James Van Der Beek Quotes

As a typical creative, I am all ego and insecurity!

That's something I go through every day - you know - Am I good enough to act?

Sometimes I have a tough time getting along with myself. When I was a child, I needed a lot of attention... and I don't have a small ego. For me, appearing on a stage or presenting a cake is the same thing. You need a crowd around you to do it.

I had this giant ego of an athlete, but I was self-conscious at everything else.

To test if you are worrying too much about looking good, observe how you feel when you find out you've made a mistake or don't know something.

Some people play very, very well just so they won't get embarrassed.

When I do things that aren't very good, I'm worse as an actor. I don't know what I pick up - but it's something not very nice.

My weakness as an actor is that I think too much.

In school, my biggest fear was that I couldn't produce emotion on cue.

Growing up in the entertainment industry, I've had a lot of people tell me I'm not good enough.

It's a phobia I have. I never assume I'm going to be able to write another album after I finish one.

The hardest thing is for me to let the work go and let myself just live. Every actor is different; they each have their own strengths and weaknesses; trust and ease are mine.

For the first six or eight months at Juilliard I felt paralysed. I didn't know what I was doing.

My deepest challenge has been an internal one. It's allowing success to take over by focusing on how many Twitter followers I have or what people are saying about me online, or just feeling like no matter how much success I get, it's not enough.

I don't get embarrassed by the same things that other people do. I would say that probably the biggest thing that holds people back is, 'If I do this, I'm going to look like an idiot if it doesn't work out.'

I don't want to become too self-conscious - it's why I never read reviews, even the good ones.

I don't care about making a fool of myself on stage anymore. I don't care what people think.

It's hard when you play something that people are like, 'Wow that's really cool - you just did something really epic,' because you're not always going to be playing epic characters in a role.

Look at someone like Kanye West - ego is the death of a lot of art. To believe in yourself that much is to stop being an artist.

I have a hard time sometimes watching my own work.

Self-doubt is real. Everyone has it. Having confidence and losing confidence is real, too, and everyone has been in that position.

I doubt myself for sure. Sometimes it gets that bad when you can't find a rhythm.

It took me at least all my 20s and some of my 30s to get the confidence to realise I could just write about what I wanted to write about without having to pass a test or look super clever.

Sometimes I feel I have no idea what I'm doing as an actor. I just did a tape for the TV remake of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show,' and I think it could be the worst thing I've ever done.

When I was younger, I found it incredibly intimidating to audition for anything. As I've gotten older and had more experience and gained more confidence in myself, I'm able to quiet some of those demons a little more successfully.