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.

Mark Billingham

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.

Adena Friedman

Future Art Yourself

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

Audrina Patridge

Table T Nerve-Racking

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.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Your You Wit

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.

Blake Griffin

Good Your You

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.

Charlie Puth

Young You Yin

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.

Cindy Margolis

Time Car You

I just do my thing and try each show to be more honest about why I am and who I am. It's quite tricky and actually nerve-racking to do that. It's kind of a happy train wreck.

Craig Ferguson

Wreck Why Who

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.

Dash Mihok

You Used Use

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

Declan Donnelly

T Now Nerve-Racking

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

Donny Deutsch

Life Change Son

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

Duncan Jones

Work Your You

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.

Eddie Marsan

Wedding You Wing

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.

Emilia Fox

Music Men Love

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.

Hailee Steinfeld

Age Very UN

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.

Hope Sandoval

Music Art Yin

Competition can be the most nerve-racking experience. Some people just thrive on it.

Itzhak Perlman

Pet Experience Us

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.

Jeff Beck

Woodstock Woods Wood

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

John Tiffany

Success Wit Way

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.

Jon Hamm

Art You Us

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.

Kurt Warner

Time Art Your

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.

Laura Harrier

Auditioning is so nerve-racking.

Leslie Mann

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

Luke Evans

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.

Lydia Ko

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.

Lzzy Hale

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

MacKenzie Scott

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.

Mark Billingham

What's easy to forget once you're minorly famous is how nerve-racking it is to walk up to someone famous and interrupt them. When I'm taking a picture with a fan, it's not uncommon for their hands to be shaking or for me to feel their heart pounding through their rib cage. But the best part is how easy it is for me to make someone's day.

Max Joseph

I don't get nervous when I'm interviewing someone on film - it can be cut, and we can do it again. It is quite nerve-racking doing things live.

Melvyn Bragg

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.

Michael Caine

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'!

Naomi Watts

Doing a remake of an iconic song is always nerve-racking because you never know if you can actually do justice to it.

Nora Fatehi

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.

Richard Cabral

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.'

Rico Rodriguez

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.

Robyn

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.

Rutina Wesley

The red-carpet spotlight is a little bit more nerve-racking when you haven't been doing it all the time.

Shania Twain

You aren't normal if you sing to people. You aren't a normal person. It's nerve-racking.

The Weeknd

While I was playing, I started a company that didn't work out. I got a taste of the business world and realized I'm not going to be a 9-to-5 guy in the office after football is over. When the opportunity came for television. I thought, 'Let's go for it,' even though it was nerve-racking. I enjoyed it.

Tony Gonzalez

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.

Victoria Coren Mitchell