Big Brother 3's Marcellas sounds off about the double-edged sword of reality stardom.

By Sarika Chawla

He's complained about Los Angeles humidity making him too "shiny," and snarked about his housemates' fashion sense. With a diva-like attitude and a silly sense of humor that had his housemates giggling nonstop, Big Brother 3's Marcellas Reynolds has grabbed his 15 minutes and made a mad dash towards a career that is ripe with possibilities.

"I never forget that I'm a part of that 'reality TV moment' or whatever, but you kind of move on, and then it comes back. People reference when I said stuff like, 'She's a stripper masquerading as a mother,' and I have to click back into that moment." Like many before him, Marcellas has gone from relative obscurity to being in the public eye, and he's enjoying every moment of it. "I'm always Marcellas from Big Brother. It's never just Marcellas or Marcellas Reynolds. But if I had to be a part of something, I'm definitely proud of that."

In what seems to be a prerequisite to getting on a reality show, Marcellas loves being in front of the camera. As a fashion model and stylist, he came into the situation with a background in the industry. While in the old days (circa 1999), reality shows were looking for "regular" people to aim the camera at, nowadays they tend to look for character types -- to the point that nearly every reality show throws together a black person, a gay guy, a hick and a frat boy to watch personalities clash. "When they found me, they were looking for a black guy. I think it was almost like killing two birds with one stone. Oh, he's black and he's gay." Having been to countless casting calls in the past, Marcellas knew how to work the crowd. Despite the fact that he was not the top contender, he kicked it into high gear during the final interviews, where the others floundered. "Some people are not able to walk in and turn it on. I realize in an audition you have 30 seconds to two minutes to make an impression. I can walk in and give you what you want."

Fitting into "the gay thing" and "the black thing" can be a difficult pill to swallow for someone who wants to be famous for being himself. "I like to think that being homosexual is the same as being black. It's just who I am, so I don't have to pick it up and put it down." But even with his polished exterior, Marcellas feels he was able to be true to himself during the entire process. "I don't think I was what they were looking for as far as the black guy -- they were looking for the stereotypical angry black man, which I'm not. But I was this crazy, not stereotypical either gay or black man. They were like, wow, this is completely different É There's a part of me that's this crazy brat, and there's part of me that can be really sweet, and there's part that's an outrageous bitch. Those things are all just a part of me." Even though his career helped him land the spot, the producers chose to play up the idea that Marcellas and the others were innocents to the industry. "They don't want to play up that end. They didn't want me to be 'a model,' and they never said my degree was in theater. Since I was also a stylist, that's what they called me. Lisa was an actress, but her part time gig was being a bartender, so bam, she was a bartender. Jason, who was a finalist for Saved by the Bell, became a video producer."

Finding success after reality TV can be a crapshoot, with its victims ranging from Billboard toppers to desperate fame clingers, and every Hollywood party boasts its share of reality show C-listers. Still, folks like Marcellas tend to find opportunities that allow them to move ahead with a steady career without looking like celebrity whores. "I'm trying to figure out a way to tweak it. You can't walk away from it, but it's a double-edged sword. It's almost like having done porn or something -- yeah, I did it, yeah, that's why you know me, but I can do something else too. Being a reality star doesn't necessarily mean that people want to see you be the next Tom Cruise." He pauses and mutters, "Well, nobody wants that."

Obviously, Marcellas is easy on the eyes, and through Big Brother his off-the-wall charm was allowed to shine through, which has made him a sought-after personality. He has appeared on several cable shows, including the Style Network's How Do I Look? with Finola Hughes, and was a finalist for both Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Queer Eye for the Straight Girl. Not one to shrug off his star vehicle, he has also remained in the Big Brother family as co-host of CBS.com's House Calls. While Big Brother airs a whopping three nights a week, and an online feed spies on the houseguests all the time, House Calls is an added bonus for fans that is on every day from 10-10:30 a.m. (PST). "Big Brother is so interactive and has the 24/7 live feed, it was a natural way to do it. You don't think of Big Brother without thinking of me, so I was their first choice. I was proud that they thought of me." Every weekday, Marcellas and co-host Gretchen Massey chat with evicted houseguests and take phone calls and e-mails from viewers. In his spare time, Marcellas uses his celebrity for charity work, which includes traveling around schools for the National AIDS Fund to discuss safe sex and prevention. Plans for a star-studded charity fund-raiser are also underway for the White Party's 21st birthday party in Miami.

Back in his real life, Marcellas found himself grateful for some of the perks that he couldn't enjoy while trapped inside the Big Brother household. "The first night that I got to go to a restaurant and pick out what I wanted from the menu, I started crying." Still, being housebound and even surviving on peanut butter sandwiches for a whole week did have its benefits: "Oh my god, I've never been skinnier in my life. It was awesome, it was brilliant. I want to be that skinny again. I was like 172 when I went in, and 156 when I got out after 10 weeks." He still holds a few regrets, namely the attitude he gave a couple of his housemates -- one of them, Gerry, was an older married man who seemed mesmerized by Marcellas' firm pecs. For future contestants, he advises, "Put yourself first. The hardest thing is to remember that there can only be one winner. It's a crazy, emotional thing where you want to trust people and believe that people care about you, and they don't. They only care about themselves. You cannot trust anybody." Stern words for those in it for the money, but for those like himself, Marcellas walked away with pride and sees the lighter side of reality TV. "When all is said and done, it's fun. You can spend like a day immersed in someone else's drama, and you don't have to think about your own. It's pure escapism."