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Actors are extremely courageous people. As I have mentioned numerous times here on my page, it truly requires an enormous amount of bravery to embark on the adventure of being an actor, and you should give yourself a lot of credit for being on this journey!
Being on this ride absolutely comes with its fair share of challenges, however. Anxiety is one of these adversities that many of us actors face, and we must learn to accept it and overcome it in order to reach our highest potential as actors (and as people)!
Actor friends: you are certainly not alone if you experience anxiety; in fact, it’s very normal. As I wrote in an article discussing actors’ courageousness, public speaking is one of the greatest fears among Americans! The feelings of uneasiness that can accompany an acting career shouldn’t be minimized, no matter how strong or talented someone is.
Nerves vs. Excitement!
There is good news, however, my friends! This good news involves accepting these very feelings that make you uncomfortable and “shifting” them into embracing good feelings of excitement. It’s quite simple, as your bodies’ physiological response to feelings of “fear” and feelings of “excitement” is essentially the same! It all has to do with adrenaline.
Adrenaline
According to “Merriam-Webster’s” definition, adrenaline is “a substance that is released in the body of a person who is feeling a strong emotion (such as excitement, fear, or anger) and that causes the heart to beat faster and gives the person more energy.”
As we can see from this definition, we experience excitement and fear when adrenaline is released into our bodies. Adrenaline is released in order to protect us from harmful situations in which we either need to run from a threat, or fight it off. (This is also known as the fight or flight response.)
Actors experience emotional ups and downs on a regular basis, and this may include experiencing frequent rushes of adrenaline. Think about it: as an actor, when do you typically feel most nervous? Perhaps you struggle with anxieties about performing at an audition. The idea of getting up in front of a casting director and other men and women in an audition setting may be very unsettling to you. (Let’s be honest, the entire audition process can be awkward!) But the next time that you attend an audition and begin to feel nervous, for example, stop yourself and really pay attention to what you’re feeling. It’ll actually help to calm you down, and here’s why.
Physiological Response
Your body’s physiological response is NOT there to hurt you; it is in place to help you! When adrenaline is released “the heart beats faster than normal, pushing blood to the muscles, heart, and other vital organs. Pulse rate and blood pressure go up. The person undergoing these changes also starts to breathe more rapidly.” (This information is from Harvard Medical School.)
Take a look at these symptoms. Recognize that they do not simply occur when you’re anxious; they are the same feelings that you feel when you’re very excited about something! And I can tell you from personal experience that the moment in which you grasp this concept, you will always be able to better-handle certain anxieties as an actor.
Personal Experience
When first starting out in my acting training, I recall being in attendance at one of acting coach Carolyne Barry’s classes, and I was extremely nervous about performing my scene. Being someone who has suffered from panic attacks, I remember thinking that I was unsure of my involvement in this career, as my own anxiety was through the roof!
Carolyne asked the members of our class to think about how we feel when we are nervous, and she then asked to compare it to when we are excited. She was absolutely right; the feelings are (for the most part) the same.
These days, before I allow myself to lose control to anxiety, I remind myself that I am excited. After all, we are actors, and we should be excited! There really is nothing for us to fear. Life in general is far too short to feel afraid.
Out of all of my amazing experiences so far as an actor, overcoming anxieties and fear of speaking in front of people have personally been the most rewarding aspects of it all. It is my hope that if any of you struggle with a similar issue, that you too will take what I have written to heart!
I found some other helpful tips about dealing with anxiety and being up in front of other people here!
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