LAist Interview: Lo Bosworth of The Hills

“Which one is she again?”
If you’re not an avid watcher of The Hills, the semi-scripted, LA-based reality show in which early twenty-somethings live out the decadence we never had, you may find yourself asking such a question about fringe character Lo Bosworth. She’s not the one stealing your boyfriend, leaking rumors to Perez Hilton or squeaking out a pop record. She's hiding cleverly behind the others, making snide comments about their foolish choices while graduating from college and making something of her semi-famous life.
LAist: You are of the most level-headed characters on the show, but besides one rumored kiss with Frankie a few seasons ago, the producers of The Hills have made your character look as though she never goes out on a single date. There’s never a man in Lo’s life. C’mon, What’s the truth?
Lo Bosworth: The real truth...I’ve always had a boyfriend when we’ve been filming and since my Laguna [Beach] days I went on one or two dates and filmed them, and it was just so uncomfortable for me, probably because I was new to the filming experience. But ever since then, I’ve made an agreement with the producers that I’m not going to date on the show, and I am able to keep my private life private. And they’ve just kind of respected that. You know, they still bug me every once in a while: “Can we get you and your boyfriend to go on a date?” But the answer’s no. And you know, at this point I think I would be more willing, but the people I have dated in the past few years have had zero interest in being on the show. It’s not all my decision, it’s their decision too. But no, I’m not like...barren. No dates. [Laughs]

LAist: Well that’s good. Another thing about your character is that you’re one of the most non-confrontational, but also the least frequently victimized. You’re able to stay out of the middle. Is this by design?
LB: It is by design. I’m looking to make a transition into hosting after The Hills is over and for me, I go into filming thinking about what I’m going to do, because I know the transition is going to be easier without everyone remembering me as being this crazy girl on this crazy reality show. I want to be respected and, you know, I think that I have enough fun on the show. I love to be the normal one, but I throw a few glances here and there and have some things to say every once in a while. I think that kind of brings it back to what I’m talking about today.

LAist: Tell us more about where you career is going now, and if you think being on The Hills has helped or hindered you.
LB: Of course it has helped! 100 percent. I went to UCLA and I didn’t really know until my last year of college what I wanted to do, and it was at that point that I decided yes, I definitely want to work in television. The next goal that I have is to transition into hosting. My favorite shows are The View and [Live! with] Regis and Kelly, and I would love love love to be able to host a show like that. But long term, I’m also interested in producing, and the great thing is I have my degree so I can go work for a studio, I can go work for a production company...so I have the ability to kind of pick and choose what I want to do. But I know that I definitely do want to work in television.
LAist: And is it going well?
LB: It’s going very well. I’m very excited.

LAist: Speaking of UCLA, you were in Kappa Kappa Gamma while you were there. How does the drama in a sorority house compare to the drama amongst your castmates?
LB: It’s funny because I think that the show is very true-to-life. It’s just packaged very well, because I think that a lot of the fights and the situations that we’re in are very similar to things that other people my age are going through, or have gone through or will go through. You know, we get people of all ages watching the show, and they watch because it’s representational of stuff that’s happened to them. But we just do a good job of making it look really pretty and fun, and that’s why people love the show. It’s a guilty pleasure.
LAist: Going back to your high school days, though we now have shows like NYC Prep and My Super Sweet 16, Laguna Beach was really the first reality show to invade high school. Even without cameras, high school is all about hierarchy. How and why do you think MTV chose your group of friends to be showcased, and did it propel you to superhero status at school, or was all the attention detrimental?

LB: A little bit of both. When MTV first came to our school, everyone was really excited because nothing like that had ever happened to us, and The O.C. was a really popular show back then. It was presented to us like it was going to be a reality version of The O.C., but we really thought it would be a one-hour special and that was it. And it turned into something so much different. They set up in the courtyard of the high school and we all filled out these packets with lots of questions. They kind of figured out who was friends with who, and I think that they really chose the group that, you know, liked to go out, liked to have a good time, but also already had an interesting story in place. And it was just easy for them to go from there. And the kids at school...nobody really knew what was going on. You know? The show had never...nothing like that had ever been done before so nobody really knew how to anticipate it. We went to a small high school too so it’s really not that big of a deal. And a lot of kids didn’t want to be a part of it. They had the kind of foresight like, “Oh, you’re going to do it and that’s fine but I don’t really want to be a part of it.” It was almost after we left that it kind of turned into something maybe a little more negative, but you never know where that energy is coming from. If it’s from a jealous place, if it’s from a place that “we just don’t like the show,” or what.

