Carl Boudreux Talks The White Lotus

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, what's going on? Rob, Sister Dino back, and we have a very special episode here of our recap podcast. We Know the White Lotus, of course, back with me, of course, Josh Wiggler. Josh, how are you? I'm doing exceptionally well this evening because it's finally time for dinner.

[00:00:25] We have a dinner reservation. Yes, a table for three here for dinner with one of the stars of The White Lotus. Please welcome Carl Boudreux, Godfather Carl. Survivor. Bing. Yes. White Lotus. Bing. Bing. Wow.

[00:00:47] I hope that that's the sound that the cash register made when you made bank on your HBO appearance here, Carl. What I got paid, Josh. We're going to not talk about that. All right, leave that alone. Yes. Okay, well, of course, Sunday night, fans of The White Lotus saw Carl and Natalie having dinner at the resort,

[00:01:14] and it's very mysterious about what were they having, what were they talking about, and maybe we find out over the course of The White Lotus season three. But, Carl, how are you doing? I'm good, man. I'm blessed, as always. Anytime you talk to me, that's what I'm going to tell you. I'm blessed because I'm alive. Yeah. Yeah. Every morning you wake up is a blessing. Nobody's guaranteed to wake up the next morning. Especially on The White Lotus. Well, yeah, yeah.

[00:01:43] Someone's not making it. That's TV, but yeah, in real life, I'm blessed. Yeah. Yeah. Josh, we just saw Carl in Houston a couple of weeks ago. We were there in the beginning of December. Oh, of course, and for the RHAP event. Yeah, Carl brought down the house. We had a great event there with Karishma and Asia's cousin and a bunch of survivors and Owen. Asia's cousin? Yeah. Wait, which one was Asia's cousin?

[00:02:13] Yeah. Oh, that, you know, sometimes when the survivors come out during the season, we just say it's We call their cousins to come out as surrogates. Yeah. So that's just so they don't get in trouble, Carl. Yeah. You can't leave out my girl Lauren, though. Lauren, sure. Yeah. You can't leave out Lauren. Okay. All right. Big squad. Yeah. This is a good time. Carl, you were the first member of the David's tribe to appear on The White Lotus. Because I was the realest member of the David's tribe.

[00:02:42] Yeah. I think that's right. Carl, you were the very first member of the David tribe that I spoke to so long ago when I interviewed you all back out in Fiji. Carl, you were the very first person I talked to. Right. I remember. I remember. That was before the show even started. Yeah. That's right. I remember. Yeah. Yeah. Again, I was the realest. And no, like, not taking no shots on anybody that was on the David's tribe.

[00:03:10] But I was the realest because I kept it real. Like, as far as the whole Survivor thing, I was loyal. I was real. Yeah. So, yeah. I was the realest. So, Carl, what's been the reaction to your cameo in The White Lotus so far? Well, I mean, y'all seen the very first episode. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. Y'all seen me. I look debonair, right? I was going to use that word for sure.

[00:03:38] You look extravagantly wonderful. You look ready to go. I pulled the chair out for my lovely wife on the show. Yes. You know? Yeah. No. No, it was awesome, man. Like, it's so crazy. I thought Survivor was crazy. But, like, real life acting? Oh, yeah. Survivor has, like, a few cameras. Like, this whole production thing?

[00:04:07] It's literally mind-blowing, man. It's cameras everywhere. It's people everywhere. It's, like, hundreds of people. Hundreds. That has to do with the whole production thing. Yeah. So, yeah, for me, I was, like, overwhelmed in the beginning. Like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Like, yeah. And then Survivor amped up. Oh, times 20. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's not Survivor.

[00:04:37] It's HBO. It's real life acting, right? Yeah. Survivor is real because you're not acting. Well, if you're lying to someone, maybe. But, you know. Well, yeah. Well, yeah. You're acting when you're lying. But, you know. I mean, well, that's probably normal for some people. I mean, just think about it. Right, Rob? Yeah. It's probably normal for some people to lie. Some people just lie just to lie. But, yeah, no. The whole White Lotus thing, man. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:08] Very first episode, we filmed and filmed and filmed. And then you've seen what you've seen. So, yeah. Carl, can you tell us a little bit about how this came to be that you ended up getting on the show? So, for me, I was literally laying in my bed. It was like, of course, I'm Central Time. So, it's like maybe 1030. And I get a text message. And it's from Mike White.

[00:05:38] And he's like, well, what do you think about being on the White Lotus? So, I text him back. And I'm like, are you serious? Same like I did when I got the message on Survivor. Like, is this a joke? You know what I mean? Because, again, I just get up and go to work. You know? Like, that's all I know. I get up. I go to work. Get off work. Drink a few beers. Get ready for work the next day.

[00:06:06] So, when he texts, I was like, are you serious? So, he texts back. And he goes, yeah, I'll send you some more info soon. And that was that. That's it. That was that. And, Carl, do you and Mike keep in touch? Like, do you guys talk a lot? We don't talk on a daily basis, on a weekly basis. But we will message each other. Like, he's messaged me for my birthday. I've messaged him for his birthday.

