Julie Oliver Gentry might be a reality TV pioneer, but she’s no drama queen.
That, at least, is the impression you get while talking to Gentry on the phone. The Alabama native who earned fame as a teenager on “The Real World: New York” is cheerful, cordial and absolutely down to earth.
Gentry, 48, speaks with enthusiasm about participating in “The Real World Homecoming: New York,” a new docuseries that reunites all seven original housemates from the 1992 reality show on MTV. “The Real World Homecoming” debuts today on Paramount Plus, the ViacomCBS streaming service formerly known as CBS All Access.
“I just felt like it was a great opportunity for me to go back and have another chapter with these roommates I grew so close to,” Gentry says. “It launched me into experiences that have really meant a lot to me.”
Gentry sounds equally jazzed, though, when discussing the community garden she oversees in Birmingham, and her work for the College Choice Foundation, a nonprofit that helps high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Gentry is vice president of the organization, and a mentor to young people who are exploring, and possibly struggling with, college options.
“I love that work because I understand that high school senior with ants in your pants, wanting to get out there to have these experiences and have a full life,” Gentry says.
Her own desire to broaden her horizons -- to plunge herself into a world that was bigger, more diverse and more exciting than her Alabama hometown -- was a key motivator for Gentry when she entered the world of reality TV. The term hadn’t been coined then, of course; a fresh-faced Julie Oliver simply knew that she was embarking on an adventure.
“I really wanted some opportunities and didn’t know what those were,” says Gentry, who was hoping for a career as a dancer. “I thought: Isn’t this awesome? I just found a way to move to New York for free, and get three months rent for free.”
With its launch of “The Real World” in the early ‘90s, MTV was making a bold leap into alternative programming, tossing a bunch of young people into an apartment in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood and using cameras to follow their every move. (Well, almost every move.)
Cast members were chosen to highlight different backgrounds and clashing ideas, and their behavior was on view to the nation. Gentry found herself in the spotlight as she engaged in a heated discussion on race, took a firm stand on premarital sex and was unhappily involved with a fellow castmate. She appeared in 13 episodes of “The Real World,” which became known as “The Real Word: New York” when other seasons followed.
“The Real World” quickly became a TV sensation and a cultural touchstone, inspiring a wealth of shows that have included “Big Brother,” “Survivor,” “Party Down South,” “Floribama Shore” and more. With her “Real World” stint, Gentry became the very first reality star from Alabama.
Ask Gentry if she feels famous, and her response is an immediate and amused “No!”
Although she’s comfortable on camera and certainly no stranger to the entertainment world, Gentry’s day-to-day life focuses on her family in Birmingham, her volunteer work and the friends she keeps close to her heart. (These include Gentry’s “Real World” pals, who’ve stayed in touch over nearly three decades.)
She’s married to Joshua Gentry, a Birmingham restaurateur and an operating partner for Little Donkey. The couple has two children: Noah, 19, and Phoebe, 17. The Gentrys also have a dog, Martha, who made an appearance in one of Gentry’s Instagram videos on a snowy day in February.
Gentry recently upped her presence on social media -- she has a handful of posts on Instagram -- but says she’s not the type to obsessively document the daily minutiae for public consumption. Nor does she understand why others would want her to do so.
“I’ve already shared so much of my life with everyone,” Gentry says. “Do you really want to know what I had for breakfast?”
Gentry says her family makes sure she harbors no delusions of grandeur. When she sent a text to her son telling him that her Instagram account had been verified -- proving the authentic presence of a celebrity or notable public figure -- his response was, “Now I don’t have to convince people you’re famous.”
“Real World” fans may beg to differ, bowing to Gentry as a bona fide reality queen. Her crown is likely to get a little shinier, too, as “The Real World Homecoming” makes its debut.
Gentry says the former housemates gathered in New York for a week of filming during the coronavirus pandemic, moving into the same Soho loft they’d lived in previously. (One of the original seven, Eric Nies, didn’t join them in the apartment, but appears on the series via a video monitor.)
COVID protocols were tight, Gentry says. This meant the cast members spent a lot of time together in their apartment bubble, talking and reminiscing and debating. Arguments were part of that, Gentry says, but the “Real World” housemates are pros at handling discord.
“For the lack of a better word, we’re all a family,” Gentry says. “That first season in 1992, when it hadn’t been done before, we really had to put some trust in each other. Arguments and discussions and heated debates -- the reason we can do that is we have these bonds. We just have such a comfort level, we can get into these subjects.”
Gentry doesn’t offer specifics, but a “Real World Homecoming” trailer indicates that racism and sexual orientation will be on the conversational table. The clip also touts the cast’s ability to “stop being polite and start getting real ... all over again.”
Was Gentry ready to dive back in as soon as she was approached about a “Real World” reunion? Or did she have to stop and ponder the pros and cons?
“It took a minute,” she says. “The seven of us are all on a text chain together, and when we got the ask, it kind of blew up. ‘Have they contacted you?’ ‘Have they contacted you?’”
To prepare for her second go-round, Gentry went back and watched all of the original “Real World” episodes -- something she hadn’t done for nearly 30 years.
“I don’t really love watching myself on TV,” Gentry admits. “It’s easy to be a critic of yourself.”
There’s been some chatter over the years about the way “Real World” depicted its youthful subjects. Was the editing misleading or cruel? Was some of the drama scripted? The half-hour programs have titles such as “Julie Thinks Kevin Is Psycho!” “Julie in a Homeless Shelter?” and “Julie and Eric ... Could It Be Love?”
When Gentry looks back on the experience, she says MTV treated the fledgling group fairly.
“I always say there were two different experiences,” Gentry says. “All seven of us would say we enjoyed our time together, and that’s one experience. When it aired was another experience. ... Did everything go the way we always wanted? No. But this is a business. They had a show to make. And people don’t always realize: This is a job. I have to go in there and do my job.”
Fans may be surprised to hear that Gentry doesn’t watch reality TV, despite the fact that she helped to popularize the genre. “It’s one of those things,” she says. “I really know what’s going on behind the curtain.”
Gentry plans to stream “The Real World Homecoming” with her family, though, and when she does, her cell phone is likely to get a workout.
“We’re still super COVID safe, so there’s no watch party,” Gentry says. “But I know I’ll be texting with all of my ‘Real World’ friends.”