How Did a 'The Real World: DC' Cast Member Become a Political Spokesperson?

Image [via](http://For over 20 years, The Real World has supplied America with hot tub hook-ups, booze soaked mansions, and dramatic fights. Typically, after the show ends, the cast goes on to mediocre media careers comprised of club-hosting gigs and repeated stints on The Challenge. But one The Real World: DC cast member, Mike Manning, has broken this pattern and become a relatively successful political spokesperson, philanthropist, and Hollywood producer, while trying to escape the television show that made him famous. Mike is up to a great deal in 2014. This month, he starred in Disney Channel's latest original movie Cloud 9, a TV movie about a female snowboarder who must overcome obstacles after she's kicked off her team. He has also produced Kidnapped for Christ, a documentary debuting at Slamdance Film Festival. Based on the story of Mike's college friend, the documentary explores the deleterious effects of evangelical Christian reform school, and Mike based the story on a college friend. He's doing all this work in Hollywood, while also speaking out about a number of political issues important to the Democratic party. Considering everything going on in Mike's professional life, I understand why he's reluctant to discuss his past reality television endeavor, but he also wouldn't have this success without his MTV beginning. Mike was never your typical Real World star. On the show, he volunteered for the Human Rights Campaign and lobbied Congressmen as a representative of the HRC— this wasn't atypical for The Real World: DC. The season was filmed in 2009 after the inauguration of President Barack Obama and aired during a new burst of enthusiasm over the possibilities of electoral politics which led to short-lived reality shows like The Real Housewives of DC. Washington seemed young and hip, and the mood of the nation was still West Wing-rerun optimism rather than the curdled nihilism of Scandal. On The Real World DC, Mike was the traditional token gay character. He was unfortunate enough to have a reality-TV ready storyline about his conservative Christian upbringing. Since the show ended, Mike has built a whole new persona, alternating between working to make it as an actor—appearing in various indie films and on Hawaii Five-0—and working hard to make the sort of connections with political figures that most reality stars wouldn't even dream about. I met Mike through one such political connection—Allen Roskoff, a veteran New York political operative and gay rights activist who raises money through the Jim Owles Democratic Club. Allen had initially tapped Mike to emcee an event for the club, which works to elect Democrats in the city. ).

For over 20 years, The Real World has supplied America with hot tub hook-ups, booze-soaked mansions, and dramatic fights. Typically, after the show ends, the cast goes on to mediocre media careers comprised of club-hosting gigs and repeated stints on The Challenge. But one The Real World: DC cast member, Mike Manning, has broken this pattern and become a relatively successful political spokesperson, philanthropist, and Hollywood producer, while trying to escape the television show that made him famous.

Mike is up to a great deal this month. Last week, he starred in Cloud 9, a Disney Channel original movie about a female snowboarder who must overcome obstacles after she’s kicked off her team, and this week, Kidnapped for Christ, a documentary Mike produced, won the Slamdance Film Festival's Audience Award for Documentary. Based on the story of Mike’s college friend, the documentary explores the deleterious effects of an evangelical Christian reform school. Mike is doing all this work in Hollywood while also speaking out about a number of political issues important to the Democratic party.

Considering everything going on in Mike’s professional life, it's logical for him to be reluctant to discuss his reality television past, but he also wouldn’t have this success without his MTV beginning. Mike was never your average The Real World star. On the show, he volunteered for the Human Rights Campaign and lobbied Congressmen as a representative of the HRC—this wasn’t atypical for The Real World: DC. The season was filmed in 2009 after the inauguration of President Barack Obama and aired during a new burst of enthusiasm over the possibilities of electoral politics, which led to short-lived reality shows like The Real Housewives of DC. Washington seemed young and hip, and the mood of the nation was still West Wing-rerun optimism rather than the curdled nihilism of Scandal.

On The Real World: DC, Mike was the traditional token bisexual character who was unfortunate enough to have a backstory involving a conservative Christian upbringing. Since the show ended, Mike has built a whole new persona, alternating between working to make it as an actor—appearing in various indie films and on Hawaii Five-0—and working hard to make the sort of connections with political figures that most reality stars wouldn’t even dream about.

I met Mike through one such political connection—Allen Roskoff, a veteran New York political operative and gay rights activist who raises money through the Jim Owles Democratic Club. Allen had initially tapped Mike to emcee an event for the club, which works to elect Democrats in New York City. “He was flawless,” Allen told me. “He captivates people—he has people eating out of a spoon.”