[00:06:34] He's messaged me for Christmas. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. I'm not going to sit here and tell you, oh, yeah, I just call Mike all the time and we talk. No. We keep in touch. But, like, holidays. You know what I mean? Special events. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So, when Mike texts you and he says, all right, hang tight. More details coming. And you're left that way. When does he get back in touch with you? And when does this start becoming real?

[00:07:03] Well, he didn't get back in touch with me fast enough. Let me say that. So, I'm sitting here like, oh, okay, yeah, maybe this was a joke. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I think I might have heard back from Mike maybe two or three weeks later. And he sunk some stuff. So, go over it. And he goes, well, I sent him a message back, of course, saying I got it. And he goes, well, just read into that what I sent you, you know.

[00:07:33] And, yeah, I read into it. I messaged it back. And then, again, time passed. You know? It's like his whole deal is I'll get back with you. Yeah. I'll get back with you. So, yeah, you're stuck just sitting there waiting. You know? He's sending you a bit of things. You go over it. And then you're waiting. Because Mike, like, you can text Mike, but Mike is traveling the world. Like, he's looking for the Knicks. He's got a lot going on.

[00:08:01] He's looking for, like, right now, as we speak right now, Mike is in Bangkok right now. As we speak right now. You know what I mean? So, he has a lot going on. So, it's not like me texting Kara or Alec or Davey or Nick. They're going to respond right back. Well, let me rephrase that. Davey and Nick will respond right back. Yeah. Yeah. Kara and Alec. Maybe it'll take a minute. Yeah.

[00:08:30] You know, your old West Coast people. They're going to the West Coast. Hey, I live in North Carolina, Carl. LA anymore? No, I moved. Great place. Like 2021? A few years ago. Yeah. But how long were you in LA for? Full 10? Long time. 15 years. Yeah. 15 years you became a Californian. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm a slow texter, Carl. I got to own that.

[00:08:58] You nailed me with that one. Yeah. You West Coast people. Y'all something different. Like, yeah, they're different. And I'm sitting there. I think to myself, like, well, damn, I know I keep my cell phone on me at all times. So, like, I see that message come across. Not you West Coast people. I guess y'all don't never see it. But not you anymore, Rob. Not me anymore. It's still probably me. It is. I also have to say. I think it's the Grand Canyon. I think the techs get slowed down. It takes a minute for them to get there.

[00:09:28] Yeah. Or at least get back. Get back over. Yeah. No. Anyways. Yeah. No. It's like, yeah, with Mike, man, it was just bits and pieces here and there. Like, here and there. So, basically, I was just sitting back waiting. I was excited. Didn't say much. But, yeah, just excited. Waiting to hear the next message. So, you're on board and Mike reaches out to you. At what point do you find out that you are going to play a person who's married to Natalie Cole?

[00:09:57] Or, as my wife said when we watched the episode, oh, there's Natalie White. I said, no. No, there's not. Not Natalie White. You're Natalie. So, yeah, initially, when that came across, now I said to hell with Texas. I called Mike. I was like, Mike, really? And he was like, I'm like, but Mike, she's like 15 years older than I am. Like, do I look that damn old? I mean, I know I've since grown some gray hairs in my beard.

[00:10:26] But he's like, no, Carl, you can pull it off. Like, it'll be fine. It'll be okay. So, I'm like. Or she's just robbing the cradle. That's also a possibility. I mean, yeah. She's a cougar, right? Mike's young. Nice looking guy. Yeah. She wants a younger man. She's here for young man Carl. I can dig it. I can dig it. Play young gentleman Carl. Yeah, so, no. But, yeah, initially, I was like, oh, man, what the hell am I signing up for? But, of course, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

[00:10:56] But you two, you and Natalie never got to interact on the show. You never crossed paths while playing the game. Did you two develop any kind of friendhip after the fact or anything? Or had you kept in touch with her at all? So, here's the deal. I never met Natalie when we were on the show, right? I met Natalie after the show. Because this is how. This is how. Now, we connected. Okay, obviously, like, let's call it a spade a spade.

[00:11:25] I'm a black guy. Natalie's a black woman. Yep. There weren't very many. I mean, you know what I'm saying? So, initially, yeah, we reached out to one another. Like, hey, sis. You know what I mean? Hey, brother. Whatever, whatever. And then I met Natalie for the first time when I was flying to Australia with Nick to go. So, that was when Nick proposed to his now wife, Grizzelle. Yeah. Okay.

[00:11:54] So, we had a layover in L.A. So, Natalie picked us up from the airport. Oh, wow. And we hung out at Natalie's house in L.A. until our flight from Los Angeles to Australia. Oh, amazing. So, that's the very first interaction I had with Natalie. And we, I mean, we hit it all. You know what I mean? We talked about everything that she dealt with on the Goliath tribe. You know what I mean? We talked about everything I dealt with on the David tribe.

[00:12:23] And we just, I mean, we connected. Like, and we've been cool ever since. Like, she'll text me. She'll call me. I do the same to her. So, yeah, that's how I very first talked to Natalie was when I was going, well, not talk to her, but actually met Natalie was when I was going to Australia for Nick's proposal to his now wife. Yeah. And then when you got the, when you solidified, you're going to be white Lotus and you find out Natalie's going to do it too. Did you text her? Were you like, okay. Oh, yeah.

