I think the tone of the show has certainly changed over the years, because it's really, really hard to do something different when you have a show going on as long as this has.
I've had some ambivalent feelings about being an actor. I don't know that I've ever been totally and completely comfortable with it.
I tried out for another show while I was in college so I could pay off my student loans, and it sort of led to The Real World. The same people that were casting that show were casting The Real World, so they asked me to do it.