Joe Johnston Quotes

Auditioning for something you already know and love is terrifying.

If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on.

To tell her that I joined the parachute club was too hard for me. I didn't want to trouble her; besides, I was not completely sure about the success of my new adventure.

Do you realize that you can't play the game of life with sweaty palms?

Although I don't gamble in life - I've never played poker - I do gamble on stage. I gamble with myself: 'Can I do this?'

I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.

I'm not saying I look cool, but every single time I go onstage, it is a fail if I don't feel like I'm going to pass out at least twice.

I know when I am on stage and I'm kind of on the right track - hopefully most of the time. But a lot of time I'm not.

I thought comedy would be the hardest thing I could do, and if I could do that, I could do anything.

I'm always looking for a new thing that really terrifies me that I think I can't do it and accomplish that.

You can go onto that stage every night, and it's always the equivalent of going onto the topmost diving board, and you don't know if there's any water in the pool.

It's only human to have a few doubts whether to play or not.

By giving myself the freedom to lose, I actually began to play much better.

Everybody has had that experience of really wanting to do something and being afraid.

When I walk out on to the court and everyone is staring, sometimes I wonder how my legs will carry me out there. That's forgotten as soon as I start playing.

For me, it's not a struggle to go out and play hockey. Under pressure, I feel it to a certain extent... but, I'm not scared of it.

There is always that thing when you step up a level and you worry, am I going to be good enough? There's always doubt in my mind.

I am always scared when I start something new. That hasn't changed.

I think to be courageous, you have to be afraid. For me, it feels very courageous when I go skiing because I'm very, very afraid to ski. It's dangerous! I feel very scared. But when I'm acting, I don't feel very scared.

Every day I do something that freaks me out.

I find myself going to places where I really have no business, speaking to these people in a whole other field that I have no extensive knowledge of. But I do it very often because it scares me.

As a very small child I found recorded noise and the solitary singer beneath the spotlight so dramatic and so brave... walking the plank... willingly... It was sink or swim. The very notion of standing there, alone, I found beautiful.

When you're young and starting out, the big hurdle is to relax enough in rehearsal so that you don't feel intimidated. The more work you've done, the more you can experiment in rehearsal and not have to worry about getting the sack.

When you are new to the business, you think if you give a really bad performance, that's one they will print. You will be judged. You just have to be brave.

Unwillingness to risk failure is always there, but it gets harder when you feel you have more to lose.