Lea Michele has revealed that she continues to experience stage fright, despite decades in the spotlight.

Despite starring in several Broadway musicals, the former Glee star has battled stage fright her "entire life".

"Oh, I still deal with stage fright all the time," Lea, 39, said in an interview with People. "It is something I've battled my entire life, no matter what project."

The Funny Girl star went on to confess that no matter how experienced she becomes, stage fright remains a constant. However, she noted that over the years she has learned to "reframe" her nerves.

"I try to reframe those feelings, because I can be really quick to categorise everything I'm feeling as anxiety, and that's not always the case," she shared. "So now I take a beat."

Lea continued, "If I really tune into how I'm feeling and give myself the space and the grace to actually examine those emotions, I can realise, 'Well, maybe it's not anxiety? Maybe it's not all fear? Maybe there's room for the fact it could actually be excitement in there for what I'm about to do?' And I'll transfer my energy into that as much as I can."

Lea, who is currently starring in the Broadway revival of Chess, has also learned to see her nerves as a sign that the work she's doing has meaning.

"If I'm nervous, it just means that what I'm doing matters," she told the outlet. "I'll tell myself, 'It's worth it. It matters. There are high stakes to what you're doing. It's a challenge.' And that's not necessarily a bad thing, you know?"

One of the rituals she uses to calm her nerves before going on stage is calling her mum, Edith Sarfati, explaining that "when that five-minute mark hits, I need to get out of my head, so I pick up the phone and call my mother".