Nerves are Vanity

he last time Anthony Hopkins felt nervous was back in 1967. He had been asked by Laurence Olivier to join the National Theatre and was his understudy in a production of Strindberg’s The Dance of Death. When Olivier became ill, Hopkins took over.

“Somebody said, 'You are going on stage tonight’. I said 'No, I’m not’. Through sheer terror I got through it. It was pretty tough standing in the old man’s boots.”

Subsequently, Olivier wrote in his memoir: “A new young actor … of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins … walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth.”

Since that night at the National, Hopkins has relaxed. He quotes his old mentor. “He [Olivier] said: 'Remember: nerves is [sic] vanity – you’re wondering what people think of you; to hell with them, just jump off the edge’. It was great advice.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/anthony-hopkins-interview-dresser/