[00:12:53] We talked on a regular basis at that point. Did you practice lines? She started coaching me. I'm serious. If you know Natalie, you know Natalie's going to be on top of everything, right? Yeah. So, yeah, she would call me and coach me. Like, yeah, this is how you got to say it, Carl. And I'm sitting there like, oh, my God. Like, really? Like, okay. I see what Mike was going through. Maybe I got a little feeling about how Jeremy felt.

[00:13:24] Yeah. Natalia, I'm sorry. I'm glad I was on a David tribe. Like, yeah, no, no. But Natalie's cool, man. But yet she literally, we would talk and she was literally coaching me through my lines. Like, yeah, it was crazy, man. It was crazy. So was there, was there dialogue that was for this dinner scene that we get to? Was there dialogue there that we didn't get on the show? So that was episode one, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[00:13:51] So now Rob's been on TV. Yeah. Now, me and Natalie have lines, right? We have lines. And our lines involve Natasha, which is Belinda on the show. But at the same time, Rob can also tell you that editing plays a big part. Yeah. So we have lines.

[00:14:17] When I say we filmed for so many different things, I stated lines, not stated lines. I cursed Belinda out. That's like different shit. But now I don't know if that'll make the airwaves. Right. Like, I have no clue if that'll make the airwaves. But did I? Stay tuned. Right. You have to stay tuned. But now did I? Hell, I still got my whole pamphlet of the lines that I studied.

[00:14:47] I mean, it ain't that big. It's maybe that big. But yeah, the lines I studied. But yeah. So there were scenes that, yeah, I was sitting there with the camera and saying what my lines were. If it makes a TV, I hope it does. I hope like hell it does because that was the whole thing that I, you know what I mean? Wanted to do it. Yeah, you spent some time doing that. Memorizing lines is no joke. But. I was in school plays. I get it. But it's about the edit, right? Right.

[00:15:16] It's about HBO and the producer, Mike White. Yeah. Same thing on Survivor. At the end of the day, it's about HBO. Mike is the producer, but HBO has the final say. Yeah. You know what I mean? So did you reach out at all to Angelina or Cara or Alec about any of the other survivors that have done the show before? No, I did not. Well, I can tell you that Cara and Alec knew about it.

[00:15:45] Yeah, I knew because Cara and Alec are real, real, real close with Mike. Yeah. You know what I mean? In fact, Alec came meet me. Oh, that one was out there last Monday. That was last Monday, right? For the premiere. Yeah. That's Monday. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, for the premiere. So Alec drove down from San Diego and came hung out with me. You know what I mean? Yeah. I got pictures. But I'm not really, really big into the whole social media thing anymore.

[00:16:14] Like, I just don't. I don't know. Same. Big same. Yeah. Relatable. Yeah. I'm this close to 50. So it's like, I don't care about the whole social media stuff. Oh, you're going to get cast? They're bringing you on? No, no, no. I mean, age. Oh. Okay. You can't say anything. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, age one. Good cover. Good cover. Age one. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:38] Now, Carl, I know you were at the premiere a couple of, or last week when they screened it in LA and Parvati was there, but also Jeff Probst was there. Did you get a chance to see Jeff? I spoke with Jeff. Yeah. Me and Alec was actually looking for the bar, right? But the only bar we found was the one that had the water bottles on it. So me and Alec grabbed us a bottle of water and here comes Jeff and he spots us.

[00:17:07] And I look at him and I was waiting on him to say something first, right? So he goes, oh shit, Carl. Yeah. Hey, Jeff, what's going on? So I shake his hand. We're talking. And then Alec turns around and he goes, well, I be damned. Alec is with you too? Yeah. So yeah, we sit there and we shoot the crap. You know what I'm saying? But we talked for maybe about five, 10 minutes. Yeah.

[00:17:35] And then, yeah, I mean, Jeff is real Hollywood. So yeah, then he, this was right before we went in to go actually watch the premiere. You know what I mean? I haven't seen it yet. Yeah. So we chatted for a few minutes and then we parted ways and that was that, you know, should Jeff be on the white Lotus? Nah. He's got enough. He did enough. Yeah. Yeah. What Jeff should need to do is Jeff should really study the people who really needs to be back on 50.

[00:18:05] Okay. That's what Jeff needs to do. Yeah. Stop, stop looking for these same retreads. Okay. Carl, do you want to drop a cast list for us for who should Jeff call for Survivor 50? Well, start with me first. Yeah, of course. Yeah. That's fair. Start with me first. You're allowed to vote for yourself. Yes. You know, I would. Star of HBO's The White Lotus. That's a really big resume point. You've got HBO pedigree. I would start with me first, man.

[00:18:34] I was the first one to ever play the idle nullifier and did it correctly. Yeah. Which they took it out of the game. But no, like, like real talk, I would say, I would say my brother, excuse me, Davey. Davey. Should be back on it. Good pick. Now here's where I'm going to get controversial and then I'll continue on my, my to go list.

[00:18:59] I'm, I'm almost sure he'll be back on it, but I don't think he should be back on it. Okay. And I'm saying Christian. Oh, because I can say this. Why? Because again, it's not a thing. Okay. Christian was saved on every single vote by us. David's Christian didn't save himself. Not one time. Mm-hmm. Christian, you listening?

