Awards Daily talks to Tokyo Parker of Real World Homecoming: NOLA about whether he had any trepidation to go back to New Orleans, what it was like to reintroduce himself to his Real World family, and how they filmed that epic “Come On Be My Baby Tonight” recording with the cast.
While some might be resistant to put their life under a reality TV microscope again, Tokyo Parker didn’t have any hesitation about returning to New Orleans for Real World Homecoming: Nola, mainly because he didn’t really have “any skin in the game.”
“A lot of people can have hesitations because they have to be cognizant of their life now or they don’t want to rehash things back then,” says Parker. “I didn’t really give that much before, considering. It’s not like I had to rehash anything. If anything, it would be having to address that I wasn’t present, which I did. The only hesitation I had was opening up to six individuals in two weeks’ time. There’s only so much you can parse.”
Tokyo is certainly one of the great stories to come out of reality television. When we met “David” on The Real World: New Orleans, he was someone withdrawn who caused friction within the house. Now 22 years later on Homecoming, audiences get to see him blossom into a bright light within the group, who some might even consider the backbone of the seven strangers. Even though, as I discovered, he’s never watched the original Real World season he was on (nor Homecoming)!
I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Tokyo Parker about returning to “Come On Be My Baby Tonight,” on-set drama between castmates, and why he got more out of this Homecoming season than the original. Watch the interview below!