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December 2021

card text "do you get sooo nervous before acting?"

What to do when you get nervous onstage

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Acting can be so nerve wracking for some actors, whether it’s before you perform, or even when you’re onstage. You are not alone!  And hey, of course you’re nervous, your work means so much to you and it should.

Over and over again in the industry I hear the advice “try not to be nervous” or “don’t let your nerves affect you.” But how helpful is that when you’re waiting to go on stage for your Broadway opening and your heart is pounding and your hands are sweating?

Instead, what will happen if you acknowledge what’s going on in your body vs banishing it? Last week I posted about why it’s important to allow yourself to feel your emotions to the fullest. Check out that post as it relates very closely to this one – and watch this conversation from class below to hear what you CAN do. And if you’re really struggling with nerves, I’ve written about them previously as well if you’re wanting more support.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: Sometimes where your nervous system starts to go, urghhhh, right, I’m like, ohhh, I’m nervous. The tendency is, okay, I’m gonna do this routine now so that I don’t have to feel like that. But instead of thinking of it like that, I also want it to be okay…this actually is fascinating, because this is coming up, similarly to what we were talking about last week after the funeral. Which is allowing whatever you’re feeling to be there.

Student: Holy shit. Okay.

Sarah: So when you feel nervous, when you feel—and sometimes you’re not gonna feel nervous, sometimes you’ll be like, okay, I’m feeling pretty released and relaxed and grounded. Great! But sometimes, especially if it’s an audition or it feels like a big opportunity, maybe the nerves kick in. So the actor’s, just human’s, instinct is, well I don’t want to feel like that, so let me do this other thing so I can not feel like that.

And then what we do is we end up trying to act on top of this other thing, and we’re telling ourselves it’s not okay to feel like that, so stop it, and then you can’t act. So when you allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling, and just acknowledge it, and say, it’s okay. I’m gonna actually say, sometimes out loud, sometimes in your head, depending on where you are, right now, my stomach is fluttering. My hands are sweating. My neck is tight. And I’m not gonna go into oh I gotta do all this stuff. I’m gonna first take stock. And if you can, not name it as bad or good, but just is. It is happening. This is happening, it’s not bad. My nerves, I may even name them as…there’s atoms moving around in my body. The atoms are moving! Okay. Great. The atoms are moving. My toes are wiggling. My breath is shallow. I hear a sound outside. I’m hot. I’m sweating. I wish I wasn’t sweating. Okay, fine. But I am. I am sweating. That’s a fact, right, whatever that is.

And then you can take a breath and when you’re…undoubtedly there’s gonna be a series of events with negative self-talk, with “you can’t do this, what are you doing here?” Right, the negative self-talk of, I don’t deserve to do this. All these other people, they got, this guy, he has, why did—you know, all the stuff. Catch it. Say internally to yourself, I’m back. That’s all, that’s made up shit. You’re making stuff up, right? Take a breath, say I’m back. You can say I’m back to yourself inside seventeen times in a row if you have to. I’m back I’m back I’m back I’m back I’m back. And keep feeling whatever it is you’re feeling that’s real, that’s actually happening.

card title "undoing the sh*t you were taught about emotions"

Feeling your emotions to the fullest

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We don’t always realize it, but from a very young age, we’re often taught that our emotions are too much. Whether it’s a parent telling you not to cry, a teacher telling you to calm down, a friend who says you make too big a deal out of things, or even just being told to “cheer up”, the message is everywhere.

As actors, some of the most important you are tasked with is to undo this belief that may be operating unconsciously inside.  I’m too much.  It’s unsafe to be vulnerable.  Getting angry is bad.  I’m mean if I’m strong….  

We work on undoing this stuff in class and in our private sessions every day because it is vital to your work.  I have a ton of exercises I love, but I’d love to share one you can try and report back:

Think of a time you were given the message that your emotions were somehow inappropriate. Freewrite for as long as you want, maybe 10 or 15 minutes and try to get it all out on paper. You can also do this as a direct “F-you letter” to a person who shamed you, though you never have to shadow them.  And then? Burn it. Or shred it.  Just get rid of it. It’s a super cathartic, freeing way to release yourself and allow yourself to feel your emotions to the fullest. Give it a try and email me to let me know how it goes!

