Acting Nerves Quotes

When I did 'Guffman,' it was terrifying. I didn't know what to say. I started talking, and it just came out.

When I was on 'SNL,' I was getting weirdly anxious about being on camera, which I had never really done before. And so my solution was just to not watch my stuff. And then I found out that other actors do it, too, and I felt less weird about it.

I've always been very shy at auditioning; I'm not so great at it.

I don't watch anything I'm in. Not even on set. I won't go over to the monitor to watch what we've just shot. It's too terrible. I think I'm just very self-conscious.

I have to say that filming 'The Night Manager' was not just amazing but also very daunting at first. I used to describe myself as the token plebeian surrounded by all your national treasures. All that glittering talent in one place; I knew Hugh from Fry and Laurie videos that my grandpa used to watch, and Tom Hollander's 'Rev' is hilarious.

After every single take, I laugh. It's my own awkwardness and discomfort about being an actor.

When I came to know that I have to do a dance sequence with him, I was nervous. After all, he is Hrithik Roshan.

There were two auditions for 'The Social Network,' one with Aaron Sorkin and one with David Fincher. I was a nervous wreck. I was like, 'Okay, how do I hold the paper without my hands making it shake?'

Nerves are always a big problem for me, which is why I loved doing American sitcoms. Because you know when you do the take in front of the audience that you're going to do it again afterwards. A minute after you finish, you just go and do it again. So, there's that sort of safety net. And then if you made a little mistake or two, they'll go pick it up, so there's nothing to worry about.

I find it hard to be joyful on screen because I'm so tense.

I have never known stage-fright at any time.

I always get nervous before a scene.

I fell in love with Nawaz on-screen after watching 'Gangs of Wasseypur.' So my love story starts with him from there. I was quite nervous to act alongside him. He is an excellent actor.

When I do a film, the days before or the night before, I throw up. Sometimes it's just in my mouth and I swallow it back, but sometimes it's real. Whatever it is, it's hard. I don't do the first five or ten minutes of my character's appearance in a movie until the middle of the shooting schedule because I don't want him to be defined by my nervousness. So, we do the middle of the picture first.

When I had just started 'Cheers,' my nerves were ajangle, to put it mildly. I was absolutely terrified. What you're learning is to not show the fear, and to ultimately overcome it so that the level of relaxation is commensurate with the level of tension.

Being an actor is just kind of embarrassing.

There have been, like, three auditions in my life where I feel like I'm in a 'Saturday Night Live' skit.

I suffer from a more complex, persistent fear. It manifests itself in nerves, and on film the camera sees even the tiniest evidence of this. So you have to learn that when the director calls 'Action,' you don't go to this place of tension, but somehow you become free.

I forgot how scary plays are. The audience is so much a part of the night - I know that a lot of it is trying to shut that out and just do your own thing.

Oh my God, when I auditioned for 'Hamilton,' I kept messing up the words to 'Say No To This.'

I think nerves are part and parcel of working as an actor. You can either work against them or you can embrace them, and I very much embrace them.

I had to be naked [in Vinyl], but I was almost more nervous about having to be drunk. The director wasn't going to yell, "Too big!," during the nude scene. For the drunk scene, you can be bad drunk or good drunk. We'll see. My wife was not happy, hearing about it.

I did Shakespeare in college, and the nerves I got doing Shakespeare are the same nerves I get doing 'Mad Men.' I want to get the dialogue just spot-on.

When I was going on auditions, it was nerve-racking. I'd always say to my mom that it would be awesome if I could get a series. When Modern Family came along, I said, 'You know what, Mom? I believe I'm going to get this role.'

I was a little nervous coming in mostly because my first scene was with Martin Sheen, who I'm a huge fan of.