The Traitors‘ star Sam Asghari has some brutal advice for his Season 3 castmate, Danielle Reyes, after Episode 9 featured a meltdown unlike anything the show has ever seen.
**Spoilers ahead for the first nine episodes of The Traitors US Season 3**
After being sent packing by Reyes and her fellow Traitor-in-arms, Carolyn Wiger, at the beginning of the episode, Asghari said that when the identities of the treacherous gameplayers were finally revealed, he was only mildly surprised. While Carolyn — who has gone unsuspected nearly the entire season only to be stabbed in the back by Reyes and banished by the remaining players at the end of the most recent episode — did feel like a bit of a shocker, Danielle’s traitor role was certainly less astonishing.
The actor and model — who previously was married to Britney Spears from 2022 to 2024 — told Decider in an interview over Zoom that he could have seen the Danielle reveal coming from a mile away, especially because of her over-acting throughout the season.
“Anybody could be a traitor. Danielle [I suspected] definitely because she was just crying,” Asghari told Decider. “She had some bad acting techniques. She needs to go to a couple of classes that I recommend. There’s one in Burbank that’ll teach you how to cry properly.”
For Asghari, watching Danielle break down in tears at breakfast over the murder of her friend, Derrick Levasseur, was already suspicious. Add in her questionable choices of shield disbursement during the pot-smashing challenge and her emotional acting at each Roundtable and you have a recipe for a bonafide Traitor.
“She was shaking and crying and I found it very hard to believe,” Asghari said of Danielle’s actions at the end of Episode 9. “[In] Big Brother, you know you are being filmed 24/7. So once you’re on that show, you’re an experienced reality star. You’re not going to be in there shaking. I’m not shaking and I have the least experience in reality [TV].”
So, with Carolyn gone and Danielle having the option to recruit, how does Asghari think the game is going to end? And did he find being relatively unknown a disadvantage heading into the Scottish castle? For the answers to these questions and more, keep reading for Decider’s full interview with the murdered Faithful from The Traitors Season 3.
DECIDER: Walk me through your mindset after finding out that you had been murdered. Were you really all that surprised?
SAM ASGHARI: I wasn’t too surprised. You know, I didn’t go into the game to win. I just went into it to have a good time, I wanted to make it far, which I did. I wanted to sort of strategize, but I didn’t really want to be the person that f’s over anybody or has to lie and have to use some sort of thing to get to the end. I wanted to contribute to the team. I wanted to show that I’ve got what it takes to get far in this game without going overboard, and I wanted to be hungry not thirsty. It felt great going out that way, and it felt great going out with some sort of respect. And I left some trace for some Faithfuls to get a Traitor out. But to be honest with you, last night’s episode was definitely the most boring episode because I wasn’t in it. No, I’m joking, but I do feel like the Traitors should have not murdered me. That was a bad move. They should have recruited. I think Carolyn made a mistake and that’s what got her banished. And it was unfortunate because I like Carolyn.
I know that you came in kind of at a disadvantage because everybody else knew each other or knew of each other, but were there any advantages to coming in and really having to start fresh with every single one of your cast mates?
Well, I think that’s actually an advantage, not a disadvantage. I think the disadvantage is if you come in there and you know too much of somebody, so you judge them for what they’ve done or what you know. That’s not very smart. I think when you come in with a clean slate and judge everybody based on their behaviors and the castle and how it changes day to day, that’s a little bit better. You’re able to actually go based on facts, not what they’ve done on some other reality things. So I think that was an advantage. And I had to deal with perception myself throughout the castle because people only know me for a certain thing. And luckily in my time there, I was able to show my true self… And I got to know people. I made friends and they have, I hope, good things to say and good experiences with me because I had a good time.
Because of being able to judge people on a day-to-day basis, you might have even been more suspicious of Carolyn, who flew under the radar for much of the show. What was your reaction to reading that the Traitors were Danielle and Carolyn?
My reaction to Carolyn was that she was being herself, even though she was a Traitor. I think I was surprised a little bit by her. But in the end, anybody could be a Traitor. Danielle [I supsected] definitely because she was just crying. You know, she had some bad acting techniques. She needs to go to a couple classes that I recommend. There’s one in Burbank that’ll teach you how to cry properly. But she was shaking and crying, and I found it very hard to believe. [In]Big Brother, you know you are being filmed 24/7. So once you’re on that show, you’re an experienced reality star. You’re not going to be in there shaking. I’m not shaking and I have the least experience in reality [TV].
I know you said your strategy in the game was to be quiet and then beast it out in the challenges but you did change that up at the end. What was the catalyst for that choice?
You can only stay quiet for so long. I didn’t want to make it to the end without contributing to being a Faithful. And it’s very hard because once you have facts, it’s very hard not to see it. And when you’re in the game, you really want to get some people. I’m not going to not say anything if it comes to my mind. And it was just the right timing. And I felt like it was good. In the middle of the show, when we had the challenge of taking all the stones and putting the heads on them, that’s that challenge made me really sick. I was really, really sick for a couple of episodes. You can hear it in my voice. I’m very in my nose talking, so that had to do with it a little bit too, because I didn’t want to sound like I had my nose plugged. But other than that, it was just an advantage that I needed to use and let people judge me for the way I look or whatever the case may be. Let the big players talk and get themselves out. And once they’re out, then we’re able to really focus on actual Traitors rather than someone that’s trying to make TV and good moments for themselves.
You said on The Viall Files that you saw castmates practicing their lines in the mirror. Who was it, because I don’t think it was you.
I didn’t see it, let’s get that clear. I didn’t see it but I just assumed that some of these people — the things that they said, they’re coming out premeditated because you are experiencing the reality state. You do want your statement to become a meme, or you do want it to be a viral moment. So I just assumed some people already had those pre-rehearsed, which is, you know, being a professional show person. That’s just how it felt. And I felt like they did go and practice in a corner somewhere and try to say something that went viral. Which, it works. Some things work. I don’t think Tom [Sandoval’s] lines really worked, but it just comes out as so funny with making the mistakes that he did.
With Carolyn out and Danielle almost surely recruiting her Big Brother bestie, Britney Haynes, where do you see the game going? How do you think it ends?
I think the weakness that the Traitors have is the lack of trust and the lack of teamwork. I mean, throughout the whole game, the only person that has gone out and was actually banished by the Faithfuls was Boston Rob. Everybody else has been banished by the Traitor… So it’s sort of like this weird thing where they’re not trusting each other and they’re making terrible decisions and they’re bringing in obvious players. I think if Britney does go in as a Traitor, then that’s just going to be too obvious. And there’s less and less players, they’re going to they’re going to get voted out. But we’ll see how it goes. I think Danielle has a lot of tension on her.
The first nine episodes of The Traitors Season 3 are currently streaming on Peacock. New episodes release on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
The post ‘The Traitors’ Season 3 Star Sam Asghari Calls Out Danielle Reyes’ “Bad Acting” On The Show: “She Needs To Go To A Couple Classes That I Recommend” appeared first on Decider.
