Acting in front of a camera can feel uncomfortable, and many actors struggle with anxiety in front of the lens. If that’s you, you’re certainly not alone! Even mega Hollywood stars have experienced intense discomfort when starting out in front of the camera. When the lens is trained on you, it can feel intimidating and unnatural. Acting in front of a camera can steal your attention away from the moment and making you conscious of your every move being watched. As a result, a lot of actors tense up, stop breathing, or get self conscious of their facial expressions or how they look. This discomfort stops actors from being fully present and able to be free to give their best performance.
Marvel star Chris Evans shared his own intial discomfort over acting for a camera, describing that “when you’ve never been in front of the camera before, it can be terrifying, and I suffer from really bad anxiety a lot of the time because it’s all so new to me and I’m actually quite shy.” Even Academy Award winner Michael Douglas has confessed, “Early on with cameras, it looked like they were extra machines in doctors’ offices or something. So it’s taken me a long, long time to be comfortable in the moment, in front of a camera.”
Take comfort in the fact that many actors who have gone on to have incredible careers have started from a place of discomfort in front of the lens!
How Do Actors Get Comfortable on Camera?
To begin, we have to acknowledge that often a fear of being on camera can actually be a fear of being seen. In life, we hide things all the time. But the actor’s job is to be vulnerable in public, and to show the parts of ourselves that we hide. No wonder it feels uncomfortable! This art form is not for the weak-willed. It takes true courage to open ourselves to an audience.
Actors can learn to release their discomfort through structured practice in front of a camera, an understanding of how to technically adjust performances for screen, and reframing their relationship with the lens. By prioritising relaxation and presence, actors release tension and self consciousness. Furthermore, when actors deepen their understanding of the camera frame and their movement within it, the camera becomes a collaborator in creating the performance rather than an adversary or judging mechanical eyeball. Finally, with repeated low-pressure exposure over time, mindset reframing, and working at the edge of their comfort zone, actors expand their confidence in front of the camera and are able to perform at a high level.
Stage vs. Screen: Why the Camera Changes Everything
Many highly proficient stage actors get in front of a camera for the first time and realise that their performance, which brought down the house on stage, feels cartoonish and unnatural when captured by the camera in a mid-shot.
While the core of the acting principles are the same, living truthfully under imaginary circumstances (thanks, Meisner, for the bomb explanation!) there are many differences in acting for stage vs. screen.
The “Less is More” Myth
Some acting coaches will tell you that on screen you should do ‘less’. This is nonsense! In reality, people are full of life, they have huge reactions or use their entire body when they speak. Purposely trying to deaden your performance is a one-way ticket to the cutting room floor.
Take the clip above from HBO’s Big Little Lies as an example. Laura Dern’s character doesn’t do ‘less’ when she is confronted by what she perceives to be a judgment of her capability as a mother. The conviction and commitment shines through, and feels incredibly consequential. Her complete investment in the point of view gives her behaviour its believability without playing small. It’s not about doing less, it’s about making it mean more to you, the character!
The Camera Reads Your Thoughts (Focus on internal life vs. external projection)
One of the key principles to understand about acting for film is that the camera is an incredibly sensitive observer. The camera captures thought. Many actors learning to act for camera make the mistake of feeling they need to show, indicate, or in some way prsent what the character is thinking or feeling to the audience. In reality, this idea couldn’t be further from the truth.
In screen acting, the camera is our dance partner. We can trust that if we let the camera in on us thinking as the character, behaving as the character, and feeling as the character, the audience will inevitably see us become the character.
“If you think the right thoughts, the camera will pick it up.” – Humphrey Bogart
7 Proven Ways to Get Comfortable on Camera
The fear of the unknown is what creates anxiety, and the camera can magnify our anxieties tenfold. What if I can’t get to that emotional state? What if people think I’m ugly? Untalented? What if I embarrass myself and its recorded forever? These sorts of thoughts can paralyse an actor. To overcome these anxieties and develop confidence on camera, we have to practice in low-stakes environments.
Confidence doesn’t appear out of nowhere, it’s a direct product of the action we take and our behaviours. When we give our brains concrete evidence that we are capable of something, we get more comfortable and reduce our anxiety. Practice in front of the camera, helps us to learn what to expect and to feel psychologically safe in the situation.
1. Breathwork and Physical Grounding
Actors should be fully present on screen, in a state of relaxed readiness. As acting coach David Rotenberg says “IF YOU CAN’T GET PRESENT YOU CAN’T ACT! Period.” A key part of feeling relaxed is releasing tension.
Before you film take a moment to focus on your breathing and run through a few breathing exercises. Margot Robbie’s movement coach, Jean Louis Rodrigue, has done a great 3-minute grounding meditation for actors and artists you can watch below.
2. Learn the Technical Requirements of Acting for Camera
Common technical pitfalls for actors who are uncomfortable in front of the camera include some of the following behaviour. Working with a coach and reviewing your own footage can help you discover where you strengthen your technical mastery of the frame.
- Unnatural breathing: exhaling before every line or forgetting to breathe.
- Eye movement: Rapid blinking, excessive staring, or discomfort holding eye contact.
- Eye-lines: Understand camera eyelines and avoid shifting your eyeline from eye-to-eye in their scene partner
- Physical action: Swaying, shifting body weight, and fidgeting. Alternatively, excessive tension held in the body which creates unnatural stillness.
3. Root Yourself in Preparation
If you are uncomfortable in front of a camera, your body perceives getting in front of one as a threat. When we face a perceived threat, like that little red ‘recording’ light, our fight-or-flight response can kick in. As a result, the lower brain takes over, and stress hormones flood our body.
By preparing fully as an actor, we allow our muscle memory to kick in. The neural pathways that we’ve built and strengthened through our preparation period helps us to keep the higher brain (the logical, thinking brain) active. As a result, we’re able to override the panic signals from the emotional brain. Ultimately, we give a performance that shows our true ability rather than one that’s been hijacked by our emotional response.
4. Desensitise Yourself to Acting on Camera with Regular Practice
Finally, actors can get more comfortable by desensitising themselves through regularly practicing on-camera acting. Actors can practice in front of the camera by:
By far the easiest (and cheapest!) way to practice is through self taping at home. Not sure how to film a self tape? We’ve got you covered. And if you need practice scripts, easy. We’ve got 101 free practice scripts for actors.
Final Thoughts
Feeling awkward or stiff in front of a camera is a normal and natural response to an unfamiliar situation! No one is born feeling 100% at ease in front of the lens. As we invest more into our acting careers or pursuit of the art form, our fears of perceived judgment can ratchet up the intensity of that discomfort. By recognising the discomfort as normal and natural, we can move on to more helpful behaviours to overcome it.
Relaxation, preparation, and practice build self confidence that help us to feel at ease in front of the lens. If you want expert guidance for acting on camera, our StageMilk Drama Club is an excellent space to practice. We help actors all over the world gain confidence and build their skills every day!
