His campus dates are all in March
Brunswick resident Carl Marrelli, 19, is part of the student, body at Ohio State University. But this student's body will be featured in the 2001 edition of the nationally distributed calendar starring 14 Collegiate hunks.
The Campus Men calendar includes photos of the university's, basketball, baseball and football players and students in dorm rooms, and at other campus locales.
Marrelli was contacted by calendar producers last year after his photo appeared in a yearbook of incoming first year students. He was one of 71 students invited to apply.
"I wasn't going to do this at first because it's not really my thing," Marrelli said. "But my friends said I should go for it, so I decided to try out.
Marrelli then met with photographer Sean Ashbrook and went 'through a preliminary photo shoot the school year. He made the cut and was one of the 14 students chosen to appear in the 2001 Campus Men edition.
Marrelli underwent a 5-hour photo shoot in Columbus the following summer - all to get the perfect pin-up picture for the month of March. Producers planned Marrelli's photo shoot, in which, he is standing in a stadium wearing boxer shorts imprinted with the "Campus Men" logo.
He said he was surprised at the amount of preparation that went into the shoot, especially when the makeup and baby oil were applied to his body to pick up the light correctly. "There was A lot more to it than you would think," Marrelli said. "You had to flex this and move that - it was a, lot to remember. And they went through so much film. I had my picture taken more times during this than I have in my whole life."
Marrelli admitted he was surprised the first time he saw the picture, which he describes as being "modest" compared to the rest of the men that fill up the calendar, but has since gotten used to it.
"It was very weird. I look it and think, 'Oh, man!' But I'm glad I did it. It was an interesting experience," he said.
Marrelli, who is a computer engineering major, said the 15 minutes of campus-wide fame has not changed his life. Surpassingly, most, of the women on campus do not even realize that Marrelli is in the calendar. He said he tries not to think about the fact that in March he will be hanging up on the walls of women's bedrooms around the country. Instead, he is the subject of hearty teasing by his friends and co-workers.
"They hung up the calendar where I work," Marrelli said. "I was pretty embarrassed, but it's all in good fun."
So what did Marrelli's parents say when they saw their only son sporting only underwear as Mr. March?
"My parents were all for it until they saw exactly what was in (the, calendar)," Marrelli said. "My mom thought I would be all dressed, up in a tie and a suit, but I was in my boxers. She was like, OK, I don't want to see this ever again."
Photographer Sean Ashbrook published his first calendar while be was a sophomore at the university and said it, is an honor among OSU students to 'be asked to appear. He said that past calendars have launched many students into professional modeling or acting careers.
But Marrelli said he was just in this for fun and prefers concentrating on his studies and his punk band, Inde 74.
"I guess I could see myself doing it again, although I don't think that I will. I'm not really too comfortable in front of the camera' " he said. "I thought that when 1'm older I can look back on this and say that I did something cool in college."
Copies of the Campus Men calendar can be ordered through the Web site www.campusmen.com for $12.95.
Originally published Jan. 4, 2001. Story © Brunswick Sun Times. This text is exactly as published.