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: But it is amazing, I just wanna say very briefly, it is amazing the messages that we get from the world starting from a very very early age. You know, literally my three year old the other day said to me…what did she say? My husband and I both went, “What!?” She said, “I’m bad sometimes. I’m bad when I cry.” She said, “I’m bad, I’m bad.” And we said, “Why are you bad? What does that mean?” Like we’ve never even talked about people as being bad, you know, or we try not to, even people that we feel like are bad. And she said, “If I cry…?”

And so we just had to take this pause of, how do you even [have an idea of that as a concept], and where does that come from, and how do I talk through this? Because we’ve always tried to, especially with her, and we’re getting better and better, but the second time around where something will happen and she’s crying and it starts to feel like, oh my god, I want that crying to stop. I’d do anything for that crying to stop, but to try not to do that, and say, why don’t you go cry on the couch for a while?  And she’ll be like, okayyy.

But really from this early, early age we’re getting these messages from somewhere about our emotions, and probably also from, even parents who are trying really hard not to do that, where it just feels like too much when people are emoting all over the place.

Student: Yeah, it’s really hard to know what’s right and wrong, but no matter what, the world just sends us signals, whether it’s on tv or just like socially.

Sarah: Right, so no matter what, we’re gonna have to continue to look for opportunities and ways to allow ourselves to feel what we feel.

card reads "what actors need more than talent"

Are you showing up for your talent?

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There’s a myth that gets thrown around when it comes to acting that you’ve surely encountered:  actors either have talent or they don’t.  I’d like to suggest a different dichotomy: actors either show up or they don’t.

How do you show up?  You take classes, read plays, sharpen your technique, do the work to break through the emotional blocks that stop you from being both your best self and a powerful actor.  An actor could be born with the most innate talent in the world, but if they don’t want to show up, they won’t be able to use that talent.  Focus on the aspects of your career you can control like the effort you put into it. Check out this clip from class on why showing up for your talent is more important than anything else.

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Sarah: It will get better. And of course, I think this is also worth saying because it’s true — yes, there are people who come to class or people who get cast in things that have an ability that is uncanny, right?  People who have these abilities who are born with these abilities — we can’t all totally understand.  And I also believe that those people still, like Stella Adler said, they need the talent for their talent, as we all do. 

But I’ve seen so many examples of people who came to class at the other end of the spectrum, and became so great at what they did because they showed up and did the work and did the work and did the work and did the work and did the work.  And it’s so — I’ve seen it with singers, as well. There’s a lovely actress I coached for years who does a lot of Broadway tours now.  And she started out with a good singing voice, and now she has an incredible singing voice. So I really believe in this work, and I know what is possible, and I do believe, and I know — that if you keep showing up and showing up and showing up and doing all the work to heal the inner stuff and doing the inner work that you’re also doing, to heal the emotional problems which prevent us from being the great artists we wanna be, if you keep showing up and doing that, you will be unstoppable.

card title reads "get on your feet!"

Your rehearsal might be missing this crucial step

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Rehearsal is a crucial part of the acting process. But more important than just rehearsing, is rehearsing right. Whatever your rehearsal looks like right now, here’s my suggestion:

Get. In. Your. Body.

Sitting at your desk, scribbling in your notebook, doing the tablework — it’s all useful, don’t get me wrong — but beware the trap of staying in academic-mode at the table during rehearsal.

Desk work doesn’t get in your body.  

Check out this conversation in class to hear more about why getting on your feet during rehearsal is so crucial. And check out this blog post or this Instagram post to learn even more about how to rehearse.

 

CLASS CLIP TRANSCRIPTION

Student: Yeah, it felt good. I’ve just realized that, yeah, I’ve done a lot more paper work than I have actually…stood up and worked.

Sarah: Yeah, when you stand up you’re like, oh, it didn’t all make its way in, yeah.

Student: Yes.

Sarah: So as you’re trying to do some of that work, see if as early as possible, even if as you’re coming up with the idea for the actions from moment to moment, you’re even working off of your impulse, right?

“Cuz I know where you live!” What does that feel like I’m doing? I’m challenging, I’m exposing, I’m…right, what clues is my body giving me when I try to do that? Oh, it feels like I’m…that was it’s never like, that disconnect happening. You know, you’re always gonna have the muscle memory of working through that.

Student: Yeah.

Sarah: You’re trying to get to that experiential body voicework, right.

Student: Yeah. I do think I sometimes get caught too much in the getting everything down.

Sarah: Totally. And I did the same thing. Because I’m kind of a headier person, you know, and so it was really important for me to do it as early as possible. And I’m seeing that now more, like working with my students, how helpful it is the earlier people start working on their feet. You know?