There’s binge-watching “Survivor,” and then there’s what Thomas Krottinger did.
Having watched 42 seasons in nine months over the pandemic, Krottinger, a USC alum, put on hold a career at Sony Music to be a part of “Survivor” Season 48.
“When he wants to do something, he is really focused, and he will get it done,” said Greta McAnany, a USC alum who acted in theater alongside Krottinger. “But just the fact that he wanted to be on it at all, it was like, ‘You are ridiculous. But I love it.’”
In the season, Krottinger’s Lagi tribe did not lose an immunity challenge in the first three episodes, and Krottinger was not at risk of elimination. He joined an alliance called the California Girls and was well-positioned after a tribe swap on day eight. However, after his first immunity challenge loss in episode four, Krottinger was eliminated on day nine of 26, after an immunity idol nullified a 3-3 vote split.
Krottinger said in an interview with Annenberg Media that the key to the game was being able to look beyond differences to form bonds and alliances.
“In order to do well in the game, you have to be able to work with people who aren’t like you,” Krottinger said. “You have to be able to find commonalities in your differences. You have to be able to bond over things that maybe aren’t surface level.”
Rob Cesternino, a “Survivor” alum and podcaster, said Krottinger stood out from the rest of the cast and its focus on “honesty and integrity and loyalty.”
“He’s a student of the game, and he’s somebody who is very willing to make sharp, strategic moves,” Cesternino said in an interview with Annenberg Media. “He has emotions, but is not necessarily driven by emotion.”
On the show, Krottinger filled a narrator role prior to his elimination, meaning the editors used his confessionals to provide context or commentary on events and tribe dynamics. At the time of his elimination, Krottinger had more confessional time than all but one other castaway.
“He’s a great storyteller, and I feel like you really hang on his words. He was very funny in his confessionals as well, and was somebody who really added a lot to the show,” Cesternino said.
Lili Fuller, a USC alum who acted alongside and directed Krottinger at USC said she enjoyed his portrayal on the show as a “lovable villain.” Steve Edlund, another alum who also directed Krottinger while at USC, said he thought Thomas was more shrewd than villainous but said the show’s editors captured his personality very well.
“I’ve read some Reddit threads that have painted him as a villain, which to me, for the Thomas that I know, I’m like ‘a villain’, what?,” Edlund said. “Thomas is really smart, and I feel like you got to see why he’s so good in his own business, because he’s smart, two steps ahead and also in the moment.”
McAnany said the show reflected Krottinger’s toughness to push his game along beneath his outside ability to make friends.
“You meet Thomas and it’s like, ‘Wow, some smiles and he’s kind,’ but then you really understand beneath it, there’s a lot of depth, and there’s a lot of, like I said, ambition, which is really hungry, and I don’t think that reads on the surface,” McAnany said.
When Krottinger was voted out, he asked his castmates for a hug, and before host Jeff Probst formally eliminated him, Krottinger said, “I’m so thankful.” Edlund said that moment stood out to him.
“When he got to the end and he thanked Jeff Prost, I got so emotional. It really moved me and I was so proud of him and the game that he played,” Edlund said. “He dreamed up something and he went for it, and he did it.”
Before the season premiered, Krottinger wrote in his cast bio that his pet peeve was “losing to UCLA.” He ended up on the same tribe as Joe Hunter, a proud UCLA alum. Krottinger said the rivalry never impacted his game, and by the time Krottinger was voted out, he and Hunter were part of the same California Girls alliance.
“We loved each other from day one. And both of us are super intense,” Krottinger said. “We were kind of proud of ourselves for getting over the rivalry [on] day one on that beach.”
That was not assumed, given Krottinger’s deep love of USC football.
“The Matt Barkley, USC-UCLA game, where we stomped them 50 nothing [was] probably one of the greatest days of my life,” Krottinger said. “They just think that they’re better, and I’m so sorry you’re not. But I do love them. I appreciate UCLA existing, because you need to have a good rival to have a good rivalry.”
McAnany said during their time at USC, Krottinger set himself apart from the other theatre majors with his fanaticism about Trojan football.
“He’d be going to games on game day, when a lot of other theater nerds wouldn’t,” McAnany said. “If the game was an away game, he’d have his jersey on and be watching it, and yeah, we’d have it in the background, but he’d really care. He’d be yelling at the TV and know all the stats.”
Krottinger was raised in Texas, but USC found him at the International Thespian Festival in high school. There, a professor saw him and, intrigued by the intersection of his acting with his education at a science and math magnet school, encouraged him to apply to the university.
Krottinger became “obsessed” with USC, applying and being admitted as a BA theatre major. McAnany said that when he got to campus in the fall, Krottinger already had a USC license plate frame.
At USC, Krottinger acted in shows including “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Brigadoon” through the School of Dramatic Arts and the Musical Theatre Repertory campus organization.
Edlund, a founder of MTR, said that when he directed, Krottinger had a strong ability to hold back in his performances.
“There’s a lot of actors out there who are invested in suffering, who are invested in wallowing and displaying their pain. And Thomas is not that,” Edlund said. “Thomas goes, ‘How does my character get what he wants? And how do I find the behavior that protects the possibility of getting what I want?’ Which, again, is so right on the money for ‘Survivor.’”
At USC, Krottinger also participated in a motion capture study funded by the National Science Foundation between the Viterbi School of Engineering and SDA. Sharon Marie Carnicke, a professor who led the project, said Krottinger was a “strong member of that company” and “always exuded a positive, energetic spirit.”
Ultimately, Krottinger pursued a career not in theater but in music, after finding his passion at USC.
“I was talking about album sales and chart positions and things like that in all of my rehearsals, and my lovely castmates quickly told me that that was not interesting and I needed to find people to talk to,” Krottinger said. “So I took one music business class and fell in love with the industry and then never turned back.”
McAnany remembered seeing posters of Krottinger’s favorite musical artists when she visited his room and encouraged him to pursue music.
“I didn’t know what it was going to end up being … but I was like, ‘I think you’re really passionate about that,’” McAnany said. “To be in any kind of artistic industry, you need to love it, because it’s so hard. And I didn’t see that same love of theater or musical theater.”
Krottinger found McAnany was right — he had a passion for music, going on to declare a music industry minor and pursue internships and a career in the music industry. Today, he is the senior vice president of artists and repertoire at Sony Music.
Krottinger said that although he was ”going to class, running to an internship and then screeching back to campus to do rehearsal” while at USC, he couldn’t “unlock everything” until he started believing in himself.
“You kind of have to take life by the balls and make it what you want of it. And I really learned that in my journey playing ‘Survivor,’” Krottinger said. “I feel like I finally saw myself for the first time. [To my younger self] I would basically say, ‘Believe in yourself, kid.’”