[00:19:28] Hopefully he is. I love him. If you're on 50 with Carl, you got ops. You got a problem, man. I love him to death. But you'd work with him on 50, right? I'd work with him. Yeah. Because he's smart. He's brilliant. But he didn't do nothing on, on 37. Mm-hmm. He was a fan favorite because he didn't make no moves. Sorry. He had Gabby in his right pocket. Okay. Okay. Um, um, so, so, so now I gave you me, Davey.

[00:20:00] I'll go. Parf, Parf should be back on. Parf should be back on. Parf can be back on. Um, let's see. Because I'm tired of the retreads. Like, like give them somebody else. Well, no one from your season other than Nick has gotten to go back yet. So who? Yeah, but he's been back. And Nick. Yeah, he's been back. Nick didn't even want to go back when he went back. Yeah. Well. That's my brother. Like, I'm telling you what I know, not what I think. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:30] Yeah. Yeah. But who else? Who else from, from your cast should, should make my cast. So we'll go to the other side then. Alec. Okay. Alec. Yes. Um, from the other, the other person from the Goliath side, I would say Angelina. Yeah. Which she would never do it. I mean, she would, she would probably never do it at this point. What about Mike White?

[00:20:59] Should Mike White play Survivor again? No. Why not? Mike shouldn't have played Survivor the first time. He loves it though. He loves it. Honesty or what? Yeah. Keep it real, Carl. Mike should have literally won. Yeah. Won my season. That's what people say. Mike didn't want to win. Mike didn't want to win.

[00:21:26] Again, when I played, same as you, Rob, that was the old school era. We gave, they gave their final speeches there on the island. Yes. And then we came back, right? Yes. He didn't really see the whole final speeches back then. Yeah. Mike's speech said everything that he didn't want to win. Mike was there for the experience. He didn't care about winning. Mike had money. He didn't care about it.

[00:21:55] Do you think if he won Survivor, he'd make the White Lotus? Oh, well, yeah. Because that's what he loved. That's his passion. He still does it. That's his passion. Yeah. Yeah. Right in the alternate universe where he wins that season. Does he go on to become an HBO mega sensation? I don't know. I mean, that's his passion. I mean, he had stuff before that. You know what I mean? I mean, you look at Nacho Libre and School of Rock. Yeah. That's his passion. Yeah. But yeah, no. Yeah. Mike. Yeah. No.

[00:22:23] I'm trying to think who, whom else though. What about you? What about your, uh, your, your onscreen wife, Natalie? Natalie would be good to go back, but I don't put on my tribe from the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. Carl. What was it? Me or Fiji. I mean, it's not Fiji in, uh, in Thailand. Well, I was just going to say like, what was it like, uh, when you two were on the same,

[00:22:53] uh, tribe, the HBO tribe, uh, out in, in Thailand, how long were you there and what was the stay like? Hold on. Let me, let me, let me, let me take a sip of my wife. Yeah. We're going to get, wait a minute. We got to hydrate. Hereby hangs a tail. I was in, I was in Thailand with Nat for two weeks. Right. Yeah. So my hotel room was right here.

[00:23:23] Natalie's hotel room was right there. Okay. Right next to each other. We were, oh, we were right next to each other. Was it one of those hotel rooms where you shared the door? No, no, no, no, no. It was nice. No. When I said it read, rolled out the red carpet. Like, yeah, no, yeah, no, this was, yeah. So yeah. But me and Natalie didn't film the day. I mean, me and Natalie was like on, on, on standby, but when they called, we had to be ready.

[00:23:54] But I'll get into that. But like, yeah. So the days they didn't call, it was like, oh, let's go have breakfast. I'm not a breakfast guy. You know what I'm saying? I like to sleep in. I get up early every day for work. So I like, when I get a chance to sleep in, I sleep in. Natalie's calling at, or knocking at like seven, eight o'clock in the morning. That's right. Go have breakfast. I'm like, what? Like, I'm already thrown off on, off this freaking 12 hour time difference. You know what I'm saying? Okay, Nat, let me, let me throw on something.

[00:24:24] We can go get brass it there and I might eat a few pieces of watermelon and an egg. Like, okay, can I go back to my room now? You know what I mean? Like. Yeah. And then we would, I mean, we hung out. Nat, that was the closest I've been to Nat the whole time I've ever known her. Nat is a beautiful person, like has the best soul ever.

[00:24:43] She's just, she, she gets misconstrued because of, because of how, I guess how direct she is. You know what I mean? Yes. Goliath. But she don't have, she don't have the, the, the intentions of a bad person. It's just how she comes across.

[00:25:05] So if you're not, if you're not mature and able to understand how she's coming across, you're going to look at her like, like she's this controlling person. And that's so not the case at all. That's what I learned from being right next door to her. Yeah. Two weeks. Yeah. Thailand. You know what I mean? She comes across as, but it's, but it's not like that at all. Like she's the most genuine person that I've met.

[00:25:35] So yeah. But yeah, that's, that's, that's my take on, on, on Ms. Nat. Like the best, but she just, she's, she's straightforward. She just comes across hard. Carl, besides going to breakfast with Natalie, what else did you do when you weren't filming? When I weren't filming, I tried to enjoy all the sights and sceneries of Thailand. Obviously we were in, me and Nat, we were, our filming took place in Phuket. Yeah. So yeah, we were in Phuket.

