‘RHOBH’: Tia Carrere Was Asked to Join Beverly Hills Cast – ‘It Just Wasn’t for Me’ (Exclusive)
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills would have looked very different if actor Tia Carrere joined the cast for season 1.
Carrere recently revealed producers tried to cast her on the series, but she quickly declined their offer. “They asked me back in the day and I was like, yeah, no,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Yeah, it was the first one for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. They had wanted to do a reality show with me because I lived in Topanga up on top of a mountain.”
Carrere began her acting career on General Hospital in the late ’80s and rose to fame playing Cassandra Wong in the Wayne’s World films starring opposite Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. She’s continued to act and has appeared in a slew of TV series and films. Her film Easter Sunday hits theaters in August.
Why did Tia Carrere turn down ‘RHOBH’?
The Housewives franchise was still in its infancy stage when RHOBH premiered in 2010. But Carrere had a gut feeling that doing reality television wasn’t a smart move. “I said I just don’t see how this goes well for these people and their relationships,” she reflected. “So I said, no. For me to negotiate that reality TV world, where you expose just enough of yourself so people know that you’re there, but not expose yourself so it destroys your soul.”
“I just knew it wasn’t me,” she added. “I think it’s great to see a woman who knows what she wants to sell like Bethenny Frankel. She used it as PR. But it’s her personality. You gotta have the right personality and she was able to deal with it. It just wasn’t truthful for me.”
Carrere said being on the series was dangerous for some of the cast, pointing out how brutal it was on Kim Richards. “Kim Richards, that lovely Disney actress, it was so hard on her.” Richards joined the original cast alongside her sister Kyle Richards, but faced alcohol addiction and eventually left the show.
‘Housewives’ has had a negative impact on some cast
Carrere also noted the impact the series had on actor Denise Richards, who also left. “It’s such a difficult dance for actors,” she said. “It’s exactly how much of yourself do you share with the world? In all these different outlets, so many different social media outlets. And then the press part of it.”
“I’m going to be co-hosting Daily Pop next week,” she shared. “Showing them I have a brain in my head and a perspective and a woman of a certain age that owns her stuff. But also, yes, do publicity, but not delve into the ugly, backbiting that you can get into when doing reality shows.”
Carrere isn’t totally opposed to reality television. She did Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars. “I think it’s good when it’s skill-based,” she remarked. “I did Celebrity Apprentice, which was for charity reportedly. But doing Celebrity Apprentice, I saw inklings of how horrible people can be to each other just for PR, and I’m like, no, this is not me.”
She noted how most reality television, like RHOBH, is fueled by drama. “I think the ‘rise above and be classy,’ that’s not what they want on those shows,” Carrere said. “I think there’s a lot of backbiting, jealousy, keeping up with the Joneses. That’s the opposite of what I am.”
Tia Carrere likes some reality shows
What kind of reality television does Carrere like? “Now the unscripted space like The Rock doing a fitness thing and Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman doing creative stuff like crafting,” she said referring to the series Making It!
“Interesting snippets of life that are important to them that they want to share,” Carrere said. “So that’s what I’m thinking about, you know, educational? Documentary and travel. Food, all of that stuff. That’s good. We don’t need to be fighting each other any more than we already do in this world.”
