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Jeff Probst takes us inside the Survivor casting process

"Putting on a front doesn't work, as our process is designed to sniff out anyone who isn't being authentic," says the host and executive producer.

By Dalton Ross November 16, 2022 at 11:30 AM EST

It started with a simple enough question: Who has surprised you out on the island on Survivor 43? The question was posed to Jeff Probst. But what we got back from the host and executive producer was not merely a name or two from the current cast, but rather a rare sneak peek into the entire casting process that hopefuls go through to end up on the show.

"One of the most fascinating and enjoyable aspects of producing Survivor is the casting process," Probst tells EW. "It's so much fun! We get to meet so many truly amazing people and learn about their lives." Okay, but what about the process itself? "Typically, it goes like this," says Probst. "We hop on Zoom, and they start to tell us about their lives. I often spend the first few minutes thinking the same thing… 'How have they already done so much at such a young age, and what was I doing when I was 24!??'"

Of course, that is just the first step. "If they continue onto the next round," continues Probst, "they meet our psychologists, and that can get pretty deep pretty fast." Probst explains what they are looking for in these interviews while also offering some key advice to future applicants.

"Our only intention is to get to know who they really are," says the host. "It's one of the things I try to stress to people who are applying to be on Survivor. You don't have to be anything other than who you are. It sounds so simple but it's the absolute truth. You do not need an emotional underdog story, you do not need to be the funniest person in the room, you don't need to have a college degree, you don't need to be anything other than you."

The host also has a warning for those who may enter the casting phase trying to act like someone they aren't: "Putting on a front doesn't work anyway, as our process is designed to sniff out anyone who isn't being authentic."

So how does what producers see during casting match up to how people act once they get onto the show and into the game? "By the time we get out to the island, we know a lot about each player," Probst explains. "But all that really does is allow us to build a theory on how they might respond once the game begins. Survivor is a very unique experience, and we can never fully predict how each player will handle the various elements because they've never done anything like this!"

Okay, so back to the original question. Who has surprised Probst with how they have played out on the island? "We've been pleasantly surprised by a number of people this season," says the host. "Cody has surprised with his level of cleverness. Gabler has surprised with his ability to go with the flow and play the fool when necessary. Jeanine has surprised with her resilience, both physically and emotionally. We were also surprised at Karla's initial fear of taking the Beware Advantage. We anticipated she would attack out of the gate, but instead she is playing a more subtle, but strong game."

Probst's overall take on the season 43 cast? "As a group I really am happy with how the season is going. Survivor is hard and every player out there is giving 100%. That's all we can ever ask of anyone."

Source: https://ew.com/tv/survivor-jeff-probst-casting-process/

--
Brian

Brian Smith wrote:

> Jeff Probst takes us inside the Survivor casting
> process [...]

I think the casting process should be

(1) Hot girls, and
(2) actually ... that's all there is to it LOL

No, seriously, it should be based on one thing and one thing
alone, how charismatic and interesting is this person?

As it is now, they tend to cast people who have interesting
backstories, e.g. the girl with one leg who is a still an
athlete, the girl with ADHD, the guy who was told he could
never walk but now could be a fitness model, the former
gangster who now has a PhD etc.

Those backstories are fine and interesting in their own
rights I guess (except the ADHD one maybe, since that is so
common) but the problem is it doesn't say how interesting and
charismatic these guys really are, and I mean today - it is
just based on those stories.

And those are just stories! No matter how interesting, they
are in the past, they can't be retold in a way to do them
justice anyway ...

