Stage Fright | How to Conquer Your Fears

What’s behind that horrible feeling of stage fright? Getting up on stage and doing what you love best in the world yet feeling like you would rather be anywhere but where you are. Those fretful moments before the performance where your stomach is turning inside out and you just want to run!

As actors we put ourselves up to be judged daily in front of people. At auditions or in a class, sometimes we perform to get feedback, wanting to hear what somebody else thinks about what we did.

Do we really care that much about what other people think? Sure we want to create a great effect on an audience, a casting director and even the other actors in class. We want to inspire and delight them. Make them cry, laugh, or scream in fear.

But how can you really do that if you are focused on what somebody else thinks? How can you really do your job as an actor if the whole time you’re performing your attention is on what the audience, the casting director or the other actors in class will think? How would they do it? What do they want me to do? Did I make the right choice?

That’s where the fear lies. Fear is nothing but self- criticism.

You need to own your right to be an artist! You have an individual viewpoint that is unique to you. The way you create a character and bring them to life is unlike anyone else. That’s what makes it art.

Somebody else may see it differently but it doesn’t make what you did wrong. Acting is art, not rocket science. There is no one right way to perform any character, only another viewpoint on how to bring that character to life. Sure, when you’re working with a director they have a vision that they are working toward. But if they have you try it a different way or change it, go with it. It doesn’t mean what you did was wrong or bad. They just see it differently. It’s just another point of view.

Don’t be afraid to own your ideas. Don’t be afraid to create in the way you see the character. Don’t worry about what others think. Trust yourself.

And don’t feel you were wrong because a director needs you to change. Adapt and bring your unique vision as an artist to his vision.

Your originality is your strength. Don’t hide it behind a curtain of self-criticism.