Was Laguna Beach Scripted? Cast Members Discuss the Drama

Cast Members Reveal Just How Scripted 'Laguna Beach' Was as They Dish on the Drama

While some cast members say 'Laguna Beach' was "softly scripted," Kristin Cavallari says that the prime schoolers were "manipulated."

Feb. 12 2024, Published 10:03 p.m. ET

The three-season MTV display Laguna Beach sometimes gave the impression just a little too excellent to be true. Following a few high school students round turns out like it can be a bit boring. While anything else can happen with teenagers, some staging may have been vital to stay the whole factor cohesive.

Like all fact tv, MTV will never admit if it was full-on scripted or now not, however a closer look may divulge the fact. About 20 years after the show's debut, let's finally crack the code.

Was 'Laguna Beach' scripted?

All of the youngsters on screen were Laguna Beach High School students, in order that a lot is undoubtedly true. The group of pals was there in the social hierarchy and none of them were true actors, in keeping with se.

However, there have been times when the manufacturers stepped in to present the show a different sparkle. "It was softly scripted, so the storylines were real. I mean, think about yourself in high school, right? You’re 18, you fight with a friend, but then you move on in a week or two, right? And it’s over. But [on the show], we lived that out for, like, three months or three episodes,” Alex Murrel confessed to Us Weekly.

While the drama itself, in theory, was real, sometimes the producers would need to stage conversations to sort of recap what was going on. After all, they needed to make sure that the story got through to viewers in a way that was digestible and made sense.

Lauren Olsen added, "It can be, like, the finish of the summer, so, like, July [or] August, after which MTV would come and be like, 'Hey, we want to re-talk a few dialog that came about about prom. So, we’re gonna meet at the beach and I need you girls to speak about the drama that came about.'"

Sometimes MTV would wish them to go back and provides a "redo" to special moments if the filming didn't turn out quite right. They'd have to get all ready with the right clothes and makeup and stage the events or conversations all over again or add in a few filler bits to help keep the story cohesive.

Alex described the story as more of a "soap opera" which caused show creators to take a special angle and build up the "plot" in a very specific way. She also added that her high school love triangle with Jessica Smith and Jason Wahler was certainly hammed up a bit, as she pointed out it was only actually a week or two of drama.

Kristin Cavallari, on the other hand, argued she felt the show was more than "softly scripted." In fact, she confessed that producers would feed them lines and text them about what to say. In a conversation with Us Weekly, Kristin said, "We didn’t realize how much we were being manipulated or put in eventualities that we wouldn’t in most cases be in."

Kristin explained that, due to the scripted nature, she really needed to hone in on how to separate her on-camera personality from herself off-camera. While Kristin "loved enjoying the villain," that wasn't all there was to her.

“It was pushing it as far as it would go without an actual script. They give you a schedule and you’d have lunch with Heidi at 3:00 to talk about the party coming up or whatever the situation may be," she previously explained to IbiTimes.

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