Summary
The Anonymousseason 1 features some familiar faces as well as legacy players, likeAustralian Survivorcastaway Nina Twine, daughter ofSurvivorlegend Sandra Diaz-Twine. Nina, who has played on two seasons ofAustralian Survivor,has been able to navigate the tricky social game with her mother’s legacy painting a major target on her back. Sandra, the winner ofSurvivorseason 7 andSurvivorseason 20, played an incredible social game during her time on the series, and Nina clearly takes after her mother in the analytical way her mind works while dealing with competition, making her a fierce competitor.
The Anonymous,which mixes the concepts of several competition-based reality TV shows together to create an exciting new style of competition. Bringing the most social elements of most reality TV competitions to the forefront,The Anonymousasks its players to operate in two different spaces: face-to-face as traditional competitors and in anonymous mode, which hides each players’ identity behind a handle and allows them to speak freely about what’s happening in the game. The goal of the game is to remain as anonymous as possible, making it to the end without the competition being able to sus out your identity.
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For Nina, who has a legacy to live up to,the concept ofThe Anonymouswas an interesting mix of social strategy games that would allow her to carve her own path in the reality TV space. While it was clear that she felt the pressure of having a legendary reality TV strategist as a parent, Nina’s clear-headed, concise explanations of the game and her strategic point of view prove that she has her methods, and successful ones at that. In her conversation with Screen Rant,Nina shared a sneak peek of her philosophies and strategies going intoThe Anonymous.
Screen Rant: Nina, so great to meet you - thank you so much for taking the time to chat aboutThe Anonymous. As someone with reality TV competition experience, did you feel prepared coming into the show?
I felt prepared in the sense that I know what it feels like to step out for the first time, to be around people who are there to do the same thing that you’re going to do, but not to be so delusional that I have all this experience in my back pocket that makes me think I know everything. That’s where you mess up. I knew that I could use that experience to my advantage.
Screen Rant: Makes sense. As aSurvivorplayer yourself and the fact that your mom [Sandra Diaz-Twine] is sucha legendary player, did you have strategy coming intoThe Anonymous,and if you did, did it change once the game started?
I definitely had strategy coming in. I knew the gist of the show – you know, they can’t give too much away because it’s brand-new, but I knew that I have really good communication skills. I know how to create alliances with people that I really gravitate toward, and they tend to gravitate back towards me and reciprocate that. I knew in the face-to-face part of the game, that was going to be my biggest advantage.
Now, I didn’t know when it comes to the anonymous mode what would be the best thing for me, but I also knew that because of the way I communicate, I can be a bit more flat across the board. I don’t really say a lot of things that have people like,“oh my gosh, she’s the only person that says that.”I found a strategy with that was just to be as neutral as possible – try not give away too much that says I’m more of a masculine speaker or a feminine speaker, try to be in that middle ground and just be ready to pivot when I needed to.
Screen Rant: That’s such a smart strategy. Did you find anonymous mode to be harder than the real-life mode?
Oh my gosh, yes. I am a talker, I love body language. I love doing my best to read the situation based on how they’re reacting to me and to the surroundings, so when you’re in a hideout by yourself with nothing but Dani in front of you and a thread going a million miles an hour trying to keep track and dissect everything, talk out loud and explain why you’re doing things – it was way more stressful than I ever thought. I mean, with my experience, when people vote and make certain decisions, it comes to light at some point. When you’re in anonymous mode, you don’t get that, unless somebody accidentally slips up and gives away something you may connect, you’re not going to get that at all, and thar’s really stressful. All you think to yourself is, am I talking to the person that just called me out? I don’t know.
Screen Rant: That sounds so stressful. Did you have any kind of strategy when you were face-to-face with people to try and figure their handles?
Yeah, so there were a few things I thought about in every conversation. First, never shy away from your own handle – if it’s brought up in discussion, engage. Even if they’re thinking it’s you, engage, because the second you don’t that’s when the red flags go up, and pay attention when other people do that. I do my best to think about who’s talking about what handles the most – and that’s because either it’s theirs, or they’re really trying to track down who’s it is – or who’s talking about what handles the least. People naturally do not want to talk about things that they do not want you to connect them go. So you’re hourglass, and hourglass never comes out of your mouth, that’s really weird to me – aren’t we trying to figure out who all the handles are? Keep that in the back of your head.
Screen Rant: That’s such a smart move.
Thank you!
Screen Rant: SoThe Anonymoustakes elements from all different reality TV competitions and twists them together, what drew you to this competition specifically?