LAist: Kristin Cavallari was on Laguna Beach for two years in high school, and I won’t ask you to speak for her, but do you know if her life as a senior was very different from her life as a junior since the show had time to become more popular?
LB: I really...I have no idea.
LAist: Speaking of her, since you’ve known her for so long, do you think she’s living proof that people never change?
LB: I think that she has changed in some ways. I think that everybody, when they’re 18 to 22, goes through a lot of very serious changes. I think it’s a time when you go from a much more selfish person to a person that comes to care a lot more about your family and your friends and your relationships because you realize, once you leave home and go to college, that these are the people that you need. I think that’s an evolution in most people, and I’m sure that it’s happened in Kristin’s life too.
LAist: Last season on The Hills, Audrina made a play for Brody Jenner even though he had a girlfriend, and this year Kristin makes a play for Audrina’s ex, Justin Bobby. Do you think maybe karma’s a bitch?
LB: Um...I don’t know. I think that, you know, stuff happens, and there’s nothing you can really do about it. You either participate or you don’t.

LAist: In past seasons, you have mostly been Lauren Conrad’s snarky voice of reason, but not that she’s gone, you have a chance to break away from sidekick status. How does your role change in this upcoming season?
LB: In this season you’ll see me as much more of a moderator between groups of friends. Kristin, I kind of introduce her to a lot of these people that I already know and have relationships with and it doesn’t go over very well at the very beginning. So it’s kind of me vouching for everybody, to everybody. [Laughs] Like you said, I feel like my role is kind of the voice of reason, and I almost, I hope to be positioned as the calm between the storms. I think there’s going to be a lot of them. I just want people to see more of the real me who is smart and level-headed, and normal...compared to all these people.
LAist: Is Doug Reinhardt (who is now dating Paris Hilton) going to make an appearance this year?
LB: Uh...I haven’t seen him filming in a while.

LAist: What do you love about living in LA?
LB: I love the energy in LA. There's always something to do: a hike, a great museum, fun party or amazing dinner with friends. I'm never, ever bored.
LAist: What drives you crazy about living in LA?
LB: The traffic in LA drives me crazy. Absolutely nuts. I have pretty bad road rage too, so the easiest thing for me to do is always leave way too early for any appointment I have.
LAist: Let’s play “Survivor, The Hills.” Who do you think would be the first person voted off the island?
LB: Uh...[laughs]...I don’t know. [More laughs.] I’m not really sure.
LAist: Do you know who you would vote off the island?
LB: I’m not great at reality shows.
Credit - laist.com

Q&A with Whitney Port: "It's Been a Long Road to Get to Where I'm At"

This season Whitney and Olivia have left Diane von Furstenberg headquarters to work separately (boo!): Olivia in the accessories department of Elle magazine, Whitney at People's Revolution, the PR company that's cradling her own fashion line.
Though we've seen Whitney bloom from a shy Teen Vogue staffer (alongside reality TV maven Lauren Conrad on The Hills) to a sheep among ravishing New York wolves as the star of her own show, we're still wondering: Who the hell is Whitney Port? So we talked to her. Here's some insight:
Do think you're being portrayed on "The City" exactly the way you are?
You know, I think there are times when they can portray me as sort of a quiet little country bumpkin that allows people to take advantage, and I don't view myself as that, even if they do, I really think that I'm a pretty strong girl who can hold her own and stand up for herself. But, yeah, for the most part, they're really capturing the essence of me.

