Summary
The Anonymous, the exciting new reality TV competition from Studio Lambert who’s previously producedThe TraitorsandThe Circle,has afew familiar faces on their roster includingBig Brother23 winner Xavier Prather. Having moved throughBig Brotherwith The Cookout alliance, Xavier is one of the more recent winners of the show who’s branched out after hisBBexperience. Having since appeared onThe Challenge: USAandBig Brother Reindeer Games,Xavier’s reality TV competition prowess is a fascinating mix of physical and intellectual skill. A lawyer, Xavier is able to think logically and execute strong moves physically.
After hisBig Brotherwin, it felt clear thatXavier wanted to branch outwhen it came to reality TV. Having dominated the competition in his iconic alliance on the long-running summertime power struggle, Xavier moved away fromBig Brotherto focus on another series with a new iteration. Participating inThe Challenge: USAseason 1,Xavier was flanked by fellowBig Brother23 stars which made him a target for the rest of the house. Eliminated just a third of the way into the competition, Xavier bounced back quickly and went on to appear onBig Brother Reindeer Games.
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WithThe Anonymousseason 1an intriguing opportunity for theBig Brotherwinner, Xavier ultimately chose to pursue a whole new style of gameplay for his next foray into reality TV.The Anonymousutilizes elements from several other reality TV competitions to create a totally new concept. With players playing in person and anonymously, the social game elements require laser-sharp precision, and the strategy that comes into play highlights a sense of mental fortitude unlike what’s seen on other competition shows. As a part ofThe Anonymousseason 1 cast,Xavier sat down with Screen Rant to discuss the series.
Screen Rant: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat, Xavier! I really enjoyed what I’ve seen of the show so far. As aBig Brotherwinner, did you feel prepared coming intoThe Anonymous.
Yes and no. I’ve been on several shows, so it was familiar – but it’s a concept that‘s never been done before, so even as a veteran [reality TV competitor], I was a rookie, and I kind of liked that. Every single show that I’ve done has been different, and I kind of like that I’m not doing the same show twice because it eliminates that expectation. I mean, it’s always there because I’ve won a show before, but with a completely new concept that no one’s ever seen before, I was learning just like everyone else was. I felt somewhat prepared, but ultimately this was something I’d never seen before.
Screen Rant: The concept of the show is really interesting, because it takes elements from other reality TV competitions and twists them together. What drew you toThe Anonymousin the first place?
The concept, honestly - the concept drew me in. I get offers to do shows all the time, I’d say for every show that I’ve done, there’s a show of two I’ve probably turned down. This one, the concept – I knew it came from the producers ofThe TraitorsandThe Circle,which are both shows I’ve said I’d do. So I was like, okay, you’re kind of mashing those together, that’s cool. It’s something that’s never been done before – I’m a sucker for something that’s never been done before because there’s no blueprint. Youarethe blueprint, you get to be one of those initial cast members that shows how this game works, or shows people how not to play the game.
I found the concept to be fascinating, challenging, and for me in particular – I found it to be a heavily social, strategic game. For me, I think in some of the other shows I’ve done, I’ve mostly just kind of shown my competitive prowess. This show forces you to show more of your thought process strategically, which that’s a side of me people don’t get to see because I don’t always vocalize it. In the hideout, I had no choice. The hideout is one giant room of my brain – so people hopefully get to see how I assess and analyze things. I’m hoping it shows more of my thought process - I really sit down and analyze every aspect in the game, it’s the lawyer in me.
Screen Rant: Did you feel like that analytical side really helped inform your strategy going into the game? Or was there something you went in thinking you were going to do and wound up having to change?
That one - that second one. Let me tell you, I was hoping to go back toBB23, come in, no one knows who I am, I can lay low. I was going to tell people I was a lawyer or a legal consultant no matter what, but I was like as long as they don’t know I wonBig Brotheror anything like that, I can just keep that to me. I was like, I think socially I can just string them along well enough so they don’t look at me as a threat without having that knowledge, but then…night one. Night one, and it was Dillon Frelow. I remember on the first week ofBig Brother,Derek Fraizer called me out for being a lawyer…luckily, no one ever listens to Derek Fraizer, so it worked out in my favor, but night one onThe Anonymous,Dillon comes up to me and is like,“so, you know I know you from [Big Brother], right?”and I was like“damn,”because at that point in time I was trying to keep it under wraps and just see if anyone knew who I was, because if they didn’t, I wasn’t just going to offer that information.