What drew me toThe Anonymouswas kind of the confusing aspect of it, of bringing all these things together. People dominate at this show, people dominate at that show, but there hasn’t been a combination of the two. Just seeing – I really like puzzles – if I can be the one to solve that puzzle and try to figure out what’s the best way to maneuver in a game that’s just like, brand new. I want to be a part ofThe Anonymous’legacy one day, if they can make it to season 50 and people are like, “what kind of game are you going to play” just like they do for my mom – I’m gonna play a Sandra game. I want people to say, I’m gonna play a Nina game. I found that really, really intriguing. First seasons of shows can be really confusing – but I like confusion! I like to try and figure out some new things. I work from home…I sit in front of two monitors all day, and out there I’m sitting in front of a monitor, too, but there’s another competitive aspect of it that I would like to try and dissect to see if I can do my best and use my natural capabilites to take it home.
Screen Rant: Speaking ofSurvivorsince you mentioned a season 50 – what was the biggest difference, outside of the elements themselves playing a factor, in the way you played the game?
The biggest difference, I would say, is really being mindful of what you say – because inSurvivoryou can just count the votes and you can narrow down who did what. Here, you really need to stay anonymous – the anonymity is the biggest thing, becomingThe Anonymousis the point of the game. The second you slip up and say the wrong thing, you’re going to get called out and caught. I talk a lot, so trying to be like – wait, stop, stop, stop.[laughs]I had days where people were like, you’re so quiet today and I had to be like,“oh, no! I swear I’m just quiet.”No – I was actively trying to hold back so I didn’t slip up. I found it very hard to hold back my natural talkativeness, to not hinder my own game. You know, I don’t want to be the reason that I screw up something that I’m trying to build.
Screen Rant: You came into the game with experience yourself and decided to keep it quiet. Did you feel like it was smarter to go that route, or take the Xavier [Prather] route of sharing his experience right away? Why did you choose to stay quiet?
So, being that Xavier participated on American shows where a lot of Americans are going to have access to it, I was on an Australian show that was a lot harder to watch and find, or even be aware of. I thought to myself, if I can keep this a secret and somebody comes up to me and tells me they know I was onAustralian Survivor,to me, that’s a flag I’m going to have to figure out. That’s somebody who isintocompetition shows – you know? That is somebody who knows their stuff and digs into that realm. That’s probably a superfan. That’s somebody that, depending on how they come to me about it, they’re either going to be my number one ally or they’re going to need to go immediately. So I found that me keeping my experience to myself would actually be an advantage, because if someobdy brings it up to me I’m going to know that they’re into competition shows way more than anyone else.
Screen Rant: That’s so smart, it makes so much sense.
I thought it through!
Screen Rant: Incredibly well! In terms of the AmericanSurvivorfranchise, which is rapidly approaching season 50, is there anyone you would think you be good onThe Anonymous?Obviously, I know you have a little bit of bias there.
[laughs]Except for my mom, somebody who would be really good…I will say, a lot of people say this to me, when it comes toSurvivor,cast memebrs are a different breed. There’s so many things: the elements, the hunger, the deprivation…and then playing on top of that. I think manySurvivorswould do really, really well. I think Ricard [Foyé], that’s somebody that I gravitate towards naturally, I think he would do really well. I think a lot of the new eraSurivvorcast members, because they’re so present on social media unlike a lot of the older ones, they’d naturally do really well as long as they don’t let their heads get too big. Of course, I’m gonna shout out a lot of myAustralian Survivorplayers, too – they’re insane. This last season ofAustralian Survivorwas crazy, so I’d love to see any of them onThe Anonymousone day.
Screen Rant: Amazing! Last question – without giving too much away, what do you think is the best word to describe this season ofThe Anonymous?
Ooh, just one word? That’s tough, I’m a person of many words. Hmm…I’m going to say “intriguing.” That’s the word that comes to my mind - because you’re constantly just thinking, how can somebody navigate that? That’s just really intriguing – to see twelve different individuals from twelve different backgrounds in multiple ways, whether it’s culturally, where they live, in their career…to see each and every one of us navigating the game, I think that’s going to be very intriguing. I’m excited to see how each person, through and through, playedThe Anonymous.
The Anonymous
Cast
The Anonymous is a 2024 film exploring a strategic competition where players navigate both the real and digital worlds. In the virtual realm, known as Anonymous Mode, participants communicate anonymously to gain power and eliminate rivals, blending elements of perception and deception as they vie for victory.