So the editors really capture you in essence?
Oh, definitely, definitely. Yeah I think now, actually, more than ever, because they've really decided to focus on me designing my clothing line, as real as it gets. I'm very hands-on. It's been very, very difficult for me to balance both because I am a hundred percent involved in both sectors of my life...
But, definitely, they've gotten the nitty-gritty of the whole experience. I pretty much stay true to myself in that regard, like I do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and I would do that no matter if there were cameras or not.
I think that it's definitely real. I think that the camera doesn't really lie, and you can sense our emotion in our faces, and that's why they focus on that so much.
On The Hills, your first stint on reality TV, you seemed like the most normal one of the bunch.
It's interesting to me. I was just having this conversation. I always thought it was a little bit bizarre that after The Hills, they wanted to see the spin-off, because I'm not really dramatic and do really hold my feelings in a lot and don't really allow myself to be vulnerable, and so it's very interesting that they would want to do the show with me, because I'm not such an outward person, you know, or such an outward personality. I'm more of a listener...

Last season on The City, it seemed the show was about watching you survive in New York among all of these insane characters. I'm wondering now that you're kind of settled in, what the season will be like.
I think last season it was all about me moving here, and everything being new, and having the boyfriend, and balancing the boyfriend with the job and the new apartment and feeling blessed, and, you know, the whole the little fish in the big pond kind of thing. But I think now what you're going to see is me being a lot more career-oriented.
And, you know, I'm 24 years old. I think a lot of girls my age can really see themselves in that. My mom calls it the quarter-life crisis. A lot of people will be able to watch me go through those struggles and try to figure out who I am. I'm really excited about that part, but at least, you know, everybody gets to see me doing something that I'm really passionate about, so it's really exciting for me.

Will you and Olivia have any scenes together?
Yeah, we cross paths a couple times, her working for Elle and me working at People's Revolution. We definitely cross sides, and really everyone in the fashion industry does, There's so many, there's different events, we've run into each other at Miami Fashion Week, and we get to work with each other on an event, so you definitely get to see us interact, but not as much, obviously, as last season.
Now that you are single this season, what can we expect as far as your dating life?
There's definitely some dating, some blind dating, and then one person that I kind of take a more deeper liking to, and it's fun, you know, I think a lot of people are intrigued by the whole dating experience in New York, a lot of single people in the city looking for love, so I think it should be fun to live vicariously through me on those dates.
Ultimately, what would you like people to gain from this show?
I just want people to really have fun watching it, and I want people to learn that if they work hard, and if they really have a passion for something and are willing to do anything to get it and have that motivation, that they can achieve it.
It's been a long road to get to where I'm at and for people to actually take me seriously doing it. You can look at me as a reality TV personality, and you can put me down or whatever but hopefully people will just realize that if they work hard enough that people will see who they really are and what they're trying to achieve.
Credit - Araceli Cruz @ Village Voice

Lauren Conrad's 'LA Candy' Gets a Film Deal

Temple Hill Entertainment (the exec producers of the “Twilight” sequels “New Moon” and “Eclipse,”) has acquired the screen rights to “LA Candy,” the bestselling debut novel by Lauren Conrad.
Temple Hill partners Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will produce. Conrad will be executive producer through her Blue Eyed Girl Productions banner. The book was published in June has been on the bestseller lists of The New York Times for 14 weeks.
It amounts to a teaming between the exec producers of "Twilight" and one of the leading lights of youth-geared reality shows. Informed by Conrad’s experiences, “LA Candy” tells the story of a 19-year old who moves to Hollywood, quickly finds fame as a reality series star, and then has to deal with the ramifications of living a surreal fishbowl life. Conrad plans to write two more books on the reality travails of protagonist Jane Roberts.
“Lauren, who became an icon in that reality show world, came to us with a structure of how to tell the story in an interesting fashion, that was separate and apart from the book,” Bowen said. “We loved her take. Her book is an honest portrayal of what it must be like to set out to be normal, then sign on to become famous and eventually realize, wow, this isn’t at all what I’d planned for myself.”
Bowen said they will set a writer before looking for a studio/financier for the project, which was sold by UTA. Conrad will be involved in shaping the direction of the script.
Conrad’s film deal comes the same week she launched a line of clothing that is being sold exclusively at Kohl’s.
Credit - variety