Besides adoring Mike for his charm and ability to schmooze political players, Allen also admires the way Mike handles his sexuality. Allen prides himself on not having supported lesbian politician Christine Quinn in the recent New York mayoral election, and Mike tries to exist post-identity politics.

“I don't think the prime focus of Mike is on his sexuality. He is not a one-dimensional person based on his sexuality,” Allen said. “He is somebody who is proud of all facets of his life. He plans on doing his craft, to entertain and to help change the world.”

When we spoke, Mike was hesitant to discuss his sexuality or time on The Real World at length, which makes sense given the fact that he was trying to promote his political causes and Disney Channel movie. Although Mike’s first on-camera time was in front of MTV’s confessional cameras, he knows how to stay on script. “It’s going to send a positive message to young people who watch Disney,” he said. “That’s something I’m very proud of.”

I asked him if he was worried that the few months he spent on TV as the most visibly out bisexual millennial made him a risky choice as an actor for a Disney Channel movie. “In the younger generation, it doesn’t really matter,” Mike responded. “But for me, I kind of hate talking about aspects of my personal life when talking about projects, nonprofit groups, or politics. The first question that someone who’s straight gets asked isn’t ‘Are you straight?’”

“I’m happy that there’s more to talk about than people being bent out of shape about who you choose to hold hands with in the hallway. I really hope that anyone reading this would push to judge me for my actions and how I choose to live my life, not just who I end up marrying and settling down with.”

He then asked if we could discuss some of his upcoming projects.

Mike at a charity event. Photo courtesy of Mike Manning. 

It’s very likely Allen taught Mike how to deflect journalists’ questions. “Because I know so many people, I do guide him a bit,” Allen said. “I share my knowledge with him. I would like nothing more than to see a Mike Manning replace the old-timers like us.”

At times, Mike strays away from controversy so much, his message becomes unclear. What does he stand up for? Right now, he seems like a zealous college freshmen who is over commited to survey classes and represents a bit of everything.

Mike disagrees with this vision of himself. When he invited me to join him on a trip to Tijuana to see an orphanage, he said, “Now my life is becoming more focused.” He listed his charitable deeds: “Over the past years, I've been really involved with youth organizations,” he said. “Getting involved with young storytellers, helping them write stories, and acting, and bringing those stories to life. Raising money for homeless youth programs. No young person should be stuck on the streets. I think my focus since moving to LA has been laser-focused on youth.”

When I asked Mike for information on his relationship with his Christian family in light of Kidnapped for Christ’s subject, he replied that it was good. “That's been the subject of every interview I've done since I shot The Real World back in 2009, so I'd really rather not focus on that at all.”

Mike could be touchy about certain subjects. In an email, he told me, “You may have noticed, for better or worse, I'm more hands-on than some actors. Blame the OCD, blame whatever, but I promise unless you solicit me, this is my last email. Whatever, Leo DiCaprio was also obsessive in the beginning.”

To be fair, Mike hasn’t whitewashed his history as a publically bisexual man—he co-produced Kidnapped for Christ with openly gay former *NSYNC member Lance Bass—but his goals extend far beyond merely appealing to one demographic.

“I have realistic hopes that this film will be the next Bully for the troubled teen industry,” Mike told me via email. He’s working on a call-to-action PSA so that audience members can lobby Congress to prevent mistreatment of young people at reform camps and is hopeful that the movie will get distribution after sold-out screenings in Park City. It’s a reasonable goal—if anyone could start a movement, it’s an ambitious, well-connected 20-something who visits orphanages and knows people at the Disney Channel.

Although he dislikes the long shadow of reality TV that continues to haunt him, his past has helped both his career in Washington and Hollywood. “I knew who he was, as I had watched his season of The Real World and was impressed with him and how well he carried himself on that show, which is known for its fighting and drama,” said Tom DeSanto, a co-producer of Kidnapped for Christ. “Usually reality TV stars end up trying to recapture their 15 minutes of fame rather than having substantial life goals.”

“He was a very positive role model for the gay community and represented Colorado and my district well,” said Jared Polis, the openly gay US Congressman whom Mike met while filming The Real World: DC. Although Mike was lobbying for the HRC on the show and is now working on a broader, less gay-centric portfolio of causes, Jared thinks it all helps Mike’s career. “I think it's important to have a lot of irons in the fire. That would be a very limited portfolio if you were exclusively focused on traditional equality issues. It's important to look at the bigger picture.”

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