Dealing with Nerves

Your heart races. Maybe your hands shake. Your mind spins. The prep and the lines seem to go out the window.

The nerves are winning.

Whether you're about to walk into class, an audition, or set experience, anxiety is common. Every actor experiences it—from first-timers to Oscar winners. The difference isn't whether you feel nervous. It's what you do about it.

Here's how to calm down so you can show up grounded, focused, and ready to do your best work.

Why Nerves Happen (And Why They're Not Necessarily Your Enemy)

First, let's get clear on what's actually happening.

Nervousness is your body's response to perceived stakes. Your brain thinks: "This matters. I could fail. People will judge me." And your nervous system kicks into fight-or-flight mode.

The irony? The nerves are trying to help you. Your body is flooding you with adrenaline to sharpen your focus.

The problem is that too much adrenaline makes us jittery, unfocused, and stuck in our heads instead of present in a scene.

So the goal isn't to eliminate nerves entirely. It's to manage them so they work for us instead of against us.

What Doesn't Work (And Why You Keep Doing It Anyway)

Before we get to what helps, let's talk about what doesn't.

"Just relax."

Telling yourself to relax when you're nervous is like telling someone who's drowning to "just swim." If they could do that, they wouldn't be drowning.

"Don't think about it"

Trying not to think about something tends to make us think about it more.

"You'll be fine"

Generic reassurance doesn't address the actual fear. Your brain knows you might not be fine. Empty platitudes don't help.

Avoiding the nerves entirely

Pretending you're not nervous or suppressing the feeling doesn't make it go away. It just means the anxiety shows up in other ways, like physical tension, flat performance, or brain fog.

The solution isn't to ignore or fight the nerves. It's to redirect your focus.

1. Shift Your Focus from Validation to Connection

Most performance anxiety stems from thoughts like: "I need them to like me. I need to book this. I need to prove I'm good enough."

That's a recipe for panic. You're putting the outcome entirely in someone else's hands, and you're making your self-worth dependent on their approval.

Here's the reframe:

You're not performing for validation from the people in the room. You're performing for yourself, or your scene partner, or your character, or the people you used in your personalization.

Your job isn't to impress anyone, whether it's coach, casting director, or crew. It's to tell the story truthfully and make real choices. That's it.

When you stop performing for them and start living in your personalization, the pressure shifts. You're no longer performing. You're just reacting.

Try thinking: "This isn't about getting approval. This is about telling the story. I'm here to work, not to be judged."

Focus on the part you control.

2. Settle Into Gratitude

When you're spiraling with anxiety, your brain is focused on everything that could go wrong.

Gratitude can pull you out of that spiral.

Take a moment before go time to acknowledge this truth: you get to pursue your dream. You get to act. You get to walk into a room and do the thing you love.

Not everyone gets that opportunity. Not everyone has the courage to try.

You do.

Try thinking: "I'm grateful I get to do this. I'm grateful I'm here."

It sounds simple, but gratitude can be a nervous system reset. It moves you out of fear and into appreciation. And when you walk into the room from a place of gratitude instead of desperation, it can change your energy entirely.

3. Zoom Out: Remember What Actually Matters

Performing can feel high-stakes in the moment. Your career. Your self-worth. Your future. All riding on this one scene. Nothing has ever been more important.

But here's the truth: it's not that important.

It's not more important than your mental health. It's not more important than your relationships. It's not more important than the long game. It's not more important than your overall well-being.

If you can take off the blinders and remember that there are far more important things in your life than doing well on this scene right now, you'll remove some of the pressure.

And paradoxically, when you remove the pressure, you often open yourself up emotionally. You stop gripping so tightly. You let yourself play.

Try asking: "If I don't do an amazing job, will my life fall apart?"

The answer is no. You'll get other opportunities. This is one moment in a long career.

Zoom out. Get perspective. And watch the stakes shrink to a manageable size.

4. Use Reverse Psychology on Yourself

When my brother was about three, he threw his first and only completely unreasonable temper tantrum (because he didn't want to go brush his teeth or something). 'Only' because my mother, in her maternal wisdom, got down on the floor next to him and said, "Wow, you're doing great! Kick harder! Yell louder!" He went quiet, stood up, and sulked away to the bathroom.

So what if the same could work for nerves? Try telling yourself: "I'm not nervous enough. I need to be more nervous."

Try to make yourself more anxious. Really lean into it.

Here's what happens: your brain realizes it can't actually make you more nervous on command. The anxiety loses its grip. You start to laugh at the absurdity of trying to amp yourself up.

And just like that, the nerves deflate.

Why this works: Anxiety thrives when you fight it. When you invite it in and try to intensify it, you take away its power. You're no longer at war with your nerves. You're playing with them.

Try thinking: "Okay, I'm going to try to be as nervous as possible. Come on, heart, beat faster. Hands, shake more."

Watch what happens. The nerves usually back off.

5. Ground Yourself in Physical Details

When you're anxious, you're stuck in your head, worrying about the future, replaying past mistakes, imagining judgment.

The fastest way out of your head is into your body and your immediate environment.

