothing in common with and in a job situation that I was completely not a good match for, it was really hard and I think anybody would have reacted the way that I did and as far as the silly things I’ve done, that’s just my personality.  I’ve caught a lot of flack for it, I’m not going to lie, like I’ve gotten my share of hate e-mails, I’ve gotten my share of you know,  “You’re just so weird, you’re so crazy.”  And it’s like, you know what? That’s me, and I don’t really care what you guys think.  So, it has been hard having negative comments come my way from the show.  I realize that I definitely had a hard time with the job in the beginning so I can only expect that but it has been hard, I’m not going to lie, seeing myself portrayed has been very hard, but at the same time it’s a good learning experience because it does teach you, ultimately, what you need to work on as a person and that’s a big portion of the reason why I felt like doing the show was a good idea in the first place. 


Do you have any specific examples of things you wish they had shown so far in the season that they haven’t?

Well, not really. I can’t think of anything so far that I wish they had shown.  You know, it’s such a small block of time, 30 minutes, and probably 22 minutes without commercials or whatever, I don’t know.  But you know, they edit it the best they can and I think that they did a great job so far, from what I’ve seen.  It’s hard for the viewers to see really what our full experience was because the cameras were on us 24/7 and you can’t run a show that shows us 24/7.  So, I don’t know, I mean that’s just how it goes, you know? 


The whole Real World experience, the house, the cameras, etc., how do you think that has changed you as a person?

I think it’s completely changed my life and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.  I mean I remember when they told me I got the show, I just told them, I said, “Thank you so much because this is going to mean so much to me and I’m going to do my best to really find myself through this.”  I took it as a really meaningful experience, I did not think of it as an extended spring break like I know a lot of people probably do.  I thought of it as, “This is my opportunity to really figure out who I am, to figure out a lot of things about life that I would never get an opportunity otherwise.”  And, you know, I really used it for that and I did, I grew up so much, I learned so much.  I mean, you guys aren’t seeing that right now because they’re just portraying how hard it was for me in the beginning, but towards the end of the show I feel as though I come out as a different person and I’m so thankful that I had that opportunity. 


What have you been up to since the show wrapped filming?

Well, right now I’m just really busy promoting the show and going out and making some appearances at bars and such and clubs and stuff like that.  I’m going to start talking at college campuses and things like that.  So that’s really pretty much what I’ll probably be doing for the next few more months. 


Do you have any plans to join a Real World/Road Rules Challenge? 

I would love to.  I think of that as an honor and if I were to be asked, I would absolutely accept it. 


Would you recommend the Real World experience to other college age students?

I absolutely would.  I think that if you have an open mind to it, that’s really all you have to have for it is an open mind.  You will come out of it a very different, lucky individual to have had the opportunity and you will be very thankful for it.