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Survivor 49 is here! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the castaway most recently voted off the island. Nate Moore came to Survivor 49 with arguably the most credits (or post-credits) to his name. Over a decade, the film producer was one of the names behind some of the most acclaimed superhero movies in history. But he faced a very different type of “cinema” when he arrived to the island, as he was immediately hit with a generation gap among his Uli tribemates. But even if he didn’t know what mukbang was, he did know the nuances of setting up a team of super-powerful people. And so Nate clicked in with Savannah Louie, Rizo Velovic and Shannon Fairweather in the early days of Uli, ready to jump into action should the opportunity arrive. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 And it turns out, the team’s first mission would hardly serve as a challenge. While Nate would get swapped over to Hina beach, it was essentially Uli 2.0. Nate spent his first two Tribal Councils comfortably in the majority, even if Matt Williams throwing his name out made the “Rad Dad” mad a tad. As a result, the man behind Captain America and Black Panther walked into the merge surrounded by vibranium, ready to continue into the next phase of the game with the numbers. Those plans, however, hit its first hurdle when he arrived at yet another new camp and saw that Shannon was no longer there. Despite his surprise, he bought into the narrative from Jawan Pitts and Sage Ahrens-Nichols that she had “gone nuclear,” and hoped that Uli could keep rolling five strong. But, in actuality, Shannon’s boot served as the origin story for a new team: “Bottoms Up.” In what was perceived to be a Hina vs. Uli Civil War, there was dissension in the ranks, as they secretly flipped over to the other side. As a result, Nate went out in a (muk)bang, as he was taken out for being the “safest” option to avoid an idol play. Shocked, he was sent to jury and got his torch snuffed in a moment that felt far from “fire.” Now out of the game, Nate talks about his reaction to Jawan and Sage flipping, struggling with the generation gap on the island, and whether he ever revealed his MCU background to his fellow contestants. Related: Read our Survivor 49 pre-game interview with Nate Moore While your boot prompted shock from your allies, you seemed to have a more muted reaction by comparison. Which was interesting to me, considering that, a week beforehand, you were telling Matt to “kick rocks” for targeting you! Talk me through what was going through your head when those seven votes came in against you. Look, I knew it was possible. The last conversation I had before Tribal was with Savannah, and I said, “You or me are going to catch some votes.” We knew that people were so afraid of Rizo’s idol. They weren’t going to vote for him, and they had to go somewhere. They weren’t going to go to Sophi. And we knew that Sage and Jawan may not be with us. We hope they would, from a numbers perspective. Our pitch was, “Stick with us. We are six strong. You’re guaranteed Final Six, and it doesn’t make sense to flip, because then you’re in seven, and you’re in a seven alliance of a lot of different alliances.” So purely logically, to me, it seemed to make sense that they would stay with us. But we knew there were chances they wouldn’t. So I knew going in that one of us was going to catch five votes because we knew Alex wasn’t really with us. But we thought Sage and Jawan would stick. So that’s why, if you watch, I get four votes, I’m sort of like, “Okay, well, somebody’s gonna get the votes.” Me, Savannah, same difference. Five, I was like, “Confirmed, Alex isn’t with us.” Six was when I was like, “Oh, f—k. I’m f—ked.” The Matt vote was different. Because Matt, to be honest, after the [swap], the first person I went to talk to was Matt, because I wanted to have an alliance with somebody in my generation, to be quite honest. And so I felt more betrayed because I literally never said Matt’s name. I wanted to work with Matt, and then he immediately went after me. I understood, because I knew that Shannon had revealed to at least Sage that they were on the bottom. I understood why they would flip intellectually. I didn’t agree with it, but I wasn’t mad in the same way I was with Matt. And I didn’t want to go out of the game in a way, to be quite honest, where I embarrassed my wife and kids. So I tried to keep it cool. In last week’s episode, we saw you talk about crafting a narrative with facts to get people to trust you before making your own spin. And, arguably, we saw that happen this week with Jawan and Sage about the Shannon boot. How much were you believing them at face value with everything that went down? It seemed suspect, to be honest. I was very surprised to see Steven walk out. I thought Jawan or Steven would be in trouble. I truly wanted to get all of Uli into the merge. I certainly had my core four, but I wanted to get Jawan and Sage into the merge. A. I like them. B, from a numbers perspective, we have more options. So we knew that, at some point, there was going to be a swap. We said, “Whomever goes, do whatever you can to get back together so we can be six again.” I did not anticipate that Sage and Shannon would end up on opposing sides. And so I assume Sage and Shannon are gonna vote together, and either they really like Steven from their time together, or they went back with Jawan. I did not anticipate that it would dissolve in the way it did. So then I was like, “Wait, something’s up.” And my experience with Shannon was not the same as theirs. Shannon was lovely. We got on. There was less “woo woo” yoga stuff. Shannon’s just a great person, and I really liked her. So I didn’t quite buy the “Shannon went crazy” narrative, certainly enough to pick Steven over her. Seemed like a big leap. But I also can’t be like, “You’re lying!” Because I needed them. I needed Sage and Jawan to also feel comfortable. And when we got back together, I did have a conversation with Sage, who I truly wanted to work with, and she said Shannon had told her that she was outside the four, and I tried to say, “Hey, yes. But now, let’s think about it differently.” Because I also knew that Rizo, Savannah and Sophi were getting closer without me, because we’d spent a couple days apart. And I said, “Sage, there’s a chance I will need you and Jawan if we get down to it.” So I was trying to keep that relationship alive. I just didn’t do a good