'The Hills' Recap: Kristin Cavallari suddenly has a penchant for scruff, combat boots

Well, we're only one episode of Kristin Cavallari-centric "Hills" deep, and I already miss Lauren Conrad.
Which is odd, I know, because let's face it -- Lauren wasn't adding a whole bunch to the show toward the end of last season, complacently sifting through clothes racks at People's Revolution and constantly being forced into awkward situations with frenemy Heidi.
But there was something about Lauren's calm demeanor and subtle eye rolls that endeared her to me. Perhaps the part of her life she revealed on the show wasn't all that dramatic, but it never seemed like she was spewing outright lies.
Enter Kristin, wearing daisy dukes and very high heels while hopping out of her summer Malibu rental and into her shiny black BMW convertible.
During my interview with her last week, Kristin admitted she will "pretty much do anything" the producers want her to do on the show. The first of which seems to be feigning romantic interest in resident bad boy Justin Bobby.
There is just no way I can believe that Kristin actually finds JB attractive. Reality check -- she has dated the chiseled Brody Jenner and clean-cut "Final Destination" star Nick Zano. They don't exactly have the snarly beard, suspenders and combat boot look going on.
"He's so not your type!" I pressed when we met last week at Magnolia restaurant in Hollywood.

"He is a good-looking guy," she insisted. "No, he's not someone I typically would go after, but I do have to say after getting to know him a little bit on the show, he's a good guy."
Okay. But even if Kristin hypothetically were into JB, her constant Audrina name-dropping made the entire setup feel all too fake.
"How do you think Audrina's going to feel about us going on a date?" she asked coyly when Justin offered to take her on the back of his motorcycle.
"I think Audrina is still in love with you," she later said nonchalantly over dinner with Justin at STK. (Honestly, producers? Are we meant to believe a trendy Hollywood steakhouse is JB's number one choice for a dinner date?)
Justin proceeds to tell Kristin that Audrina was never his girlfriend and that the pair were never exclusive. Is that really supposed to be a huge revelation? Audrina spent an entire season pleading with Justin to make things official. When he refused to put a label on things, she kept seeing him and tried to convince herself and her friends she was OK dating without labels -- which she clearly never was.
And in the season opener, at least, it really appears that she's still in love with Justin.

When Stephanie abruptly dropped the bomb that Kristin and Justin may have gone home together, Audrina's face instantly dropped and her eyes welled up. Yikes.
Plus, "the stage five clinger," as bartender Stacie deemed her, prematurely flipped out on Kristin within a couple of minutes of her arrival at the pool party at the London West Hollywood Hotel. I mean, Justin was the one who approached Kristin, and the two had barely exchanged a couple of faux-flirty words before Audrina and sidekick-to-everyone Stephanie got up in Kristin's face.
"I'm sorry I walked up here and you guys came at me like piranhas," Kristin said.
"You need to respect Audrina, bottom line," Stephanie shouted back at her. No wonder she's ready to exit the show at the end of this season -- all of her story lines involve being obsessed with her friends lives instead of her own!
Meanwhile, Spencer and Heidi's house-hunting pursuits somehow ended up seeming like the most realistic events of the evening. First the pair headed to a suburban house in Brentwood. Spencer wore an interesting get-up, composed of a cowboy hat and boots and a flannel shirt -- Poppa Montag's style influence on his new son-in-law must have been far-reaching.

