I'm the kind of person who if I was playing the role of someone who got shot, I'd probably want to get shot so I knew what it felt like.

My mantra is: Realize you're going to fail all the time, and accept it. That doesn't mean I'm not frightened of it.

Whether it is the cavemen in the caves thousands of years ago, Shakespeare plays, television, movies and books, stories and characters take us on a journey. All I do is tell those stories without scripts and without actors.

One of the greatest freedoms of living in America is being able to ask the question: "If I could do anything I wanted with my life - money being no object - what would I do?" In many parts of the world, people don't have the luxury of asking that question.

Every show on television has a downward trend because there are so many more things to watch. You can only deal with what is the benchmark of a hit series and 'Survivor' clearly remains a hit series.

As the show's executive producer, I envisioned something akin to "Gilligan's Island" meets Lord of the Flies meets Ten Little Indians mets "The Real World." "Survivor" marks a return to a core element of adventure: staying alive.

I found a nanny/child care position in Beverly Hills taking care of a 3-year-old and a 17-year-old. They had a large, wealthy house. I learned that I liked the way rich people lived. I learned that they were not smarter than me.