enough job, to be honest. I want to get more of your takes on your initial “core four.” One of the reasons Matt targets you is that he perceives you as the head of the alliance. What was your response to that? Was there anyone you were particularly close to within your main group? I wouldn’t say I was a leader. I was the impetus to put it together. But I also, to be quite honest, Mike, I just was generationally a little different. So even when they were talking, I got a lot of firewood because I was like, “I don’t know what they’re talking about. And I do really like those people, but I knew I was a little different. And I am really close with all three of them, separately and together. But yeah, there’s stuff where I’m just like, “I don’t know those references.” And so I never felt like I had a partner. That’s one thing I wish I had. And I watched a ton of Survivor, as you do. I wish I had just the one person where you’re like, “Well, I know I’m good with them, and I know we’re each other’s number one.” I never had that. I had three people I really, really liked. And I think it showed I was at sea a lot. I didn’t see myself as the leader. But I think in challenges, I felt like the leader to other people. I know Alex had said, even on Uli, “Hey, you’re a beast out there.” I think everybody perceived, because I was in the challenges a lot, I was leading. And I don’t know that that was true. You got the opportunity to go on a journey and compete both with and against MC. And, to prevent her from getting an advantage, we saw you exaggerate how much time you had left to get her to stop looking. Talk to me about that. Did you feel she caught on to how underhanded you were being? Yes, I think she realized when she came back, there was a lot of sand in the timer. The truth is, Mike, that challenge was so physically hard on both of us. Part of why she accepted a clear lie, or at least exaggeration, was she wanted to be done too. We were baking out there, and we did look for longer than it seemed, and neither of us got close to anything. And I would always be more worried about losing my vote than gaining an advantage, because the vote is the thing. And so it seemed like a good trade. But the truth is, I really liked MC coming out of there, and I wanted to work with her going forward. And when we got back at the merge, I went to her and said, “Look, let’s work together.” This was post-meal, so we all knew she had an idol. And I went to her and I told her, “Don’t play the idol. Trust me, you’ll be protected. Don’t play the idol, and let’s work together in the future.” However, I did not tell her truthfully who we were voting for, partially because I didn’t want her to play the idol for Steven. I didn’t realize how close they were. I just didn’t want her to be able to do that. And because I didn’t know that Sage and Jawan had already told her who we were voting for, it caused her to think the whole thing I was telling her was a lie. When really, no, I was trying to protect her, and I did want to work with her. But I get it. She couldn’t trust me, because she knew that there was at least a partial lie in there. You spoke about that generation gap. Was there anything you learned in terms of slang or otherwise that you took back from your time on the island? [Laughs.] I mean, look, truly, they could not show enough of them saying “fire.” It was everywhere. And truly the first time I heard it, I was like, “Did I hear that right? Is that a term?” But then you kind of get it. But mukbang, I’d never heard. I’ve still not watched a mukbang. It doesn’t sound interesting to me. And they’re talking about it, and I’m like, “Why is this a thing?” But again, I feel like I’m not that old, but I realize my habits are not of their generation. I’m not online, I don’t have Instagram, and I don’t have TikTok. I’m just not exposed to that stuff. And there was such a gap in my just my awareness of, like, “Wait, what? You guys do this?” And it’s fine. They’re all great people. I was just like, “I’m so confused.” Even Jason, who I also really liked, is a gamer. And I’m just like, “I don’t play any games!” But it’s all good. Obviously we need to get into the fact that you chose to not disclose your previous experience at Marvel. I don’t know if you know this, but the interview right after yours, I was talking with Jawan, and he started comparing the rest of the cast to Marvel characters. So I was anticipating a big team-up between you two. Did you ever think about revealing your previous career, considering how many Marvel fans there seemed to be on the island? I did. And again, hindsight is 20/20. Would I do it the same way? I’m not sure. Because my fear was, if I say it, no one’s ever gonna give me a million dollars. But I gotta get to the end. And I did have to not talk a lot about my life, because I wasn’t talking about the thing that I do a lot. And so I do wonder if I would have led differently, if I would have gotten farther. Because I do think that would have bonded me with Jawan. And Rizo is a huge Marvel fan. They were talking about it, and I just sit there as they’re talking about their favorite Marvel movies, being like, “I’ve worked on that. I worked on that too.” [Laughs.] And so that would have been a way to connect with them. And so, yeah, I sometimes have buyer’s remorse about that strategy, because I think that could have helped. You and I spoke before the season about the fact that, despite being around cameras all the time, this is the first time you’re a character instead of a producer. What was that experience like, spending so much time in front of the lens? I will tell you, I don’t want to be an actor. [Laughs.] I was like, “Get these cameras out of my face!” I’m so used to being like, “Okay, let’s go again.” But not for me. I think, as a fan of the show, you know it. But to feel it being under a microscope 24 hours a day is hard. And it does something to you psychologically. People ask, “Did I ever feel unsafe?” And I was like, “No, actually, it’s the reverse.” You feel so kept because somebody’s always watching you. And that is not something I would seek out again. That’s almost one of the harder parts of the game, is the lack of privacy, or the lack of downtime where you’re not being recorded. And so I have more of an appreciation for our poor actors when we’re making them do multiple takes. I’m like, “Oh, yeah, that is hard to go through. Somebody’s judging me through a lens right now.” That part of Survivor I think is pretty interesting.
