Catching Up With SURVIVOR’s Colby Donaldson
Q: How has your move from Dallas to Los Angeles been?
A: I like L.A., but I love southern California. I love the weather and I love how close you are to everything, whether it’s skiing or the ocean. I’m outside all the time, either with my dog or hiking and biking. For that reason alone, southern California’s nice.
Q: Has that been a difficult transition (moving away from reality TV)?
A: I’m not going to cuss it. If it weren’t for SURVIVOR, I wouldn’t be here. It’s been a double-edged sword. There’s been resentment from actors, as well as casting directors and those sorts of people. The flip side of it is, when I walk into a room and they know I’m from reality, their expectations are so low. If you just say the lines, you almost impress them! It’s taken a lot of hard work, but man it’s been rewarding.
Q: Is there anything you kick yourself over from either of the SURVIVORS (OUTBACK AND ALL-STARS)?
A: Obviously, the decision I made to choose Tina (to be in the final two with him instead of the less popular Keith) and the fact that she won — so many people thought of as a huge strategic move made by me, but I couldn’t be any happier. I haven’t lost one night of sleep since and it’s probably the reason they invited me back to the All-Stars, just to see if I was dumb enough to do it again (laughs). I don’t live my life with regrets. I take a lot of risks and they pay off in one way or another.
Q: Was the game easier the second time around?
A: Now we all know you shouldn’t go back and play it twice (laughs)! There’s a big difference in seeking something out versus agreeing to do something because they want you to. Part of the adventure had left, because we’d already done it once. I remember being on day four of the All-Stars going, ‘Why am I here again?’ I would talk with the other players, to see if that was consensus and in a lot of ways, it was. We were all thinking, ‘Why are we here!? Oh, that’s right: paycheck.’ (laughs)
Q: Do you still keep in touch with any contestants?
A: Tina and Ethan are the two from the game that I’ve kept contact with. We’re all friends — well, not all of us! But a lot of us are friends in the sense that when we show up at an event, if we’re ever in the same room, we’ll get along great. But if you don’t have anything more in common other than the experience that we were in and part of, you will eventually lose touch. That’s what happened.
Q: And your poker buddy Jeff Probst?
A: We talked twice yesterday. He’s one of my best friends in the whole world. We’ve always said we would have become buddies if we’d met under any circumstances. We have a lot in common and see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues. There’s just no doubt that that’s a friendship that will last forever.
Q: What was working on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM like?
A: What a pleasure and what a fortunate opportunity to get to be on a show like that! I thought it was a bad idea to play myself, because it just makes the image in people’s mind of ‘Colby, the guy from SURVIVOR,’ even more concrete. I turned down a lot of those. It wasn’t until Curb Your Enthusiasm and the opportunity to work with Larry David and be on a show like that that I agreed to say, ‘Heck yeah.’ The dinner scene in particular I really wanted to camp it up and make fun of myself. That was a fun and educational experience, because you’re dealing with pros who are so good.
Q: Was part of the fun that it was politically incorrect?
A: I’m glad I didn’t come up with the script (laughs). It was Larry David’s idea and I figured he’s Jewish so if it’s okay with him, it’s okay with me. There was some backlash. I got some phone calls and the people at SURVIVOR weren’t too happy, because we were using the SURVIVOR name and the issue of the Holocaust and everything else. Some people really got it and thought it was funny. Some people didn’t.
Q: So, after a day at Y&R, would you consider a regular gig in daytime?
A: Absolutely, because I want to work. This is a much tougher game, in a lot of respects, than SURVIVOR. It’s taken a lot of hard work, but man it’s been rewarding.
Conversation
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