Scarlett Johansson and Eric Maisel on stage fright

Scarlett Johansson says she feels panic when she thinks about performing her songs live.

The actress and singer recently collaborated with Pete Yorn for their new ‘Break Up‘ album.

In an interview, she responds to a question about performing.

[How does the pressure of live musical performance compare to appearances in front of the camera or on a red carpet?]

Scarlett Johansson: “I have terrible stage fright. I’ve never had to sing in front of a live audience, other than some back-up vocals.

“It seems incredibly revealing, very different from making a red-carpet appearance, where the glitz and glamour of movie stardom can mask any sort of insecurity.”

From Black Book mag.

Many performers, like Johansson, are aware of being anxious at times about auditioning or performing. But many people may hide their anxiety behind ‘reasons’ for not going on stage, or giving a speech, or whatever may arouse stage fright.

In his article The way that we say things often masks the anxiety that we’re feeling, creativity coach Eric Maisel, PhD notes “We have our little linguistic tricks that help us avoid the experience of anxiety, but those same linguistic tricks keep us from doing the work that we hope to do and prevent us from achieving our goals.

He lists “ten common linguistic tricks we pull to help mask our budding anxiety” – including these:

“I’m not ready.” “I don’t feel like auditioning for parts that require an accent.” “I can’t see the point in auditioning for that – I’m just not the type.”

In a related post, Leslie Mann (co-starring in the movie Funny People) says she is terrible at auditioning. “I get so scared, and I can’t seem to get out of my head,” she admits. [From Inner Actor post Leslie Mann, audition anxiety and rude people.]

Also see the article Actors and Anxiety – Get Help For Your Stage Fright.

Photo of Scarlett Johansson by Lester Cohen © WireImage.com.