[00:26:06] Yeah. I tried to enjoy every moment that I could enjoy, you know? I mean, there were moments where I just sat on my balcony and poured me a drink of cognac and pulled out one. Cause I brought my own cigars with me. Obviously I smoked cigars. So yeah, I laid on my balcony, smoked a cigar and sipped on cognac. And Nat was sitting right there next to me, but on her balcony with the little fence line. Carl, what are you doing? Nothing.

[00:26:35] Cigar, Ms. Nat, just relaxing. Yeah, no, no. I just tried to try to enjoy the sceneries that I were able to partake for my time there. And meet people. Yeah. It's crazy, man. I've only seen it on TV until I had the opportunity to go. Like there's literally three people on one little moped, sometimes four and a baby, like on one little moped and going up the hills. And I'm like, wow. Wow.

[00:27:05] Carl, in the show that we saw that there's monkeys, there's the kimono dragons running around. Are those animals? Is that wildlife? Or are they paid actors? Or CGI. So I've learned that the kimono dragon was a pet dragon, right? Like that was someone's kimono dragon. That was someone's kimono dragon.

[00:27:32] Even Natasha speaks about that on some of her stuff if you go back and look. But now the monkey shit. Oh, I'm sorry. You can see your life. You're fine. It's an HBO podcast. Yeah. I don't know, man. I haven't been on a podcast. You're doing great. So I don't know. Yeah. The monkey stuff. Yeah. Now that's real because I was sitting on my balcony and now I just seen stuff start moving,

[00:28:00] like looking at the trees. Like, yeah. So yeah, the monkey stuff is real. Now, how did they get that to happen so instantly on camera? I have no idea. But the monkeys are real. I got pictures in my phone, man. I was on a, what do you call them? A tuk-tuk? Is that what it's called? I was on a tuk-tuk and I see a guy walking down the street with an elephant. Yeah. He has a pet elephant.

[00:28:31] So we were on set one night and I was in the green room, right? That was the most awesome thing. So out the green room, because there's a pool. So I'm lounging outside, right? Because I'm waiting until, again, me and Ms. Natalie was off. They have a pool in the green room? It was right outside of the green room at this villa that we were at in Phuket for the area we were filming at. Right?

[00:28:59] So I go outside because, of course, me and Ms. Natalie is always on standby. Which I don't have no problems being on standby because as long as I was on standby, I was getting paid. Yes. You feel me? So, yeah. But anyways, I'm outside and I'm laying down and I'm smoking my little vape. Now, back when I was on Survivor, I smoked cigarettes. I don't smoke cigarettes anymore. I've been five years from smoking cigarettes. Hey, congrats. That's awesome. Yes. Thanks. So, yeah, I'm laying outside, right? I'm hitting my little vape.

[00:29:29] I got a Red Bull. And out of nowhere, you just hear the noise of elephants, like wild elephants, man. Like, yeah, Thailand is crazy. Yes. Like, yeah, like elephant noise. I'm like, oh, shit. Like, the last thing I need is for a damn tiger or something to run out because I done seen monkeys and lizards and elephants. You don't know what's next. What's next? Yeah. Right. How does Thailand compare to Fiji?

[00:30:03] I can't really, I can't really honestly speak on Fiji because Fiji, I never had the opportunity to enjoy Fiji. Yeah. If that makes sense. Yes. When I was in Fiji, I was struggling, trying to survive, you know, like I was on an island playing the game. And then when I got put out of the game, I was back at Ponderosa, but still a part of the game because I had to be, I was on the jury, you know?

[00:30:33] So I never got to enjoy what Fiji is. I mean, I remember all the different islands from being transported back and forth from the show of Survivor. But as far as experiencing visiting Fiji, I can't, I can't really even, even speak on that. Yeah. Well, what's been the reaction of the people you work with to you being on the White Lotus?

[00:30:59] Well, fortunately, I'm a, I'm an independent contractor, right? I own my own trucking company. So I work for myself, but I lease on to a company. You know what I mean? So yeah, it's like when I, when I, when I don't want to go to work, I just don't go to work. So when I, it's like when I was, when I got ready to go to Survivor, I went to the owners of the company.

[00:31:25] I didn't tell them what I was going to do, but I told them I had some things coming about and I needed a certain amount of time off. Like I'm not canceling my contract, but I need this time off. And I had been there. I've been leased on to the same company for 20 years, you know? So those guys pretty much know what type of guy I am. You know what I'm saying? So they understood it.

[00:31:51] So when, when the whole White Lotus thing came about, I went to them and I said, Hey man, look, remember back when I was on Survivor? Well, the producer of this TV show invited me to be on this show. So I'm going to need a couple of weeks off to fly to Thailand. And it was like, Carl, get the hell out of the office. Yeah, of course. Go do what you got to do. Just go do it. Get it done. Because I hadn't already done the, done the Survivor thing.

[00:32:22] So yeah, at that point it was like, man, go ahead. Like, yeah, no problem. We'll see you when you get back. Let us know when the show comes on. But yeah, so I've never had those problems. Yeah. They watch everything that I've done. Yeah. Yeah. They like it? Of course. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. They, I mean, they brag on me, you know? Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm from a, man, y'all got to understand. I'm from a small town in Southeast Texas, right?

