Angela Keslar, a contestant on the third season of Project Runway on Bravo and a resident of Amesville, Ohio, will speak tonight to benefit Passion Works Studio. The Post's culture editor, Caitlin Price, spoke with Keslar about the event and reality television.
The Post: How did you get paired up with Passion Works to do the project?
Angela Keslar: Well, I did an internship with Passion Works about four or five years ago, and I've just always had a soft spot in my heart for them.
Post: When did you move to the area?
Keslar: Seven or eight years ago.
Post: Do you come into Athens a lot? Into town?
Keslar: About once a week.
Post: Do you have any favorite hot spots uptown?
Keslar: Stephen's.
Post: OK, now, let's talk a little bit about the show. Why did you decide to audition for Project Runway?
Keslar: Well, I knew it would be a platform for exposure and obviously living on a farm in southeastern Ohio, you need all the exposure you can get if you're going to be doing anything artistic. And really, I tried out for the second season, and I made it only so far, to the top 30 or something like that. And then got eliminated and didn't get cast in the second season. Then I had a change of heart and was not going to audition for this season, but my brother Chris, who lives in Los Angeles, he called me and talked me into it. And that's why I ended up actually auditioning the second time around.
Post: How did the show help you as a designer?
Keslar: Wow, um, geez, it's opened so many doors to so many key people in the industry. I actually went to Milan's fashion show during Fashion Week, and I sat next to three executives from Elle magazine. They came up to me and said, 'Hi Angela, I'm so-and-so from Elle magazine.' And one of them was such a huge fan that she wanted my autograph for her husband and her daughter. That's unreal to have executives from Elle magazine saying that they're your fan. I could go on about how many people I've met and how many doors have been opened.
Post: Oh wow, that's pretty incredible. Now when exactly was the season shot?
Keslar: From late May to late June.
Post: Do you keep in touch with any of the cast members?Keslar: Laura (Bennett), Michael (Knight), Malan (Breton), Robert (Best), Kayne (Gillaspie), I'm probably forgetting somebody. I always forget somebody.
Post: That's good. Have you decided to collaborate with any of the other designers from the show?
Keslar: No, actually, we have really different styles, so that really hasn't entered my mind as a possibility. But one of the people that I did meet that came out of this who's a huge fan is Jill Soloway. She was a writer for Six Feet Under, and she has an amazing little boy Isaac. They approached me in Los Angeles, and I'm going to be collaborating on a line of hip children's clothes with Isaac.
Post: A lot of times whenever they would have the confessional-type things there would be negative attitudes from people. Was there ever any real tension from you guys?
Keslar: Oh, well, I think that's obvious. I don't really know how to answer that. There were definitely tensions with Keith (Michael) and Jeffery (Sebelia). I wasn't the only person, but Jeffery chose to single me out and be horrible. I don't quite understand why but, reality TV, there's actually a special about it, the mechanics of reality TV. If there's two people that they know aren't going to get along because tension makes for better television, my friend actually showed me this special, so yeah there was a lot of tension with Jeffery and Keith, but Keith got kicked off early so it was an enormous relief that he got kicked off. But Jeffery's the kind of person that carries tension and conflict around with him. I mean, he doesn't even get along with his own mother, so that says a lot about the person. We were actually backstage and one of the producers was taking photographs of all of the moms and their children and Jeffery refused to pose with his mom, so, it just gives you an indication of his character.
Post: What do you hope Project Passion accomplishes on Wednesday?
Keslar: Oh gosh, I really hope we sell a lot of T-shirts and make a lot of money for Passion Works because they have so many different programs that need funding. With any kind of non-profit organization, funding is always the biggest challenge. I plan to only have this be the first fundraiser of many. If it goes well, I would like to keep doing many different kinds of fund-raisers for Passion Works.
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Caitlin Price
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