Oscar winner Holly Hunter suffered from such bad stage fright as a child she walked offstage midway through two piano recitals. Hunter was worried her fears would come to the fore again when she starred in the 1993 movie The Piano, for which she ended up winning the Best Actress Academy Award.

But Hunter was relieved to discover she could get used to performing in front of the films' cast and crew.

She says, "I've suffered a little from stage fright in my time. I started wanting to play the piano when I was six years old, and my parents finally got me a piano when I was nine. So I was thinking, 'This is what I want to do, be a concert pianist.' I was kind of obsessed. But then I realised I couldn't play in front of people. I went to a couple of recitals and left the bench in the middle of the concert. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't take the pressure."

-Holly Hunter Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)