Season 13 of the CBS reality show “Big Brother” cranks up this summer, and casting folks are coming to Atlanta in search of possible participants. The open casting call is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown.

We got a few minutes on the phone with casting director Robyn Kass for some tips on trying out.

“People need to not prepare too much before they audition,” she said. “They shouldn’t be thinking, okay, what am I going to say in my two-minute monologue?”

After all they’re looking for personality, which you can’t fake. Kass said that over the years she’s seen people over-audition by trying to invoke reality show jargon.

“Stay away from the buzz words,” she said. “We’d rather you tell us a story.”

In other words, instead of telling the casting crew how venal you are, be prepared to illustrate it.

“We’ll have someone say, ‘I’m conniving, I’m backstabbing, I’m controversial, I’m manipulative.’ Then we’ll ask, ‘Tell us about a time you were manipulative,” and they’ll go, ‘uh…um…’ Stories are really great instead of just using the buzz words.”

If you’re just plain nice, that’s alright, too. The show needs a few white-hat characters for variety.

“We always have to have a rootable person,” Kass said.

If you’re coming to the casting call, bring a completed application, which you can find here. You’ll get a few minutes to sell yourself. If they like you, you’ll be invited to a callback within a few days. That will be a more in-depth visit of about 30 minutes.

The show will get started around the Fourth of July weekend and lasts for three months.

“The last man standing wins $500,000. Second place is $50,000,” Kass said. “If you can make it to the end it’s not a bad gig.”

- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com