[00:32:51] Beaumont, Texas. Mm-hmm. So the guys that I, that I, that I've been working with for years, they're from another small town in Southeast Texas, Winnie, Texas, Anahuac, Texas. You look up those little places on the map, like literally in the Southeast bottom corner of Texas. Like we're all country boys. You know what I mean? So yeah, like we don't, we don't overstep one another.

[00:33:17] We're just, we're just country dudes just trying to make it like straight up. Yeah. I told Jeff, man, when I, when I first interviewed for Survivor, when I, when I went to final casting, because I, I wrote, I wrote, wrote Hostess and all of that. He was like, well, that, what is this? And I'm like, look, man, I'm a country boy, but at the same time, I'm a city snicker. You know what I'm saying?

[00:33:45] And so basically I'm an urban cowboy. I can put on clothes to be in the city. I live in Houston. I live in the city, but at the same time, Houston is a country city. Yeah. Like, yeah, I can go ride horses one day or go to the club downtown the next. Now I don't do that anymore, but yeah, like I don't have to have on tight ass jeans and boots every day. Like I can put on Jordans and just go rock. I mean, you know? Yeah.

[00:34:16] Rob, you have to stop making us wear the tight jeans to work. Sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah. We're working on that. I'm filing a formal complaint. Carl, what about any of these other reality shows that are out there that these other survivors go to like the traders or dealer, no deal Island or any of these other ones that do you have any interest in any of these other shows? I haven't really, I haven't really even watched them. I've seen them come across my TV. I've seen Rob.

[00:34:45] Once again, I've seen Boston Rob all over everything. Yeah. Like, yeah, no. But you said Parvati for season 50. She's on everything. She's on. Well, yeah. But me, these are, these are, this is going to sound harsh, but I'm just going to say it. Do it. These are reality TV whores. Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. I think that's a term.

[00:35:14] For me, like, that's what I can't afford to do that, man. I was, I was, I was married for 20 years. I'm now divorced five years. Right. Like, like, like real talk. What a lot of people don't even realize is survivor had a part to do with me being divorced. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? You take a cat that, that, that nobody knew, right. That was married. And now he goes on his TV show. Now you're in your wife walking through the airport and all these people recognize you

[00:35:44] and want to take pictures with you. But guess who they asking to take the picture? Yeah. They're asking your wife to take the picture, but you know, you know how, how hard that is for her because she knows me as just a regular. Yeah. I mean, this is relatable, Carl. Yeah. Yeah. Rob's always taking pictures. Nicole. I'm just saying, man, I'm being honest. Yeah. I get it. You think my, you think my wife likes taking a picture of me with another person?

[00:36:13] Nor should she, as I realize it now after being divorced for five years. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. I get it. So yeah, those shows, man. Now I love them. I can do whatever the hell I want now, obviously, because I'm, I'm, I'm not married. Now I have a young lady, but I'm not married. I'm not committed. I mean, you see what I'm saying? So yeah. The one show that I've always wanted to be on, The Amazing Race. Oh yeah. That was a show that I had loved from the very, very beginning, even before Survivor.

[00:36:41] But now I think now that I would do good on Big Brother. Okay. Oh, fun. Do you watch that? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I watch Big Brother. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, no man. Yeah. These shows, man, they're fun. They're fun. But yeah. They can be problems. Yeah. It could, it could be a drain. It could be problems. Would you do another white Lotus? Of course.

[00:37:08] I think that Mike, uh, after he's done eight seasons and he's like gotten your entire cast on the show at a certain point should do a full white Lotus season, white Lotus Fiji. And it's all of the David versus Goliath cast. Let's make it happen. Let's make it happen. Let's make it happen. You have his number. Text him. Let's make it happen. Man, you don't realize it's a total difference from a reality TV show than an actual acting show.

[00:37:34] Like I remember sitting in the green room when they very first got ready to call me and that. And I was so nervous. I was talking to Walton Groggins, right? Yeah. That was Walton Groggins. I could text him. Oh, he's the, well, y'all know I drink. He's the coolest. I had drinks with him several nights. He's the freaking coolest. But yeah, I told him, I'm like, man, I'm so nervous. I'm so nervous. And he's like, what are you nervous for? Like, you know your lines, right? I'm like, yeah. Said Emmy nominated actor.

[00:38:04] I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Well, just go out there and read your lines. He goes, guess what, Carl? If you fucking get them wrong, they're going to say cut and you'll start again. Yeah. I'm like, oh, I've never thought about that. You know what I mean? If you get them wrong, they're going to say cut and start again. Yeah.

[00:38:30] So he's like, I can't go drive your 18 wheeler because if I get it wrong, I'm fixing to kill some people. Yeah. But I never looked at it that way. Yeah. You know what I mean? So basically, he was telling me, man, your little peon, well, that's the way I took it. Your little peon job is way harder than my cake job. Yeah. I just make way more money for doing my cake job. That's true. That part's true. He knows it. You know what I'm saying?

[00:38:59] I make way more money for doing my cake job than you do for doing your job. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So he was just like, man, no reason to be nervous. Did you have fun with Walton Goggins? Oh, Walton was the coolest. Who else? I have pictures. I'm not very good with names, but I have pictures with all of them. Mr. John, the one that just brought back, the one that was. Oh, yeah. John Grease. Yeah. Oh, he's the coolest. He's so cool.

