College of Communication sophomore Josh Crampsey has dreamed of becoming a stripper. With his recent audition for MTV’s “MADE,” he aims to make that goal come to fruition.
“I always envied people that are totally confident in themselves, and I always wanted to work a pole,” Crampsey said. “People like being completely confident and owning their sexuality, that’s something that I don’t really have at the moment.”
Crampsey was one of 40 Boston University students who are interviewing with an MTV producer at a casting call for the television show “MADE” Tuesday and Wednesday.
The reality program involved helping high school students achieve their goals of being “made” into something. With help from a “MADE” coach, they undergo personal transformations. BU’s casting call, however, marks the shift of the show’s focus to college-aged people.
“We’ve been on for the past 12 seasons, and we’re still going to be working with high school kids,” Arbus said. “We thought it would be a nice idea to start going a little bit older and using college kids in more real-life types of goals.”
The producers held casting calls in Ohio before coming to Massachusetts. They expect to continue traveling to colleges across the country and will continue to do so for the next few months, Arbus said.
“We’re trying to go to big schools,” said MTV’s casting associate producer Jessica Arbus. “We want to go to diverse schools. We reached out to BU, and they said yes.”
Although “MADE” had a light turnout on Tuesday, the schedule is packed for Wendesday, Arbus said.
Arbus said she enjoyed the quality of students that interviewed.
“There has definitely been people from past castings and even today that stuck out,” Arbus said, “but luckily this will get sent to casting directors and they will decide, if anyone, who we follow through with.”
The casting call brought out an eclectic array of students looking to be made into strippers, roller derby players and stand-up comedians whose motivations for auditioning varied as widely as what transformations they wanted to undergo.
For Julie Rosen, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, the audition was more about having fun than securing any long-term career goals.
“I guess I just wanted to try something new,” Rosen said. “It’s exciting to have the opportunity to not be someone else, but explore more interests.”
Rosen hopes to be made into a roller derby player, which stemmed from her interest in the 2009 film “Whip It,” starring actress Ellen Page as a roller derby player.
Cody Brotter, a junior in COM, used the opportunity to work toward accomplishing his goal of becoming a stand-up comedian, he said.
“I just started trying with a lot of encouragement at BU, but the stage fright and the anxiety before hand has really sort of gotten in the way,” Brotter said. “I thought this might boost my confidence a bit.”
Brotter, who was voted BU’s Funniest Student in 2011, said “MADE” could be his starting point.
“I’m trying to grow as a comedian,” he said. “I’m trying to break my way into film and television whatever way they can let me.”
