By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
April 23, 2002
Kyle Brandt looks exactly the way he does on “The Real World”: tall, athletic, handsome and–yes–very much like the actor he says he wants to become. Wearing faded jeans and an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt during his interview with GLARE, the muscular member of the Chicago cast is flanked by a publicist and his adorable 11-year-old brother Austin.
“I moved to Los Angeles, but I try to get back home as often as I can,” says Brandt, 23, who was born in Hinsdale and was a football star at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. “I still have a lot of friends and family here.”
On “The Real World,” which airs at 9 tonight on MTV, Kyle currently is deflecting the advances of his luscious-lipped roommate Keri while brooding over a breakup with his Ivy League girlfriend Nicole.
Dude–where’s your libido?
“I’ve spent way too much talking about this and won’t divulge that part of my private life anymore,” Brandt says. “They are both wonderful women, and let’s leave it at that.”
We may never know what happened with Nicole but, thanks to the night cameras in the cast members’ bedrooms, we did get to see Kyle and Keri spooning.
Q. You went to Princeton. Would you ever get serious with a woman from Harvard?
A. I don’t know about that. It’d probably be too competitive. Actually, if she’s from Harvard it probably wouldn’t be that competitive. [Laughs.]
Q. What annoys you the most about MTV’s depiction of you?
A. They make it look like I wore a Princeton shirt every day. I wore one maybe three times during the entire filming, but they decided to make me the Ivy League guy.
Q. Who do you still stay in touch with from the cast?
A. I see Cara all the time ’cause she lives in Los Angeles now, too. I stay in touch with all of them, except for Tonya. I should probably reach out to her. [Laughs.] Did I really just say that?
Q. What’s your ideal acting role?
A. I want to be challenged. It’s not that hard to sit around and play a 23-year-old dude all day long. My ideal role would be playing someone who is a combination between Maverick from “Top Gun” and Holden Caulfield [from The Catcher in the Rye].
Q. Aneesa would probably play that role naked. Can you top that?
A. Definitely not! [Laughs.] It was a little startling seeing her naked all the time at first. Then I got used to it. I would get up, wash my face and say hello to her breasts. I’d brush my teeth and she’d be naked. She was not inhibited. She’d leave the bathroom door open while she used the toilet. You get used to it.
