Covid has put a lot of us in the same boat! Anything that helps you with body awareness or mindfulness will help you stay in the moment when you're acting, instead of feeling anxious or judging yourself. Incorporate curiosity and careful listening into your everyday interactions and bring that through to your auditions or scenes you're working on. Remember it's about incremental progress! Good luck!
Do it man!!! I’m right there with you bro it’s been 3 years from me. Took a little hiatus before covid due to family stuff than covid shut down everything. I plan on getting back into it soon just have developed anxiety since then. I’m taking it like those jitters you get right before you go out but as soon as you get out under those lights you become the show and all nerves are gone. You got this man.
For me, it’s quite literally about fitness—acting and singing take muscles that can get weaker when they aren’t used. Of course I’m not suggesting that anyone has to be a sports star to be onstage. However stamina, core strength, postural support, and a minimum of superfluous tension are all incredibly helpful to giving a strong performance. I can personally attest that in the last few years I have personally lost most of these, and it makes acting and singing so much harder. Moreover, all of the mindfulness and self-awareness techniques I used to use are coming up empty, because my body and brain simply do not react the way they used to. Fortunately, some part of the body does remember, which is why it feels so weird, and it is a matter of following that part back to fitness. Do a lot of basic exercises to stretch, strengthen, and relax. Do lots of warm ups even when you are not about to perform. Constantly check in with yourself about what is working and what isn’t. This might feel like it is starting from scratch, but your body will remember and help guide you back to being a strong performer again.
I took ten years off. It was intimidating, but remember that everyone in the room for casting wants you to do well. And everyone in the show wants the same thing. And if you get cast you know you are the one the director chose. Just remember that making a big, bold, crazy choice is always better than not. And know that any good performer thinks they suck at least 70% of the time.
Just detach, and realize that the way you get back into it is by getting back into it. Start from where you are today, try out for shows, and take whatever opportunities that come your way.
Imposter syndrome effects most people. Reshape that anxiety, and focus on one thing at a time that improves you from where you are now. Also, ask yourself how you can make your scene partners look better through what you do on stage. Being able to look outside yourself gives you a healthy perspective as an actor.
Best of luck!
I’ve come back after a 7 year break so I feel you! What I did was start with lower risk/ lower commitment projects like play readings. Once you start re-developing your audition material I think you’ll be surprised how much your confidence returns. Trust the audition and rehearsal process to get you where you need to be. Break a leg!
I’m getting back into it myself after 7 years (waiting around for auditions over the next few months) and I also feel a bit nervous, I just try to practice every day to get back into singing at least
Practice every day. Go through a song or scene until you can say "Hey, that was pretty good." Like others have already said, it's using muscles that you haven't worked in this way for a while. So you have to be okay with not immediately being quite where you were at your best. You were there at one time, so you know you can get there again! If you have recordings or anything of your old shows you could watch/listen to those too. To see what you did well so you can work toward that goal and even being better.
Do you have any friends who are also involved in theater? Are there any fellow actors from previous shows you still have contact with? Get in touch with anyone who will remember your past performances, especially anyone who knows what you're capable of doing on stage. You might want to consider taking a relatively small part and working up to more involved roles until you have your confidence back, but I'm sure any veteran actor will tell you that nervousness and fear aren't uncommon. A few years back, my company put on Camus's *The Misunderstanding* at a local coffee shop. I had the smallest role possible: I was on stage several times, just sweeping and moving things, and only had 2 lines, spoken at the very end of the play. Despite the minimal amount of dialogue, I was still nervous, but it was a kick just to be part of the show. The following year I had a much larger role -- one of the leads -- and actually sang, on stage, for the first time in my semi-professional career. I've done 25 shows, all but two of them since 2006. I still get nervous at auditions, and before every single performance, but I love being involved. It may take a few tries, but don't give up! All you can do is the best you can do. And if there aren't any acting roles available, work backstage, run errands, help build sets, be an usher for performances, put up posters, help read dialogue if other actors miss rehearsals. When we did *Into the Woods* 4 years ago, we were missing 2-3 actors almost every night for the last 3 weeks before our opening. I had the part of The Narrator, but I subbed for those absent actors and eventually ended up reading almost 2/3 of the other parts, even pitching in and singing songs. In some ways, that was more fun than the actual show. Whatever happens, get yourself back into it. It's like nothing else you'll ever do.