[00:39:28] Whom else? Schwarzenegger was cool. Yeah. Yeah. He was cool. Did you guys FaceTime Arnold? No. Arnold was at the premiere, though. Did you meet him? Actually meet him. I've seen him. But again, I'm just. I'm a guy that. Carl plays it cool, Josh. Carl's not too cool to geek out over Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you wanted to. I'm never.

[00:39:56] I'm never, ever, ever going to be a fanboy, Josh. I can promise you that. I'm so thrilled to meet you. Ever, ever, ever. Like, yeah, I'm sitting there with all these people. Hell, I was there. I rode there with several of them on the Sprinter van. You know what I mean? And I'm just sitting there chilling. We get there. They give us our bracelets, whatever, however. Natalie drives up because she lives there. She goes straight to the freaking red carpet. Now, I had been there for goddamn me an hour. And I never even.

[00:40:26] I'm standing by it. But I never even thought to go walk down. It's like, this isn't for me. I'm just blessed to have been able to be on this show. It's not your scene. Yeah. But it is built for Natalie, I think. Yeah. Natalie, I think, is perfect for the red carpet. Like, this ain't for me. And now, mind you, Mike said, Carl, you should have did it. Yeah. No. Why would I? These people don't know me. Yeah. Carl, who are you wearing? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

[00:40:56] Did you ever wonder why Mike picked you? Do you think that he, like, saw something in you that connected as somebody who could be good on an HBO show? Why did you ask that? Because I was the first person off of the David tribe? Um, I asked that because I wanted to set up the fact that I have him talking about you on a clip.

[00:41:22] Remember when I gave you guys all of the photos of each other and I asked to weigh in on each other from way back in the day? I have, I have what Mike thought of you in his first impression. And I feel like maybe there's like, there's like a little bit of mystery that he was intrigued by. So can I hear that? Yes. Here. This is it. He seems cool. He, uh, he has a little bit of like a haunted look on his face. Like he's scared by something? I don't know.

[00:41:49] He's just, I think it feels like it's like a lot of this feels really new to him. Maybe a little overwhelmed or something. Oh no. A little overwhelmed. A little overwhelmed, but he said a haunted look. I don't know. Do I have a haunted look? I don't think so. I mean, like if I were haunted by you, I would feel like it's a great thing. Like one of those things. Happy possessions. I feel like it would be like a happy ghost story. Do I have a, do I have a haunted look wrong? I gotta be honest. I don't even know what a haunted look is.

[00:42:19] I can do a haunted look. You ready? Let me see a haunted look. You guys want to see a haunted look? Yeah. Haunted look. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I didn't get the haunted out of that one. Yeah. Yeah. No. Like what's a haunted look? Do you remember what you, do you remember what you said about Mike White? Cause I have that as well. Let me hear. Yeah. I hope that you said that he had a haunted look, but I can't remember. All right. Let's give it a rip. Let me hear. Let me hear. Yeah. What do you think about this guy?

[00:42:50] He's, he's another one. He's, he's, he's more on that, on that nerdier side, man. I mean, he just, he just walks and constantly has a smile on his face. You know, I mean, he will, you know, give you a head knob or, or something of that nature. You know what I mean? But he just, he seems to be like a laid back little guy. You know what I mean? A laid back little guy. I didn't say anything. I said the nerd, obviously he's, he's got the nerd aspect. He does.

[00:43:20] Game respects game. I think I could figure out the haunted. Yeah. We didn't say what the, what the hell is haunted? Well, now he's listening to this. He's that little dude. If I had to guess, I think he, you probably look like pretty serious at Ponderosa. I'm always serious. Yeah. I think that that's probably what it was. Okay. I can ride with that. Yeah. I'm always serious. Like he's a smiley guy at Ponderosa that you said that he's like, like, you know, smiling at everybody. You're probably just like looking straight ahead.

[00:43:49] Not like, you know, giving like a big smile to everybody. Yeah. No, no, no. I'm always serious. I have a, I have Mike's take on Natalie. Cause I was curious to see if he saw something in her that inspired him to cast her on the white Lotus. So this is Mike talking about Natalie. She I'm a little worried about. Okay. She has a tent across from mine and there's not really a graceful way to get out of these tents, but it took her about 20 minutes.

[00:44:16] I just don't know what's going to happen when we're out, like trying to like move a, like a 300 pound like tronk across the ocean. Okay. So he's a little concerned about Natalie back then. I don't think really paying attention to the acting jobs. Well, I knew what he's talking about. Rob, you remember? Well, no, I didn't have, I didn't go to Fiji. Y'all didn't have tent city, right? I I've, I've seen tent city. We had tent city. Yeah. So yeah. So I get what he's talking about with her. Like, yeah. Oh wow. That's fun.

[00:44:45] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, Carl. Is there anybody else from your cast that hasn't been in the show yet that you think would be great fits for future seasons of the white? That's a great question. I would say, well, I guess it depends on what he's writing it about next. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So that's kind of, it's kind of tricky because it depends on what he's writing about it next.