Despite Heidi's insistence upon a cozy home with a room for a nursery, Spencer settles upon a modern, glass-filled house perched below the Hollywood sign. I'll take it that means the children discussion is on hold until that visit to Kitson Baby later in the season.
So, weigh in: Did Kristin's much-hyped debut live up to your expectations, or did her entrance fall flat? Do you think she and Justin Bobby will make a real love connection? And will Heidi succeed in persuading Spencer to start a family by the end of the season? Chime in below in the comment section.
Credit - Amy Kaufman @ LA Times

Stephanie Pratt: I "Hate" Kristin Cavallari

Fans aren't the only ones anticipating Kristin Cavallari's return to MTV's The Hills.
"People always ask if I watch the show, and for the last couple seasons, there are episodes I don't want to watch, but this season, I am watching every single one of them!" Pratt told Usmagazine.com during a recent visit to our New York City offices.
Although she admits the love triangle and highly-publicized feud between Cavallari, Pratt's pal Audrina Patridge and Patridge's ex Justin "Bobby" Brescia "sucks," she tells Us it will make for good TV.
"In the first episode, Kristin goes off on Audrina and I, and we form the 'I hate you, Kristin' alliance," Pratt hints.
"[Justin and Kristin are] both going to get what they ask for," she says. "They're both going to mess with each other and get hurt. Justin's going to play her like he did Audrina, and Kristin's got it coming for her."
credit - US Weekly

Kristin Cavallari: I Snubbed John Mayer

Changing her story, Kristin Cavallari has gone from only meeting John Mayer “for five minutes” to having spurned his romantic advances.
Kristin told Ryan Seacrest, “I just feel like I don’t need to be another notch on his belt,” during an interview on his KIIS FM radio show.
She continued, “I think he’s a really nice guy,” and when Seacrest informed her that Mayer is said to be “amazing in the bedroom,” Kristen reconsidered, “I’ve heard that. Maybe I should give him a phone call!”
Another topic of conversation was the rumor that Audrina Patridge makes more money ($100,000 per episode) than Cavallari ($90,000 per episode), something Kristin says is inaccurate. "Well, I can tell you that's not true ... that she makes more money.”
credit - gossip center

The City - Whitney Port Interviews

Whitney Port says 'The City' made her grow up and she's glad to no longer be working with frenemy Olivia Palmero (video)


Whitney Port calls the Big J Show to talk about the new season of The City on MTV (audio)

The Hills - Jayde Nicole Interview

Jayde Nicole calls Big J to talk about 'The Hills' and the incident with Joe Francis (audio)

Stephanie Pratt: I'm Leaving 'The Hills'

MTV's hit show The Hills debuts tonight and while we have a season full of scripted scandals ahead of us, the real drama happens behind the scenes.
There's been so much buzz surrounding Kristin Cavallari joining the show, everyone has failed to notice that the cast is slowing falling apart.
Audrina Patridge has already scored her own reality show on MTV with Mark Burnett, so where does that leave Stephanie Pratt and Lo Bosworth?
"I think Audrina, Lo and I are all going to leave after these 10 episodes," Stephanie told Hollyscoop exclusively during our "Closet Raiders" segment, which airs on 'Hollyscoop' TV on KTLA this Sunday night.
"I don't know how much more I can take of The Hills," added Stephanie. "The Hills is very brutal."
So does the arrival of fellow castmember Kristin , aka the resident bitch, have anything to do with Stephanie's departure? "It's not because of Kristin ," she tells Hollyscoop. "I was going to stay and see what happens after these ten episodes, but I just don't think I can stand The Hills anymore."
In regards to Kristin joining the show, Stephanie admits she thinks she's going to be a good addition to the show. "I think the show is going to be so awesome. It's not going to be boring like all the other shows where they only focus on their work.
"It's going to be new people, new characters, which equals new story lines. It's going to be a completely different show," she tells Hollyscoop.
She adds, "We've all grown up. It's not the original girls moving to LA trying to make it. Right now everyone’s fighting to be the queen or king of LA."
So is Kristin as bad as she seems on camera? Stephanie tells Hollyscoop, "It's not the question of her being that bad. Its more like is she for real?"
Stephanie may be on the show until the end of the season, but that hasn't stopped her from getting a second job. The fashion forward reality star was hired as a freelance fashion correspondent for the E! network.
What do you think of Stephanie's bombshell? The show certainly won't be the same without her. Without Lauren, Audrina, Lo and Stephanie, do you think Kristin has what it takes to carry on the entire show? Tell us your thoughts!
Check out clips from Stephanie's interview below...






credit - hollyscoop

click here to view photos of Stephanie and her massive closet.