Focus on physical details around you:

• What do you see? Name five things. Describe their colors, shapes, textures.

• What do you hear? Traffic outside. The hum of the air conditioner. Someone's footsteps.

• What can you touch? The fabric of your shirt. The texture of the chair. The coolness of the wall.

This practice pulls you into the present moment. It interrupts the spiral of anxious thoughts and anchors you in reality.

Try this: Sit in the waiting room and silently describe everything you can see, hear, and touch. Don't judge it. Just notice it.

"The wall is beige. The chair is vinyl. I can hear someone typing. The air smells like coffee."

By the time you've named ten details, you'll likely find that your mind has quieted. You'll be present.

6. Breathe (Correctly)

Everyone tells you to "just breathe." But most people breathe in a way that doesn't actually help.

Shallow, rapid breathing —inhaling through your mouth, high in your chest— activates your stress response. It makes anxiety worse.

Deep, slow breathing—inhaling through your nose, expanding your belly—activates your parasympathetic nervous system. It tells your body: "We're safe. We can relax."

Try 4-7-8 Breathing:

1. Inhale through your nose for 4 counts

2. Hold your breath for 7 counts

3. Exhale through your mouth for 8 counts

4. Repeat 3-4 times

This technique physically calms your nervous system. It's not a placebo. It's biology.

7. Move Your Body

Anxiety is energy. If you let it sit and build, it can turn into tension and panic.

Move it through your body instead.

Before performance time:

• Shake out your arms and legs

• Roll your shoulders

• Do a few gentle stretches

• Go for a quick walk around the block

• Jump up and down a few times

Physical movement can release pent-up adrenaline and reset your nervous system. You don't need a full workout. Just enough movement to discharge the nervous energy.

8. Prepare So Well That Nerves Can't Derail You

Nerves are amplified by uncertainty.

When you're under-prepared and winging it, every unknown feels like a threat. Your brain goes into overdrive trying to compensate.

But when you're thoroughly prepared —you know the scene inside and out, you've made strong choices, you've rehearsed enough that the work is in your body— the nerves have less to latch onto.

Preparation won't necessarily eliminate anxiety altogether. But it can you something solid to fall back on when the nerves hit.

Prepare by:

• Breaking down the script thoroughly (history, potential futures, opinions, injunctions)

• Rehearsing the scene multiple times (not just reading it)

• Making clear, specific choices (don't leave anything vague)

• Knowing your first line cold (so you can start strong even if you're shaky)

When you're confident in your preparation, the nerves become background noise instead of the main event.

9. Reframe Nervousness as Excitement

Nervousness and excitement create the same physical sensations: elevated heart rate, increased adrenaline, heightened alertness.

The difference is how you interpret those sensations.

If you tell yourself, "I'm so nervous, I'm going to mess this up," your brain treats the adrenaline as a threat.

If you tell yourself, "I'm excited, this is going to be fun," your brain treats the adrenaline as fuel.

Try thinking: "I'm excited. This is exciting."

It sounds overly simple, but research shows that reframing nerves as excitement improves performance. Your body is already primed to perform. You're just changing the story you tell yourself about it.

10. Let Go of the Outcome

This is the hardest one. And the most important.

You can't control whether you impress the coach, book the job, or do a great job on set. You can't control if they like you. You can't control if the production is looking for someone taller, shorter, younger, or a different type entirely.

You can only control your preparation and your performance.

That's it.

So let go of the outcome. Walk in, do your best work, and leave it there.

Your job is to show up, tell the story, and walk out knowing you did the work. Everything else is out of your hands.

Try this: Before you walk in, say to yourself: "I'm going to do my best work and let go of the rest."

Then do exactly that.

The Bottom Line

Nerves are common. They're not a sign you're not cut out for this. They're a sign you care.

The goal isn't to be fearless. It's to be functional despite the fear.

Use these tools:

• Shift focus from validation to connection

• Settle into gratitude

• Zoom out and remember what actually matters

• Try reverse psychology ("be more nervous")

• Ground yourself in physical details

• Breathe deeply and intentionally

• Move your body to release tension

• Prepare thoroughly so you have something to lean on

• Reframe nerves as excitement

• Let go of the outcome

You won't need all of these every time. But having a toolkit means you're never helpless when the nerves hit.

And over time, with practice and repetition, dealing with nerves gets easier. They may not disappear entirely—but they will stop running the show.

You learn to work alongside them. And sometimes, you even learn to use them.

Looking for a Coach?

At Braden Lynch Studio, we offer:

Weekly Acting Classes:

• Small groups (6-12 students)

• Psychology-based technique

• Supportive, collaborative environment

• $300/month (4 weeks)

Private Coaching:

• Audition Taping and Self-Tape Reviews

• One-on-one Audition Prep and Skill Development

• In-person (Reseda, CA) and Online worldwide

• $150/hour or $550 for 4-hour package

Not sure if BLS is the right fit?

Book a $25 30-minute evaluation (fee is credited toward your next service purchase). We'll talk about your goals, where you are in your training, and whether BLS makes sense for you. No pressure, no sales pitch.