Lee Unkrich Quotes

Writing on assignment, with lots of money handed to you before you even began, got very scary for me. My dread of not being perfect, something I got from a childhood surrounded by powerful, successful people, began to infect everything I wrote.

I stress out a lot. Being a perfectionist doesn't help with that!

I can't play video games because I get too nervous. It just stresses me out.

Pressure makes me produce. Kills most guys. Mortifies 'em.

'SNL' can be a stressful environment, and I am panicking constantly, but I guess I keep it pretty internal.

In middle school and high school, I had straight A's, and I graduated at the top of my year. On the flip side of that, I struggled with very severe performance anxiety.

My personal problem is that I take the business of film-making so seriously that I find it very difficult to relax.

I know a lot of shows are like, 'Here's the pages,' right before they start filming. I'd have a heart attack. The anxiety would be way too much for me. I don't have as strong a backbone as those other show writers.

My anxiety level of my own work and what I'm doing and focusing on my art and all of that stuff? That's fundamental.

I had panic attacks during rehearsal. There were times when I really thought I wasn't going to be able to do it.

The first day I start shooting, I start having a recurring nightmare that every single night that I am lying in bed, and there is a film crew surrounding the bed, waiting for me to tell them what to do, and I don't quite know what movie I am supposed to be making.

We need to distinguish between stress and stimulation. Having deadlines, setting goals, and pushing yourself to perform at capacity are stimulating. Stress is when you're anxious, upset, or frustrated, which dramatically reduce your ability to perform.

When I first started as an editorial cartoonist, I was terrified on a daily basis. Filling that hole the next day, knowing that tens of thousands of people were going to expect something funny. There is still that pressure, but you kind of learn how to cope with it a little better.

My performance level has risen - and my anxiety-level has sky-rocketed.

Pressure is an emotional paralysis. It's hard enough to do the dishes when you're feeling pressured, let alone make a movie.

For Devil's Backbone I loved it but I felt very pressured but so I was neurotic on the shoot.

I've worried more and more as the years have gone on. The more you're seen to be doing well, the more stress there is. You feel you ought to consider things more, and be more fussy - there's further to fall. All these little worries.

For the first six or eight months at Juilliard I felt paralysed. I didn't know what I was doing.

The release of 'Lungs' was so hard. It was terrifying, because it was the first time doing everything. The first experiences of media exposure were almost paralysing. I spent a lot of time crying on the floor of the studio - it sent me a bit mad.

Sometimes I panic to the point where I don't know what I'm thinking or doing. I have a full anxiety attack. I have them all the time anyway, but with auditioning, it's bad.

Sometimes, musicians worry too much about how beautifully they are playing.

I feel the pressure of getting something right.

Ever since I can remember, over-expectation and pressure have been my worst enemies.

My biggest worry is that we have to keep making good music, and I want to do well, but I wonder if I will be able to.

I just can't put the pressure on of winning a championship, winning a championship, because then I'd never be able to sleep.