'Real World' looks to Portland for new cast

PORTLAND — The producers of MTV’s hit reality show “The Real World” will be in Portland Saturday looking for new cast members.

Casting directors will be holding an open casting call from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Binga’s Stadium Smokehouse & Sports Bar, 77 Free St., Portland. Applicants are asked to bring a recent picture of themselves, which will not be returned, and a photo ID. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 24.

Portland is one of 35 cities the casting directors are visiting to find cast members for the newest season of the reality show, which will air in the winter of 2011, said Damon Furberg, the show’s supervising casting director. The location of that season’s shoot has not been determined yet, Furberg said.

The show has been on MTV since 1992.

Furberg said casting directors are looking for eight people to live together for several months, and be taped 24 hours a day in the process. He said they will be looking for people who are “charismatic, magnetic.”

And, contrary to what often happens on the show, Furberg says casting directors do not look for people who might start conflicts.

“We look for the person who, when they go to a party, everyone clusters around them,” said Furberg. “We don’t need to look for conflict. When you put people with big personalities together, the drama comes on its own.”

For more information on the casting call, go to www.bunim-murray.com.