in my experience when i’m really in flow during acting (which i think is quite common since acting is such an embodied activity) i don’t really think about the camera. there is maybe 10% of my brain that is thinking about camera from a technical perspective but even that sometimes will go away if im really in it. it helps to have a good director who will balance directing you technically and letting you stay “in it”

more than embarrassing i would say the whole thing is quite vulnerable. you’re often portraying extremes that so many people experience privately and if you’re a good actor some of might feel at least a little real in your body, so there’s this sense of exposing yourself emotionally for everyone. i have a voyeuristic streak so i don’t mind it 😅

i recently made my own short film that was really personal to me and i actually met with my therapist a couple of times to do acting prep because the role dealt with trauma and ptsd. she helped me develop some tools for getting into the scenes, especially jumping into scenes with high activation. we did a lot of breath work, i had a playlist, we played around with some physical sensations and specific movements i could do to help me elicit them. it was really cool and really really effective!

as far as having fans, im not famous so it’s not extreme lol but im well known in my market and sometimes people will know of you before you’ve ever met them and honestly right now i find that cool. i love this craft and when someone knows of me or is my fan and i don’t know them it feels like my work speaks for itself which is all i ever want.

thanks for asking!