So ... what you should do, just cast super-charismatic people!
That way we get Andrea for example. Remember her back story?
"The hard-working farm girl who flirted her way right out of
the game"? (That happened twice BTW LOL.) Okay, that was the
backstory, she worked in a farm? See, backstories are nothing :D

https://dataswamp.org/~incal/vidz/like-i-love-andrea.mp4
https://dataswamp.org/~incal/vidz/like-i-love-andrea-2.mp4

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 2:52:08 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:
> Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > Jeff Probst takes us inside the Survivor casting
> > process [...]
>
> I think the casting process should be
>
> (1) Hot girls, and
> (2) actually ... that's all there is to it LOL
>
> No, seriously, it should be based on one thing and one thing
> alone, how charismatic and interesting is this person?
>
> As it is now, they tend to cast people who have interesting
> backstories, e.g. the girl with one leg who is a still an
> athlete, the girl with ADHD, the guy who was told he could
> never walk but now could be a fitness model, the former
> gangster who now has a PhD etc.
>
> Those backstories are fine and interesting in their own
> rights I guess (except the ADHD one maybe, since that is so
> common) but the problem is it doesn't say how interesting and
> charismatic these guys really are, and I mean today - it is
> just based on those stories.
>
> And those are just stories! No matter how interesting, they
> are in the past, they can't be retold in a way to do them
> justice anyway ...
>
> So ... what you should do, just cast super-charismatic people!
> That way we get Andrea for example. Remember her back story?
> "The hard-working farm girl who flirted her way right out of
> the game"? (That happened twice BTW LOL.) Okay, that was the
> backstory, she worked in a farm? See, backstories are nothing :D
>
> https://dataswamp.org/~incal/vidz/like-i-love-andrea.mp4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://dataswamp.org/~incal/vidz/like-i-love-andrea.mp4
> https://dataswamp.org/~incal/vidz/like-i-love-andrea-2.mp4
>
> --
> underground experts united
> https://dataswamp.org/~incal

They have to rely on stories and hope people are telling the truth. An entire cast of A-type personalities would be way too much for me. People who are relatable make the best reality TV cast members. It's also impossible for casting to know how people will interact with each other. The producers obviously want conflict but if there's too much genuine dislike for each other that doesn't make for good TV.

--
Brian

Brian Smith wrote:

> They have to rely on stories and hope people are telling the
> truth.

On the contrary, they can themselves interact with these
people and cast those that makes the biggest impression.

> An entire cast of A-type personalities would be way too much
> for me.

Okay, A-type, what does that mean? I'm not familiar with that
scale, I've hear of E-Type tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbWLvwE8zfw

> People who are relatable make the best reality TV
> cast members.

Yes, that as well, but I think most people are, including (not
the least) charismatic people.

> It's also impossible for casting to know how people will
> interact with each other. The producers obviously want
> conflict but if there's too much genuine dislike for each
> other that doesn't make for good TV.

I don't think you should aim for that, it will happen
automatically even I'd say since it's built-in into the game
of Survivor which is a cut-throat game under difficult
circumstances where everything is personal by definition.

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

Brian Smith wrote:

> An entire cast of A-type personalities would be way too much
> for me.

Is it too much of a good thing?

Or is too much of a good thing - a good thing?

:)

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal

On Wednesday, November 16, 2022 at 10:29:29 PM UTC-7, Emanuel Berg wrote:
> Brian Smith wrote:
>
> > An entire cast of A-type personalities would be way too much
> > for me.
> Is it too much of a good thing?
>
> Or is too much of a good thing - a good thing?
>
> :)
> --
> underground experts united
> https://dataswamp.org/~incal

It's a bad thing. It's one of the reasons why I find watching the BB live feeds early on in a season to be hard. The loud people dominate the conversations and you don't get to hear what the quieter people have to say.

--
Brian

Brian Smith wrote:

>>> An entire cast of A-type personalities would be way too much
>>> for me.
>>
>> Is it too much of a good thing?
>>
>> Or is too much of a good thing - a good thing?
>
> It's a bad thing. It's one of the reasons why I find
> watching the BB live feeds early on in a season to be hard.
> The loud people dominate [...]

Oh, I didn't realize. People like Andrea, Kim, Parv, Mike,
Hali, Dean - that will be just like BB live with a bunch of
loud, dominating people ...

--
underground experts united
https://dataswamp.org/~incal