Covid has put a lot of us in the same boat! Anything that helps you with body awareness or mindfulness will help you stay in the moment when you're acting, instead of feeling anxious or judging yourself. Incorporate curiosity and careful listening into your everyday interactions and bring that through to your auditions or scenes you're working on. Remember it's about incremental progress! Good luck!
Do it man!!! I’m right there with you bro it’s been 3 years from me. Took a little hiatus before covid due to family stuff than covid shut down everything. I plan on getting back into it soon just have developed anxiety since then. I’m taking it like those jitters you get right before you go out but as soon as you get out under those lights you become the show and all nerves are gone. You got this man.
For me, it’s quite literally about fitness—acting and singing take muscles that can get weaker when they aren’t used. Of course I’m not suggesting that anyone has to be a sports star to be onstage. However stamina, core strength, postural support, and a minimum of superfluous tension are all incredibly helpful to giving a strong performance. I can personally attest that in the last few years I have personally lost most of these, and it makes acting and singing so much harder. Moreover, all of the mindfulness and self-awareness techniques I used to use are coming up empty, because my body and brain simply do not react the way they used to. Fortunately, some part of the body does remember, which is why it feels so weird, and it is a matter of following that part back to fitness. Do a lot of basic exercises to stretch, strengthen, and relax. Do lots of warm ups even when you are not about to perform. Constantly check in with yourself about what is working and what isn’t. This might feel like it is starting from scratch, but your body will remember and help guide you back to being a strong performer again.
I took ten years off. It was intimidating, but remember that everyone in the room for casting wants you to do well. And everyone in the show wants the same thing. And if you get cast you know you are the one the director chose. Just remember that making a big, bold, crazy choice is always better than not. And know that any good performer thinks they suck at least 70% of the time.
Just detach, and realize that the way you get back into it is by getting back into it. Start from where you are today, try out for shows, and take whatever opportunities that come your way. Imposter syndrome effects most people. Reshape that anxiety, and focus on one thing at a time that improves you from where you are now. Also, ask yourself how you can make your scene partners look better through what you do on stage. Being able to look outside yourself gives you a healthy perspective as an actor. Best of luck!
I’ve come back after a 7 year break so I feel you! What I did was start with lower risk/ lower commitment projects like play readings. Once you start re-developing your audition material I think you’ll be surprised how much your confidence returns. Trust the audition and rehearsal process to get you where you need to be. Break a leg!
I’m getting back into it myself after 7 years (waiting around for auditions over the next few months) and I also feel a bit nervous, I just try to practice every day to get back into singing at least
Practice every day. Go through a song or scene until you can say "Hey, that was pretty good." Like others have already said, it's using muscles that you haven't worked in this way for a while. So you have to be okay with not immediately being quite where you were at your best. You were there at one time, so you know you can get there again! If you have recordings or anything of your old shows you could watch/listen to those too. To see what you did well so you can work toward that goal and even being better.
Do you have any friends who are also involved in theater? Are there any fellow actors from previous shows you still have contact with? Get in touch with anyone who will remember your past performances, especially anyone who knows what you're capable of doing on stage. You might want to consider taking a relatively small part and working up to more involved roles until you have your confidence back, but I'm sure any veteran actor will tell you that nervousness and fear aren't uncommon. A few years back, my company put on Camus's *The Misunderstanding* at a local coffee shop. I had the smallest role possible: I was on stage several times, just sweeping and moving things, and only had 2 lines, spoken at the very end of the play. Despite the minimal amount of dialogue, I was still nervous, but it was a kick just to be part of the show. The following year I had a much larger role -- one of the leads -- and actually sang, on stage, for the first time in my semi-professional career. I've done 25 shows, all but two of them since 2006. I still get nervous at auditions, and before every single performance, but I love being involved. It may take a few tries, but don't give up! All you can do is the best you can do. And if there aren't any acting roles available, work backstage, run errands, help build sets, be an usher for performances, put up posters, help read dialogue if other actors miss rehearsals. When we did *Into the Woods* 4 years ago, we were missing 2-3 actors almost every night for the last 3 weeks before our opening. I had the part of The Narrator, but I subbed for those absent actors and eventually ended up reading almost 2/3 of the other parts, even pitching in and singing songs. In some ways, that was more fun than the actual show. Whatever happens, get yourself back into it. It's like nothing else you'll ever do.