[00:45:10] Like my season was because he brought back Belinda and the whole thing was Belinda was always the only, unfortunately, she was the only black person that was on the show. Right. If you remembered on that episode, it was like, I seen a black couple and they're not part of the staff. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So yeah, it just depends on what, what the next season that he's writing about it about.

[00:45:37] So I can't say whom I would rather see or not see because it depends on where Mike's mind is. Yeah. Was it cool to watch him work that way? Like it's so different from your experience with him up to that point. I sat, I sat in the director's chair right next to Mike, right? When I wasn't filming, Mike would allow us to sit right next to him in the director's chair with the headsets on, watching the monitors and everything.

[00:46:06] Like the dude is brilliant, man. Yeah. Like freaking brilliant. Because again, we're all watching it, the final take of it, but to sit there next to him and watch these people being filmed and he'll get up, take the cut. Hey, I need you to say this that way.

[00:46:35] And I need you to look like this. Like this is again, it's something totally different than being on Survivor because I sat in the chair right next to him with those monitors and watching what he's watching with his, his code producers and everybody else. Like literally he, he, he literally gave me and Ms. Nat a chair right next to him during filming

[00:47:01] and his, all his people that he worked with, like he, like they're moving around, but we took their chairs to be able to get a feel for exactly what he's doing. That's what people don't understand. Like I have pictures on my phone sitting right next to Mike, watching them film and say, cut, he gets up and yeah, man, it's. Yeah. He wanted his Survivor friends to see, Hey, this is what I do.

[00:47:30] This is my, my work. When I say, and I said it in the very beginning, when I said Mike rolled out the red carpet, like he literally rolled out the red carpet, man. Mike flew me from Houston to Phuket, Thailand business class. Yeah. You know what that is for, for, for a guy from Poldunk, Texas. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Like I flew business.

[00:47:55] Like I walked on this plane with all these people all going, sit in the seat like this for 16 hour flight. And I'm in a goddamn cubicle where I can lay down. Yeah. Like, you know, I mean, like seriously. Yeah. Yeah. That's how much, how much good care Mike has taken care of his Survivor brothers and sisters that he's put on that show. Yeah.

[00:48:23] That's how, that's how, that's how far out Mike has been. Yeah. Like, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Carl. So great to catch up on everything and take us behind the scenes of the white Lotus. Uh, so cool to see you in the show and, uh, everybody has been, you know, really excited to hear about, you know, when the survivors are going to be in it. So I really appreciate you making some time and talking with Josh and I for so long about this stuff.

[00:48:55] Rob, I, I really appreciate it, man. I, like I said, I haven't done a podcast in forever. I mean, I hooked up with you when you came to Houston, you know what I'm saying? And that was a blessing, but yeah, man, it's just, it's just all been a blessing, man. I would love to continue doing things like this. Like I still watch Survivor on a regular basis, you know. Are you excited for the premiere coming up? Yeah, of course. I'll be, yeah, of course. I'll watch.

[00:49:23] In fact, Asia was trying to, trying to get a watch party set up for us, but yeah, it's not going to take place because we're all busy. And then she shoots at me that, oh, uh, oh, that's right. You're Mr. HBO Hollywood. I'm like, come on, Asia. That's how you're doing me? And I'm sure she's probably watching. Yeah. But yeah, I'm like, that's how you're going to do me, Asia. Like, really? Like, yeah, no, man. Yeah, no, man. I enjoy it. You know, I enjoy it. It's just, yeah.

[00:49:52] As far as the whole Survivor thing, like, they need to really take a step back and rethink about the whole Survivor stuff. Like, Survivor, of course, it can continue to last forever. But like, in my opinion, rethink who you're putting back on, especially for your major 50th season. Like, all these retreads. Like, yeah, no.

[00:50:18] It's other people that's been on the show that fans absolutely love. Like, get out of your feelings and put those people on. Yeah. Same time, those people are tired of these same retreads. So, yeah. That's my take on that. Okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. Well, I know you said that you don't do too much social media, but is there anywhere where people can keep up with you? It's the same, Rob.

[00:50:43] It's GodfatherCarl76 on Instagram, Facebook. I'm really not big on Twitter. So, yeah. It literally will be Instagram and Facebook, you know? And my Facebook, not so much because that's kind of sort of a real family. Dying out. Friends thing. Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, that too. Yeah. Yeah, that too. But, yeah, no. Yeah, Instagram is GodfatherCarl76. Cool.

[00:51:11] I still do a little bit, but I don't. I'm not a big poster. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Josh, anything else from you for Carl? I'm just so happy to get a chance to talk to you again. You were the, like I said, you were the first person I sat down with during that whole preseason. And that was one of the great weeks of my life. Though it was stormy as hell, as you know, much worse than I do.

[00:51:39] Rough start that you guys got tossed into. Yeah. It was some really bad boat rides. I remember it like yesterday. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. B as well. So, really, really fun to get to talk to you again, Carl. Yeah, for sure. And I owe you a wombat hat. I want my hat, man. I'll take care of it. Yeah. Yeah. All right. All right. Appreciate it. Carl, thank you so much. Josh and I will be back with an episode two recap of The White Lotus here on We Know The

[00:52:06] White Lotus right here on WeKnowScriptedTV.com. Thank you so much for joining us. Take care, everybody. Have a good one. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.