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‘Laguna Beach’ Cast Dishes on How Scripted the Series Really Was: ‘MTV Had an Angle and They Made Sure That They Obtained That’

November 3, 2022

Spilling the MTV tea! The Laguna Beach cast is opening up about how much of the early 2000s reality show was scripted — and how much of it was real.

“It was softly scripted, so the story lines were real. I mean, think about yourself in high school, right? You’re 18, you fight with a friend, but then you move on in a week or two, right? And it’s over. But [on the show], we lived that out for, like, three months or three episodes,” Alex Murrel exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, November 1.

Lauren Olsen, known as “Alex H” on the show, echoed her former costar’s sentiments, explaining that they would often have to rehash old drama for the sake of the series.

“It would be, like, the end of the summer, so, like, July [or] August, and then MTV would come and be like, ‘Hey, we need to re-talk about a conversation that happened about prom. So, we’re gonna meet at the beach and I need you girls to talk about the drama that happened,’” Olsen recalled.

The reality TV veteran added that producers would even ask them to recreate their looks from past episodes by wearing the same clothes and doing their makeup the same way. “I just remember at that time it was so annoying because you’re like, ‘I don’t even remember how I did my hair or my makeup,’” she said.

Although Olsen said the cast didn’t “have a script to read lines from,” she admitted that it still felt like manufactured reality at times. “MTV had an angle and they made sure that they obtained that,” she said.

Murrel went on to confess that the show’s infamous love triangles — including the drama between Stephen Colletti, Kristin Cavallari and Lauren Conrad — were blown out of proportion.

“It was very contrived. Like, they knew that there were story lines and they built upon those, and timelines were split and cut apart. And because it was shot like a soap opera pretty much, it was hard for viewers to understand if it was reality,” she said.

Murrel added that she feels the same way about her own love triangle with Jessica Smith and Jason Wahler. “[It was a] high school relationship. It was, like, a week or two,” she quipped.

Scroll through to see everything the Laguna Beach cast told Us about how the reality TV show was fake at times:

Credit: MTV

‘Laguna Beach’ Cast Dishes on How Scripted the Series Really Was: 'MTV Had an Angle and They Made Sure That They Obtained That'

Spilling the MTV tea! The Laguna Beach cast is opening up about how much of the early 2000s reality show was scripted — and how much of it was real. “It was softly scripted, so the story lines were real. I mean, think about yourself in high school, right? You're 18, you fight with a friend, but then you move on in a week or two, right? And it's over. But [on the show], we lived that out for, like, three months or three episodes,” Alex Murrel exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, November 1. Lauren Olsen, known as “Alex H” on the show, echoed her former costar’s sentiments, explaining that they would often have to rehash old drama for the sake of the series. “It would be, like, the end of the summer, so, like, July [or] August, and then MTV would come and be like, ‘Hey, we need to re-talk about a conversation that happened about prom. So, we're gonna meet at the beach and I need you girls to talk about the drama that happened,’” Olsen recalled. [jwplayer NQGnEna4-zhNYySv2] The reality TV veteran added that producers would even ask them to recreate their looks from past episodes by wearing the same clothes and doing their makeup the same way. “I just remember at that time it was so annoying because you're like, ‘I don't even remember how I did my hair or my makeup,’” she said. Although Olsen said the cast didn’t “have a script to read lines from,” she admitted that it still felt like manufactured reality at times. “MTV had an angle and they made sure that they obtained that,” she said. Murrel went on to confess that the show’s infamous love triangles — including the drama between Stephen Colletti, Kristin Cavallari and Lauren Conrad — were blown out of proportion. “It was very contrived. Like, they knew that there were story lines and they built upon those, and timelines were split and cut apart. And because it was shot like a soap opera pretty much, it was hard for viewers to understand if it was reality,” she said. Murrel added that she feels the same way about her own love triangle with Jessica Smith and Jason Wahler. “[It was a] high school relationship. It was, like, a week or two,” she quipped. Scroll through to see everything the Laguna Beach cast told Us about how the reality TV show was fake at times:

Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Jason Wahler

“[I] didn't feel that it was super scripted. It was very heavily edited. A lot of the situations and scenarios for me were — they were pretty true to [reality]. So, I would say, like, on a scale of one to 10 of being scripted, [it was] probably like a four or a five just because of the editing,” the Hills alum told Us of his Laguna Beach season 2 experience.

Credit: Courtesy of Alex Murrel/Instagram

Alex Murrel

The Chapman University alum admitted that some elements of filming were less than organic.

“They'd have to get the right shot, so you'd walk in and out of the nail salon, like, 15 times, you know, just to get that perfect shot,” she said.

Credit: Picture Perfect/Shutterstock

Talan Torriero

The Killing Jar actor explained that since Laguna Beach only filmed on the weekends, the cast would sometimes have to stage events that happened during the school week for the cameras.

“I remember distinctly having to recreate phone calls. Like, they would pretend that I was in Mammoth in a hotel room with a phone, and I was supposed to be talking to Kristin so they could piece something together,” he recalled. “That was the time when it felt really scripted. It wasn’t just like I was talking to Kristin; it was like a fake phone call.”

Credit: Courtesy of Lauren Olsen/Instagram

Lauren Olsen

Although Olsen said the MTV show “wasn’t scripted in a sense where we had to memorize lines,” she admitted that the network “had an angle and they made sure that they obtained that.”

The reality TV personality added: “There was definitely a vague situation [that] they wanted us to talk about. … We would be given a line that they wanted us to say or repeat if they didn't get it in the right context. I think toward the end it was definitely a little bit more manufactured.”

Us Weekly has reached out to MTV for comment.

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