The world first met Joel Klug on the sandy beaches of Pulau Tiga, where the first season of the hit television show Survivor took place.  Although he is fondly remembered by fans for his strength and skill at the challenges and his leadership qualities, Joel was ousted by his tribemates in a shocking pre-Merge vote.  And while he might not have won the million dollars, Joel has enjoyed quite a bit of post-Survivor success.  Most notably, he will be appearing in the film Gone, set for release this summer.  I caught up with Joel to discuss his upcoming movie, as well as his experiences on and after Survivor.  As always, Joel had plenty to say.

     On August 14th, the apocalyptic movie “Gone” will hit theaters.  Filmed on location in Manila last June and July, the film illustrates the end of the world.  “It’s based on the section of the Bible called The Rapture,” Joel explains.  “The Bible says that when the end comes, the good people will go to Heaven while the bad ones will stay on earth.  The film is about a group of lawyers who get stuck in the Philippines while everyone else is literally ‘gone’.”  Klug plays one of the bad lawyers stuck on the doomed and dangerous planet.  “Yeah, I guess I’m the bad guy,” Joel chuckles, “but it’s actually very intriguing.  It shows how a modern-day lawyer would act in that type of situation.  The film isn't overly religious, it's fate-based but not preachy.”  Co-starring with Klug is fellow Survivor Dirk Been, Pulau Tiga’s resident religious zealot.
     Gone is one of the first motion pictures to be filmed with Sony 24-P cameras.  Explains Joel, “These digital cameras help with the whole editing process.  They make everything flow nicer, and the shots aren’t as edgy.  They cost a heckuva' lot more than traditional cameras, but the end product was well worth it.”  Joel has confidence that the public will be happy with the end product as well.  “It’s a truly interesting story that hasn’t really been done before, so I think the audience will be receptive.  Plus the fact that it was filmed on location allowed us to get some really amazing shots.”
     Although Gone is Klug’s first full length film, he is certainly comfortable being around cameras.  Joel looks back on his Survivor days with fond remembrance, and even a bit of lingering confusion.  “I still don’t understand exactly why I was voted out,” Joel ponders, recalling the evolution of events that led the women of his tribe to turn against him, “but oh well.  The whole thing was crazy, but I know that even if I had made the Merge I'd have been the first one targeted as soon as I lost immunity.”  Regardless of his premature ouster, Joel feels that as part of the original Survivor cast he had an experience that was unique from all of the sequels.  “When we were out there, the only thing they had to compare us to were the Eco-Challenge athletes, and they do everything but die!  After the first season, the producers based a lot of their decisions on us.”
     As many Survivor fans can attest, it seems as though contestants in the subsequent seasons were chosen because of their seeming similarities to the early castaways.  Comments Joel, “I can definitely see in Survivors 2, 3, and 4 how certain contestants are supposed to fill the personality types of the first season castaways.  For instance,” Joel jokes, “could they please not choose a black man that they will label as ‘lazy’?”
     But when the original contestants were auditioning, what roles were they supposed to fill?  Apparently the casting directors had a few personality types in mind, some of which didn’t end up working out quite how they planned.  Joel laughs, recalling that “Gervase was actually supposed to be the athlete of the tribe.  That’s what he was cast as.  I was supposed to be - I don’t even know - some dopey guy.  It turned out that I was looked at as the athlete, and Gervase,” Joel sighs, “well, Gervase is priceless.  Actually, I think the reason the first season had such great characters was because Mark Burnett was involved with every step of the casting process, and he isn’t anymore.  The casting period for season one took twice as long as it did for any other season, and I think that’s evident.  We really had a great group of people out there.”
     Although all of the contestants share a special bond of having been together on a tiny island off of Borneo, Joel says that’s where the bond stops.  “I’ve obviously been in touch with Dirk because of Gone, and I talk with Gervase every now and then, but other than that I don’t usually converse with the other castaways.  We were specifically chosen [for the show] because our personalities would clash.  And they do!”

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