As Lea Michele returns to Broadway, she reveals how she copes with stage fright

Lea Michele still experiences stage fright despite her extensive Broadway experience. Photo / Getty Images

Lea Michele still suffers from stage fright.

The Glee star began her career as a child actress on Broadway but admits that experience has done nothing to ease her nerves before a performance.

Lea told People: “Oh, I still deal with stage fright all the time. It is something I’ve battled my entire life, no matter what project.”

The 39-year-old actress – who is back on Broadway in a revival of the musical Chess – does her best to channel her anxiety into something positive.

She said: “I try to reframe those feelings, because I can be really quick to categorise everything I’m feeling as anxiety, and that’s not always the case.

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“So now I take a beat. If I really tune in to how I’m feeling and give myself the space and the grace to actually examine those emotions, I can realise, ‘Well, maybe it’s not anxiety? Maybe it’s not all fear? Maybe there’s room for the fact it could actually be excitement in there for what I’m about to do?’ And I’ll transfer my energy into that as much as I can.”

Lea added: “If I’m nervous, it just means that what I’m doing matters. I’ll tell myself, ‘It’s worth it. It matters. There are high stakes to what you’re doing. It’s a challenge.’ And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know?”

The Scream Queens star explained that she puts herself at ease before performing by calling her mother.

Lea – who has son Ever Leo, 5, and daughter Emery Sol, 15 months, with her husband Zandy Reich – said: “The last thing I do before I go on stage is call my mother.

“I have two kids at home. When I’m there, that’s my main focus. Then, the moment I get into the house, it’s all about focusing on getting ready for the show, doing my warm-up, looking over my lines, getting my wig on, etc. But when that five-minute mark hits, I need to get out of my head, so I pick up the phone and call my mother.”

She continued: “My mom always calms me down.

“Our conversations, they ground me and remind me that I’m still that girl who started doing this when I was 8 years old. Any nerves I may feel disappear, because all I can feel is love and gratitude.”