Celebrities are all different.

Everybody is frightened of something; what they look like on stage or what people think of them. Celebrities often feel the pressure more as it’s their name above the title and their face on the posters. Some celebrities worry that the audience won’t remember them, and comedians are scared of not being funny. As a director you have to make them feel as comfortable as possible so they can do their job.

Directors need to do lots of preparation and research. There’s nothing worse than being asked a question by an actor and not knowing the answer. You have to have authority, otherwise the actors start to lose their trust.

I worked consistently as a jobbing actor. I mean, I never made megabucks but I was always able to pay my bills. I did a lot of work at the Watermill Theatre and one of their shows, Sweeney Todd, transferred to the West End. I did As You Like It with Helen McCrory, Sienna Miller and Dominic West. After that I did a couple of jobs at The Young Vic and Wilton’s Music Hall.

Then, I started to become more interested in other aspects of production. It really disrupted my process because as an actor you’ve got to switch all that off. You’ve got to be in the moment – that’s something you’ll probably hear a lot at drama school.

The directing just kind of took over. I got a couple of jobs directing corporate gigs, at drama schools and then I got Rocky Horror Show in the UK. When that started to lead to other things I got a directing agent.

I’ll be doing a couple of workshops at NSDF on releasing yourself from fear and self-consciousness; some practical exercises and workshop games. It’ll be for absolute beginners, so you don’t need to be a performer although it would help to have an interest in acting.

Fear is a terrifying, crippling thing. It happens to everyone; even very experienced performers. When you’re in that place you don’t really think about anybody else because you’re so worried about yourself. Take the focus off yourself and you can become much more comfortable.

I’m also doing some workshops on heightened physicality – exploring techniques actors can use in non-realistic shows like Spamalot. The same exercises can be applied to Brecht, Shakespeare etc – anything that asks the audience to believe in a heightened “epic” world.

The hardest part of being an actor is dealing with the time in between jobs. A painter can still paint without being exhibited; a writer can still read and write without being published; a musician can still practice. But the same doesn’t apply to actors. A performance wouldn’t be complete without an audience and we don’t have those in our front rooms to practice in front of every day.

When not working, actors need to keep their imaginations fired and their skills honed so that they are still in shape when the next job comes up. I know actors who set themselves different research tasks, like watching every Woody Allen movie or reading every novel by Dickens.

You need to feed your creativity during those tough "resting" periods.

Michael Howcroft will be leading workshops at this year’s National Student Drama Festival.

Win £1,000 to take your NSDF show to Edinburgh, with professional direction and work experience at Arden Entertainment with our NSDF Edinburgh Brief.

Rocky Horror image by Eric Richmond. Spamalot image courtesy of the Spamalot Blessed Media.