How do they choose castaways?
Tens of thousands of people apply to appear on the show, and casting producers end up hiring a combination of many Survivor enthusiasts and people who often end up as models or actors. Still, recruited players must go through a complete casting process.
“Believe it or not, we get a lot of applications from the same people every year,” former casting director Lynn Spielman, who worked on the show from its inception until 2018, told Reality Wanted.
Presenter Jeff Probst is currently in charge of casting.
“Typically, it goes something like this,” he outlined to Entertainment Weekly. “When we hop on Zoom, they start talking about their lives, and I often spend the first few minutes thinking the same thing…’How come they’ve already accomplished so much at such a young age, but what was I doing when I was 24?!?'”
After that, there are several rounds, including a meeting with the show’s psychologist. “Our only goal is to find out who they really are,” Probst explained. “This is one of the things I like to stress to people who are applying to ‘Survivor.’ You don’t have to be who you are. It sounds so simple, but it’s absolutely true. You don’t need an emotional underdog story. You don’t need to be the funniest person in the room. You don’t need to have a college degree or be anything other than yourself.”
