Judy Holliday Quotes

And you sort of have this idea in your head about how you're going to go about the audition, and as soon as you get there, all of those thoughts just kind of drop away and you realize you're standing in front of Amy Adams, whom you've admired for years and years. That was the first time that I was ever really starstruck in my life.

I think I failed miserably on NewsRadio. I was very nervous because of the caliber of the cast - especially Dave Foley - so I think I did a terrible job.

You get more nervous in front of a lot of people. That's why, when you play a concerto, you play with a small orchestra, in some place where you don't feel that it is as important as Carnegie Hall.

I'd say the only time I ever get nervous is around great ballet dancers or people I really admire.

I can't remember that I ever had just a minute of stage fright.

I feel like it's harder to perform in front of a smaller crowd sometimes still than it is a larger crowd.

I enjoy performing, always, but when you're taping a gig, you've got to blank out this mass apparatus of self-consciousness that's surrounding you, this invitation to drown in self-consciousness. Otherwise you just won't be able to do anything.

Once, and only once, I walked on stage and my mind went utterly blank! I had no idea why I was there! My fellow actors had to rescue me. I was very young and new to the business, so I'm glad it didn't give me stage fright for the rest of my life!

I'm my own most merciless critic onstage.

I'd forget the piece just before I went out to do the concerto, the panic was too great. This was not anything that gave me pleasure. This was fulfilling somebody else's dream.

The first time I performed musically, I threw up.

It's terrifying to play your favorite band's song in front of your favorite band.

I don't enjoy public performances and being up on a stage. I don't enjoy the glamour. Like tonight, I am up on stage and my feet hurt.

If I was going onstage, of course I would talk about it. How could I not?

Confronting a stadium audience, you can't see the whites of their eyes. It's just an amorphous mass of noise and, of course, you can't see the alleged billions watching at home either, so the degree to which you are intimidated is quite low.

I think if I were to go back on stage I might be in great danger of acting.

I was this kid, and I was scared to death of all these pros around me... My head would shake, and my hands would shake, and I discovered if I kept my head down and looked up, my head would not shake, so I started to do that when I could, when it was appropriate in a scene.

When I'm not excited, it makes acting very hard for me.

When I started performing in public, I was probably around 10 or 11.

Auditioning is the most terrifying thing I've ever done. There must have been four or five of them where I completely froze up and walked out of the room. My palms get sweaty just thinking about it.

Auditioning is the worst.

I did the 'Tonight Show' once, and I choked up. I get intimidated.

I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse, but every time I show up on set it still feels like the first time.

I remember that Jack Lemmon, who is one of my favorite actors of all time, says that the day he stops being nervous is the day he should leave the business.

I'm just terrible at auditions. I don't know how anyone does it.