Netflix reality show features Columbus resident
“The Circle,” the Netflix reality series that allows contestants to rate and rank each other over social media as they compete for $100,000 in prize money, has a Columbus presence this year.
Brandon Baker, 34, is a nursing assistant in the intensive care unit at Grant Medical Center. Born in Kentucky, he grew up in Newark and moved to Columbus six years ago.
Baker makes his affection for the city clear through his choice of T-shirts, many of which are Columbus-themed.
“I fought so hard for those T-shirts to be on there,” he said. “They were like, 'Well, we have to get clearance.' And I was like, 'You better do it!'”
While viewers will get to see Baker express his exuberant personality in the apartment in Atlanta, where this sixth season of the show was filmed, his fellow contestants saw a different side of him.
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Rather than playing the game as himself, he took on the persona of a 26-year-old nurse named Olivia.
“I kind of wanted to challenge myself. I knew if I was playing as someone else, I'd have to focus more. So I found Olivia through a friend of mine, and we became friends really fast, and I was like, 'Oh, you have to let me do this!' And she was all for it.
"She was like, 'Absolutely!' She has a very similar personality to mine. So I thought, it will be very easy to play her. Turns out, it wasn't so easy,” Baker said.
“From the start, I was like, 'I want to use her pictures, but I want to use my personality.' I decided I would go in and be myself, but as Olivia. But then I was like, 'OK, Brandon, these conversations you're going to be having, you have to sound like a 26-year-old girl.' I was like, 'Oh, wait, I didn't think about that.' So it was part me and part Olivia's character. I had to come up with fun hashtags and one-liners that fit Olivia's character. Those first few episodes, I was struggling pretty hard.”
As an extra twist, the “Olivia,” whose photos and biography Baker borrowed, isn't actually named Olivia; her name is Claudia.
“For the show, I changed her name to Olivia, because I wanted the nickname “Liv.” And the name Olivia just seems like – who doesn't want to be friends with an Olivia?“
During the filming of the season, Baker spent three weeks in the Atlanta apartment with no contact with the outside world. For moral support during the isolation, Baker, who is a big fan of gas-station hot dogs, brought along an emotional-support stuffed wiener named “Frank,” to whom he frequently confided his concerns.
“I thought, 'I'm going to be alone in this apartment, I need a Wilson,' you know what I mean?”
Though he lived through the experience, Baker hasn't gotten to see the episodes until they show on Netflix.
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“If you want a good laugh, and you want something that is very wholesome in a lot of ways and also very drama-based, then go watch this show,” Baker said.
“I think this season is going to get heated up, and people are going to love it!”
At a glance
Netflix releases batches of four episodes of "The Circle" every Wednesday through May 1, with a finale episode May 8.