Austen Kroll Had a Unique Strategy for Navigating the Southern Charm Crew's Complex History
"It was definitely tough for the first few episodes," the #SouthernCharm rookie said about his debut season.
Every friend group has their own unique dynamic and complex histories. That can definitely be said of the Southern Charm squad, and Austen Kroll went into his rookie season with the crew knowing just that.
"I definitely was trying to dip my toes in, rather than cannonball and make big waves," he recently told The Daily Dish. "Rather than coming in and coming at people, having like big, big personality. I kinda like let everyone get their bearings on me. That was kinda what I did — I like wanted people to accept me rather than force myself on them and for people to feel comfortable with me and for people to want to go and film with me and not be like, 'Ugh, I gotta film with Austen. He’s just gonna talk the whole time and like ugh.' That was my approach."
Austen, of course, got introduced into the fold by his pal, Shep Rose. "Well let’s just say that I’m a little more envious of Chelsea’s navigator [Cameran Eubanks] than of my navigator, OK? Because, I mean, we get to the pool party and Shep was supposed to be my navigator, but he’s a golden retriever. I was like, 'OK.' 30 seconds in I’m by myself," Austen recalled of his first encounter with the group. "And then Cameran came over and she grabbed my arm. And they didn’t show it, but she was walking around like 'Hey guys, this is Austen.' And I was meeting all these people and Shep was off doing whatever the hell. But that’s okay, I mean, I’m a big boy and I can handle it."
The rest, as they say, is history.
Now with his first season behind him, Austen admits that it's taken some getting used to to having his life exposed on TV.
And this is what he's learned from the experience: "I say this to people like, I can barely even listen to my own voicemail, let alone watch myself on television. So, it was definitely tough for the first few episodes to kinda like [watch. It was] cringeworthy. I mean for me, I’m my own biggest critic," he said. "Once I got over it, and the first few days were under my belt then it all became kinda second nature to have a camera there. I really just tried to stay true to myself and just be myself as much as possible and I think that translated and I’m very happy with that."
Check out throwback photos of Austen, below.