So once he outed me, my strategy had to change. I was lying’s not going to be an option – I have to be honest and transparent. To me, if you walk into a show and you’re a threat, to a certain degree your job is not to ignore the fact that you’re a threat, you just need to get the other gameplayers to ignore that voice in their heads that says,hey, we need to get rid of this guy,for as long as possible. That’s what your job now is – can I incentivize of convince these people to keep me around even though every single thing in their head should be telling them to get rid of me.
Screen Rant: That’s such an interesting outlook on it, because you really do come into shows like this with an increased threat level. So not just lowering it, not being able to lower it must be difficult.
Oh, man – in the last couple of shows I did, I came in and was like, everyone’s looking right at me.
Screen Rant:[Big Brother] Reindeer Gameshad you clocked very quickly.
Exactly. All I did was say hi. I was like,“hey, what’s up everyone,”and they were like we have to get rid of him, he’s got to go. I was like, I’m so sorry, did I offend? At this point I’ve kind of gotten used to that, so it’s like, okay, people are going to view me as a threat, what can I do to incentivize them and maybe convince people to keep me around despite the fact that I might be this walking threat. That’s what I tried to focus on duringThe Anonymous –doing what I can to stop those voices in people’s heads. These aren’t dumb gameplayers – there are people in this game who came in to play and win, and I know the voices in their head are like,“Xavier’s got to go,”so I’m just like,“shhhhh.”I guess you’ll see if it works.
Screen Rant: We’ll see! This game is obviously a bit different thanBig Brother,what did you feel like the biggest difference was for you in terms of gameplay?
The biggest difference to me is the fact that inBig Brother,to get rid of somebody [is a numbers game]. I’ll put it to you this way:The Anonymousis like, inBig Brotherthey’ve done an Invisible Head Of Household, but imagine that every damn day. And then you never find out [who it is]. If The Anonymous “nominates” you, if they still have power – there’s no votes, it’s not like you can rally the troops to keep you around, if the wrong person gets power, you’re gone. In that aspect, I think it puts more pressure on you socially. For someone like me with a giant target on my back, it made me so paranoid.
For me I was like, everybody’s going to have a reason to get rid of me – just based on the fact that I’ve won previously, so now I have to get them to just ignore that for as long as possible. I think socially, it’s much more challenging because you might think you’re good with everybody, but here, even if you’re close with someone, once they get in that hideout and they get that anonymous power and you’re more of a threat than an ally to them – your closest ally might be the one to send you home. I found this game to be far more challenging socially, and to some degree strategically as well.Big Brother’s kind of cut and dry, and there’s also like, a thousand seasons of it, so there’s a lot of precedent to be followed, but here, there’s nothing to go off of. There’s no blueprint, you are the blueprint – so that makes it more challenging.
Screen Rant: Wow, definitely – it doesn’t sound easy. Quick final question for you: if you could pick oneBig Brotherhouseguest to playThe Anonymous,who would it be?
Oh, man. There’s so many different reasons to pick – there’s kind of two schools of thought with that. Some people are obvious threats[points to self], but some people are big threats and people don’t always know it. So, for me it would depend on that. I feel like Tiffany [Mitchell] would do great, but do people know her? If people know her, then she’s an obvious threat – but if people don’t know her, she’s a terrifying threat and people don’t realize it. I want to say Big D [Derek Frazer], too, but Big D might pop off. Actually, I think Hannah [Chaddha] would do really well…I think Hannah would do really well because I think she’s still really young and people aren’t going to see her as big of a threat as she is. I think Azah [Awasum] would do really well, I don’t know how great she would be at staying anonymous, but I don’t think Azah would give people any reason not to trust her, that’s her best asset.
Outside of The Cookout fromBig Brotheras a whole, I think Ian Terry would be really good, he would do really well. I don’t know that Kaycee [Clark] would be good at staying anonymous, but people would really like her – I’m thinking of people who would be good at flipping the switch on and off. Dan [Gheesling] probably [would be good] because people wouldn’t be expecting him to flip. If they don’t know who he is, I think he would probably do really well because he’d get in the hideout and be an absolute savage.
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.
