Gifted and shy – Jane Fonda, Evan Rachel Wood, Nicole Kidman on acting
Jane Fonda: “Acting was the last thing in the world I wanted to do, I was so shy. But I got fired as a secretary and had to earn some money.”
She discovered her passion for acting in the mid-1950s while studying with famed drama coach Lee Strasberg, who told her she was special and had real talent: “It was like the top of my head came off and birds flew out and the sun came out and my life changed.”
But, she admits, “I didn’t get over my shyness until I was about sixty.” ["Private Screenings," Turner Classic Movies interview by Robert Osborne, Mar 29 2007]
Jane Fonda’s autobiography is My Life So Far
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“I used to not even be able to order pizza on the phone because I was just so shy.
“I think that’s why so much comes out on-screen, because that’s my time to let go in a safe place. When you’re doing that, it’s all written down on paper and it’s total fiction.”
Evan Rachel Wood [imdb.com]
Another quote of hers I really like: “I’ve always had a real fascination with Alice in Wonderland and really related to it in some way. And since I was little, people always nicknamed me Alice, even total strangers. I do know I’m always in Wonderland. And I’m definitely just as curious. I don’t mind being amongst the mad people, I enjoy it.” Evan Rachel Wood [imdb.com]
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“It was very natural for me to want to disappear into dark theater, I am really very shy.
“That is something that people never seem to fully grasp because, when you are an actor, you are meant to be an exhibitionist.”
Nicole Kidman [imdb.com]
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Shyness is not the same as introversion or high sensitivity, but they seem to me related to each other. There are, of course shy people who may also be extroverted, or introverted people who are not especially shy.
See my post Shyness, Introversion, Sensitivity – What’s the Difference?
“Western civilization today is dominated by the extravert viewpoint. This is because extraverts outnumber introverts 3 to 1, are more vocal than introverts and are more understandable than introverts. However, while introverts are a minority group in society, they form the majority of gifted people.” From article The Gifted Introvert, By Lesley Sword
“When shy people encounter a frightening or unfamiliar situation – meeting someone new, for example – a brain region responsible for negative emotions goes into overdrive. But new research indicates that shy people may be more sensitive to all sorts of stimuli, not just frightening ones.” From article The Rewards of Being Shy, By Michael Hochman (ScienceNOW Daily News)
Many other actors – and other people of course – describe themselves as shy -
see the pages introversion / shyness and Introversion resources articles sites books
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Shyness and introversion may seem to be the same in some ways, at least on the surface.
They can overlap, and we may have both traits – but they are not the same thing. And they are not the same as the trait of high sensitivity.
Follow the link to my post with more, including a video.
- just highlight text 
very interesting post. i have personally observed that shy people do have heightened sensitivity to circumstances. they have expressed this to me many times. the interesting part is that shy people do not realize that non shy people do not react this way. to recognize this and find a way to deal with this is challenge for shy people.