Stage fright: how actors get over performance nerves, from weeks out to mid-scene

Stage fright is performance anxiety: "outsized feelings of fear, nervousness and dread" around doing something in front of others, and acting is one of the situations Cleveland Clinic names (Cleveland Clinic). You get over it less by getting rid of nerves than by shrinking them to a useful level: prepare thoroughly, practice performing often at low stakes, train a breathing routine before you need it, relabel the adrenaline as excitement, and put your attention on the scene instead of on yourself.

This guide explains what is happening in your body, why auditions feel worse than performances, a routine for the weeks before and the hour before, what to do when nerves hit mid-scene, and when it is time to talk to a professional. Every claim is linked to its source.

Cleveland Clinic describes performance anxiety as the sympathetic nervous system overreacting to stress and setting off the fight-or-flight response. It lists the physical signs actors know well: a faster heart rate, shaking hands, legs or voice, sweating, feeling colder than usual, tense muscles, shortness of breath, dry mouth, and nausea or vomiting. It is a common concern, not a diagnosable condition in itself, though it often travels with anxiety disorders such as social anxiety (Cleveland Clinic).

Some arousal helps. Psychologist Glenn Wilson's Gresham College lecture describes the inverted U of the Yerkes-Dodson law: performance improves as arousal rises, up to a point, then falls off, and the peak comes sooner on complex tasks (Gresham College). Cleveland Clinic's Theresa Callard-Moore, PhD, puts the tipping point on a 0–10 scale: "if we go over a five, our brain switches over, and we're not responding in a logical way anymore." The goal is not zero. It is somewhere under the point where your lines and your listening fall apart.

Wilson also reports that the best objectively rated performances tend to happen at arousal levels the performer finds uncomfortable (Gresham College). Feeling nervous is not evidence that you are doing badly.

You are in large company. Wilson's own research found that about a third of actors, singers and dancers had suffered from stage fright at some point, compared with nearly half of musicians, whose mistakes are easier for an audience to spot. He cites Dutch research in which actors were more likely to say stage fright helped their performances than hurt them, and a small study of four actors whose heart rates in the first five minutes averaged 141 beats per minute at the first performance against 96 at the dress rehearsal, while outside judges rated the performances with a live audience higher (Gresham College).

Wilson's model has three ingredients: how anxious you are as a person, how well you have mastered the material, and how stressful the situation is. He ranks solos as more stressful than group work and auditions as more stressful than performances. That explains a pattern many actors notice: the same person who is fine in a long run can come apart in a five-minute audition. You cannot change your temperament quickly, but you can raise mastery and lower the perceived stakes, which is what the rest of this guide is about.

The thoughts matter more than the shaking. Wilson summarizes research in sport and the performing arts finding that worry about failure is more likely to cause a collapse than bodily arousal, and a study of musicians' pre-performance self-talk in which catastrophizing, expecting the worst, was the most damaging pattern (Gresham College).

• People notice you less than you think. In Thomas Gilovich's "spotlight effect" research at Cornell, students who wore an embarrassing Barry Manilow T-shirt into a room guessed that about half the people there had noticed it. The real share was under a quarter (Cornell Alumni Magazine). A dropped word or a shaky hand registers far less in the room than it does in your head.
• Your nerves are less visible than they feel. Kenneth Savitsky and Gilovich (2003) found that speakers rated their own nervousness more harshly than observers did. Speakers who were simply told about this "illusion of transparency" before speaking rated themselves higher, reported less stress, and were rated better by observers (Wikipedia summary of the study).

Use both before you walk in: the reader, the casting director and the audience are watching the story, not auditing your pulse. Casting Workbook makes the same point for actors: the audience is there "to witness the narrative unfold, not to scrutinize every move you make" (Casting Workbook).

1. Know the material cold. The Strasberg Institute calls preparation "key in reducing nerves on stage" (Strasberg Institute), and Casting Workbook calls it one of the most effective ways to combat stage fright. In Wilson's model, mastery is the one ingredient fully under your control. For an audition, that means lines off the page early enough that you can play the scene, not recall it.
2. Perform often, at low stakes. "The more you expose yourself to the stage, the more comfortable you will become," Casting Workbook writes, pointing to workshops, community theater and open mics (Casting Workbook). Psychologists call the structured version graded exposure: relaxation, then steadily harder performing situations. Wilson notes it has a good success record, especially for speech anxiety (Gresham College). A weekly class or an improv drop-in is exactly this kind of practice.
3. Train one breathing exercise daily. The NHS exercise: breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, letting the breath go as deep into your belly as is comfortable, counting 1 to 5 in and 1 to 5 out if that helps, for at least 5 minutes. The NHS says you get the most benefit by doing it regularly, as part of your daily routine (NHS). A skill practiced on calm days is there for you on a hard one.
4. Find your relaxation mix. The Strasberg Institute separates passive relaxation (breathing, meditation) from active relaxation (yoga, Method chair work, other movement) and says to "experiment and find what works best for you" (Strasberg Institute). Our method acting guide explains where relaxation sits in Strasberg's training.
5. Look after the basics. Wilson lists exercise, fresh air, breaks and good sleep as the healthier route, and Cleveland Clinic notes exercise releases endorphins that can counter the stress response (Gresham College, Cleveland Clinic).
6. Rehearse the event, not just the scene. Wilson lists goal imagery and mental rehearsal as helpful in sport and the performing arts. Picture the whole sequence: arriving, waiting, the slate, the first line, the redirect, leaving.

