Cocktail parties for me can be nerve-racking. The brevity of conversations, the number of them – it’s not my sweet spot.

The red-carpet spotlight is a little bit more nerve-racking when you haven‘t been doing it all the time.

I’ve been nervous a number of times. Your first start. Playing in the Super Bowl. Your first Super Bowl. Very nerve-racking. The one thing that you can always fall back on is that you know what you are doing. You know how to play the game.

I made my career off posing in swimsuits and doing all the swimsuit issues and posters, but I will tell you that that little bit of material on an itsy-bitsy bikini – taking that off was very nerve-racking the first time.

We know what it’s like to audition as kids and how nerve-racking it is.

I did my first Broadway play, ‘The Vertical Hour,’ in 2006, with Julianne Moore, who‘s always been one of my favorite actresses. My scene was with her, so it was nerve-racking.

When they said there was gonna be about 100,000 people at Woodstock, and it went up to 200,000, I just blanked off and thought, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ If they’re filming it, it’s too nerve-racking.

My very first audition was on the lot of Paramount, and I was put on tape and it was very nerve-racking. I think it was about 15 pages.

I spent my life behind bars, and what people don’t know is getting out of prison is really nerve-racking – you’re not used to society; you’re not used to the world going by so fast – so to step on that lot was quite overwhelming.

When I was four, we had to choose a musical instrument to play at school, and I chose the cello. I played until I was 18, and although I found it nerve-racking to play solo, I loved playing in an orchestra. When I left school I didn’t carry on with it, which I regret.

It’s always nerve-racking to take off your clothes on film. But doing it with a woman felt safer than with a man. You know you can say, ‘Don’t grab me there: That’s where my cellulite is’!

Presenting the Oscars was the most nerve-racking job I have ever done in show business. It’s very much a live show: they have comedy writers waiting in the wings, and as you come off between presentations, they hand you an appropriate gag to tell.

When I was going on auditions, it was nerve-racking. I’d always say to my mom that it would be awesome if I could get a series. When Modern Family came along, I said, ‘You know what, Mom? I believe I’m going to get this role.’

I remember that when people started listening to what I had to say, I had a choice to set up a veil, even if it meant being something that I’m not. Ultimately, that’s not the decision I made. I owned more of everything I am, which was a little nerve-racking.

There have been some brilliant and very successful standalone books that work in themselves and also seem to refresh a series. Anyone who writes a series lives in fear of it becoming stale, so you do whatever you can to keep it fresh – although it does feel a bit nerve-racking to write outside of your comfort zone.

Auditioning is so nerve-racking.

Auditioning is one of the most nerve-racking things you could ever do, but you have to be so focused that you don’t tic.

The first laugh is always key. I’ve done some improv stuff. Once you get your first laugh, you’re good. Up until that point, it’s a little nerve-racking.

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.

It’s always nerve-racking, showing your parents things you’ve been working on.

Changes in my personal life are nerve-racking for me.

I definitely feel much more comfortable in front of the cameras after ‘The Hills.’ Before, it was much more nerve-racking.

It’s definitely nerve-racking to be the center of attention. I’m not the kind of an actor that just craves attention 24-7 – but it’s part of the deal. You’re the leader on the set.

I went on Ellen once, and even then, I was just a bad performer. It was nerve-racking at first playing in front of all her fans who really wanted to see her. Her fans are so young and accepting to new people, and it helped that they knew ‘Marvin Gaye,’ too.

Obviously Messi is one of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world. Looking up to him when you’re young and now playing against him, it was very nerve-racking for me – especially when he would come up on my side, my heart would be beating faster and faster.

It’s difficult because nothing‘s preordained by plan and you can’t control it. That’s one of those joys and thrills and nerve-racking realities of being an actor. A lot has to do with luck, no matter what your talent or contribution can be.

During my teen years, I just really started to get anxiety. I would get stage fright when I would do certain speaking engagements and I always would get through them, but it was a really nerve-racking and hard thing to do.

Some of us find ‘relaxing‘ to be, in itself, nerve-racking. If we aren’t doing something useful or, at least, that seems useful, we feel guilty, impatient, and mortal.

It’s not so much that I don’t enjoy playing live – that’s one of the best parts of playing music – it’s that it’s nerve-racking with 300, 500 people watching.

Starting a new job can be nerve-racking , but it’s also exciting. You’re embarking on a new future, positioning yourself to write a fresh story on a clean slate.

The first time I was flown to L.A. for a screen test was an incredibly nerve-racking experience.

If you really want something, it’s nerve-racking, but at the same time, I try not to stress myself out about it too much because there are also so many arbitrary things that go into being cast for something – you know, like the color of your eyes, all these things that are kind of out of my control.

Filming costs so much money, so it’s such a nerve-racking process, whereas being in a studio is quite cheap compared to that, so you have more time to work on things until you feel good about them. That makes it easier to explain a certain feeling and be in a vulnerable place while making sure it does what you want it to do.

A 3-foot putt can be more nerve-racking than a 9-foot putt because a 3-foot putt you should be getting in. A 9-footer, there’s a chance it won‘t go in.

Even with the success of ‘Once,’ I can’t think about making theater straight for Broadway. Too nerve-racking.