Embracing fear and discomfort
Many people, maybe most, want to avoid anxiety, fear and other “stressful” feelings. Except for the occasional roller coaster ride. But talented actors (and other artists) often use those kinds of feelings to guide and energize their work.
Julia Stiles [left] says she chooses projects based on “ways I need to be stretched as an actor. I wouldn’t want to keep doing the same thing over and over again, which is one reason I wanted to do this play [Fran's Bed]. I wanted go back onstage in a way that’s different from anything I’ve ever experienced before. That’s the way I look at movies, too. I think you can get into a comfort zone as an actor and I try to break out of that.” [broadway.com interview]
Sandra Bullock has said, “I don’t do anything anymore that feels safe. If it doesn’t scare the crap out of you, then you’re not doing the right thing.”
Audra McDonald feels the same: “The most important thing for me as an actress is to be fearless and to challenge myself. Acting in TV and film forces me outside of my comfort zone.”
Choreographer Twyla Tharp thinks “terror, loathsome as it is, is very energizing. To channel that, to call it excitement, enthusiasm, curiosity, maybe that’s not a bad thing.”
Sometimes, of course, fear or anxiety such as stage fright can be disrupting or disabling if it gets too extreme. It may be a matter of perspective, of how you label and think about your inner experiences.
But creativity coach Eric Maisel, PhD notes in his article “The way that we say things…” that we have “our little linguistic tricks” that can hide anxiety that we really would be better off dealing with - “tricks” like saying, “I can’t see the point in auditioning for that - I’m just not the type.”
related book: The Performance Anxiety Workbook - by Eric Maisel
related pages :
anxiety
courage / confidence
fear
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