1. Stop drilling lines. The Strasberg Institute warns against over-rehearsing right before a show; instead, remind yourself "of the time and effort you've put in throughout the rehearsal process" (Strasberg Institute).
2. Move. Cleveland Clinic suggests shaking out or wiggling the whole body to release built-up tension, a brisk walk or jumping jacks, and the "butterfly hug": arms crossed over your chest, tapping alternately below each collarbone in a steady rhythm for a few minutes (Cleveland Clinic). Casting Workbook adds stretching and vocal warm-ups.
3. Breathe slowly. Use the exercise you trained, or one Cleveland Clinic names: slow diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing or 4-7-8 breathing.
4. Find a quiet corner. The Strasberg Institute suggests doing relaxation somewhere away from the rest of the cast, because distractions make concentration harder. In a busy audition waiting room, headphones and a hallway can do the same job.
5. Say "I am excited" out loud. In Alison Wood Brooks's Harvard Business School experiments, people who said "I am excited" before a judged speech gave longer, more persuasive speeches and were rated more competent and relaxed than people who said "I am calm"; in a karaoke test, "excited" singers averaged 80 percent accuracy against 53 percent for "anxious" singers (APA via ScienceDaily). Her explanation: anxiety and excitement are both high-arousal states, so relabeling is easier than calming down. "Even if they don't believe it at first, saying 'I'm excited' out loud increases authentic feelings of excitement."
6. Skip the quick fixes. Wilson's lecture advises against managing stage fright with alcohol, sedatives, cannabis or stimulants such as caffeine (Gresham College).

Your attention is the lever. Wilson describes cognitive approaches that redirect attention to the task and challenge irrational thoughts (Gresham College); for an actor, the task is the scene.

• Go back to your partner. Look at the reader or scene partner and really listen to the next line. Casting Workbook's advice is to concentrate on the characters and the story rather than on yourself (Casting Workbook). Meisner training is built on exactly this habit; see the Meisner technique guide.
• Play what the character wants. A clear objective gives anxious energy somewhere to go.
• Let the nerves in. "Accept the nerves and allow them to happen," the Strasberg Institute advises, and use that energy in the performance (Strasberg Institute). Fighting a racing heart tends to make you watch it.
• Slow your exhale. Take the next breath where the scene allows it, and let it out slowly.
• If you go up on a line, stay in it. Keep playing the moment you are in rather than stopping to apologize, and remember the illusion of transparency: the moment looks smaller from outside.

• In-room auditions sit at the top of Wilson's stress ranking. Treat each one as a rep, not a verdict: you are building the exposure that makes the next one easier. An audition prep class runs mock auditions with redirects, which is graded exposure in its most useful form.
• Self-tapes take the room out, but not the pressure. Warm up exactly as you would before an in-person read, and set yourself a fixed number of takes so the camera does not become a perfectionism trap. Our on-camera and self-tape guide covers setup and classes.
• Opening night can feel very different from the dress rehearsal: in the four-actor study Wilson cites, heart rates were far higher at the first performance, and the lecture also mentions a "second night dip" (Gresham College). Plan your pre-show routine for night two as carefully as for night one.
• Lean on the company. Casting Workbook suggests sharing your nerves with fellow actors to build mutual support (Casting Workbook). You are rarely the only one.

For practice pieces, pick a monologue you can live in and perform it for anyone who will watch. Offbook hosts monologue and script text, so find one on Offbook.

Cleveland Clinic advises seeing a mental health professional if anxiety affects your self-confidence, your work or your daily life (Cleveland Clinic). For an actor, that can mean turning down auditions or roles to avoid the fear. Wilson's lecture recommends cognitive-behavior therapy for conditioned fear and professional counseling for serious cases (Gresham College).

Some performers are prescribed beta-blockers. Wilson reports that controlled trials found they reduce heart rate and tremor but have little effect on how anxious performers feel and no consistent effect on performance quality, and that they have side effects. Whether they suit you is a decision for a doctor; never borrow someone else's prescription.

For performers: the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund) says "any performing arts or entertainment professional" may use its mental health services: assessment, crisis counseling, referrals for ongoing care and support groups. Its Western region office is at 323.330.2455 or western@entertainmentcommunity.org, and it says financial help with treatment costs may be available (Entertainment Community Fund).

The most reliable cure is repetition in a room that forgives mistakes. In Los Angeles, the lowest-stakes options are improv classes, where failing in front of people is part of the exercise (you can also try a few improv games with friends first; our guide to starting improv explains the levels), and weekly scene study classes, where you perform for the same group every week.

If a school offers it, audit a class first; it is a good way to see whether the room feels supportive before you get up in it. New to classes altogether? Start with the beginner's guide to acting classes, and check the acting class price guide for current costs.