Lynn Coady Quotes

When you start working on screen, a lot of the time it can feel like you're just trying to make sure that you're not bad.

It's hard to write when you think every sentence is going to be read by a million kids.

I've been told to speed up my delivery when I perform. But if I lose the stammer, I'm just another slightly amusing accountant.

I do have the odd dream where I'm on stage and I've completely forgotten what I'm meant to be performing - so they are more nightmares than dreams.

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.

If you feel uncomfortable on stage, you can very easily descend into a sort of abyss, convinced you're the worst actor ever, that you're a disgrace to the profession, that you're a disgrace to yourself. It's an awful feeling.

I love pressure in a different sort of way; I enjoy the pressure of getting out and performing for the public. Being compared and judged doesn't seem quite right to me.

I can't watch myself on screen without dying a little bit inside. And there are lots of moments when I think, 'What am I doing as an actor? I can't act!'

Usually when I see myself in a film or on television, there's about a six-month period where I can't look at it because all I'll see are the mistakes. I'm just appalled by the person that I see.

When I was younger, the red carpet used to terrify me because it's not about playing a part: you're not in a film pretending to be someone - you are yourself. It's intimidating.

Showing your movie to an audience... it's like your kid doing a piano recital. 'Just let it not fail. Please.'

I mean, sometimes I hate interviews because I always feel like I sound stupid.

When you're onstage and you know you're bombing, that's very, very scary. Because you know you gotta keep going - you're bombing, but you can't stop.

I was really awful at auditions. There's something about sitting down and saying into the camera: 'I'm Nina and this is the name of my agent.' That makes me just die inside.

I'm not good at watching stuff that I'm in at all. I should stop. I shouldn't watch something for the first time with a room full of people at Sundance. It's not a good idea.

I always feel kind of absurd and presumptuous presenting a speech.

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

I used to get nervous just going to the stage door, seeing people waiting to talk to me. I was afraid of being caught out in some way or not being right.

The judgment, criticism, and rejection you face as an actor can be overwhelming.

I always feel very afraid as I work on books. It's just so hard to write a decent book!

I get nervous before every shoot. I'm really jealous of the people that can just rest on their laurels and say, 'I'm good; this is it.'

If I had to write a novel, I'd start crying after three lines.

I always knew that if I was ever going to perform something that I wrote in front of an audience, I was going to do the thing I most like to experience as an audience member, which is to be tricked.

When I'm on set, I'm 100 percent comfortable, but at events and photo shoots, I'm beyond nervous.

I got booed off the stage one time. This was in a University in Florida. The students didn't know that I had to come back out 6 more times, because I was hosting the show. They just thought that I was a comedian opening the show.