J Mascis Quotes

I don't like a lot of rehearsing.

I'm not a big fan of rehearsing.

I don't like rehearsing.

When I went to Los Angeles right after high school, I got some acting jobs, and I never, ever wanted to be an actress! Public speaking and acting make me want to vomit. But I have never been nervous singing. When it comes to public speaking, I stumble on my words, sweat, and pull at my clothes.

There's nowhere to hide in the theatre. You can't be the one in rehearsal who doesn't know their lines.

I used to teach kids when I was younger. When I was about 14 or 15 I started teaching children drama and something that I used to say to them was, 'Don't be afraid.' People would be afraid of forgetting their lines or something.

Whenever you go into an audition, you have to be as prepared as possible.

I'm terrified of learning lines, and I've always been terrified that I won't learn them.

I like auditioning! A lot of people hate it, but I like it.

Performing doesn't come that naturally to me, even though I've done it for years.

I don't think I'm sharp enough to not prepare and come on set and kill it.

I'm always so nervous when I have to do interviews or be on 'The Tonight Show' or the 'Oprah' show, where I have to be myself. I don't know why that's such a big deal - being yourself. But for some reason, I feel good in a dark room talking to actors about acting, doing acting. I like sitting backstage watching people work.

It's fun finding your way to the performance instead of coming in and hoping to God you're impressing the director - and hoping you're delivering the lines right with no treatment beforehand.

There were times when I thought I had to be completely off-book and ready to give my opening night performance at the audition, but then I swung back to a more relaxed view of it. Certainly you've looked at the material and prepared it, but there's no reason to be off-book. You're not getting points for being off-book.

As much as we like to pretend we're just getting on stage and whatever, it's like, no, I practiced in front of the mirror my whole life.

I was performing in front of mirrors forever. Just jumping around my room at, like, three in the morning when everybody else was sleeping. So when it came time, I was so ready.

My strength lies in prepping. I'm not someone who can just walk onto the set and perform.

I think fear is one of the natural states of most actors, to be honest.

I lack confidence as an actor.

I just decided to play make believe, memorize it like it was just some kind of song and just take the emotion out of the words. And I did. I goofed a couple of times.

I didn't stutter when I was reading lines in a script. When I got away from myself, I didn't have that problem.

I always said that I wouldn't use a teleprompter, and if I start to sing real flat, I'll hang it up.

I love performing, and I love being in front of people. I love the pressure you get and the pleasure performing brings.

I still start to get panicky each morning before I go on television. I'll say, 'I'm in awful shape, something is wrong,' and if I start to look like I'm going off the deep end, Jimmy Straka, the stage manager, will say, 'You're all right. Calm down.' Then Bryant Gumbel will grab me by the leg or something.

I'm used to being in front of camera and knowing what to think. But if you're asking me to be me, I get very self-conscious. My job isn't to be me. Being an actor, people think you can do a eulogy at a funeral, a speech at a wedding. I find all that very nerve-racking.