1. Tell us about your background and journey.
German-born Suzanne Bernert always wanted to be an actor. Daughter of a now-retired Customs Officer ( Michael), Bernert was born in North Germany but at the age of 8, the family settled near the border to Austria and Switzerland. “It was and is a gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful place but with no scope for acting,” she says.
While her mother Monika had been an amateur theatre artist, except for participating in school plays and occasional ballet lessons, there was hardly any formal training available. “Nowadays kids, who want to take up acting, have various options at hand—be it in Germany or here in India. They have so many activities from which they can easily choose but back then it wasn’t so common. I remember that my mother used to drive me two times a week for my ballet lessons to a place which was 30-40 km away from where we lived,” remembers Bernert.
She acted in several films and television serials in India over the last decade, the most recent being Vijay Gutte’s directorial debut of Sanjaya Baru’s Book adaptation The Accidental Prime Minister where she played the role of the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. After her initial years of acting in school plays, Bernert was trained by the noted German actress Heidelotte Diehl in Berlin for three years.
She subsequently did an acting course under American producer and acting coach Susan Batson who is known for mentoring leading international actresses like Nicole Kidman and Juliette Binoche. “In 2004, while doing theatre in Germany, I was holidaying in Dubai when I saw a casting notice looking for the role of a lead Indian girl’s best friend. So, I called up Anant Duseja, the Director and we met. Things got finalized with me ending up as the film’s lead. The movie has now released on OTT Platforms and on Amazon.
2. How did the actor end up in the Indian entertainment industry?
So, Suzanne reveals, “While I was shooting for Destined Hearts, my first English/Hindi Crossover movie I met production controller Raj Puthran, who became a friend. He introduced me to Ajay Sinha who cast me in his movie STOP in a tiny part. He then asked me to come to Mumbai and my first serial for Zee TV was Astitva Ek Prem Kahani is a firangi bahu who could say Thoda Thoda Hindi Aati hai — and so that is how I started off.”
3. What challenges did you come across in getting to where you are at today?
But things weren’t all that easy for her—sometimes she wasn't taken seriously as an actor. "In the TV serial Jeete Hai Jiske Liye along with Renuka Shahane, I was playing the role of a police chief, but the production controller didn't believe me that I was cast for the main character. At that time foreign actors playing important characters were the unheard-of things. My acting and the dedication I show on sets always bring people around though.
Recalling another stressful incident during an awards function, Suzanne muses, “A lot of times foreigners in the industry are used as glamour dolls or props and are not taken seriously. During a big week known awards show, I was invited as a VIP guest, but the people who handled the event did not allow me to enter the enclosure even though I had the invitation.
My manager fought and ultimately, I was allowed to enter the VIP enclosure. Later, surprisingly, I was invited on stage to present an award to my co-actor. I think there is still a lot of confusion on Foreign Artists making a mark in the Industry in unconventional ways.
I always chose characters I wanted to do...never looked at if it is a movie or a TV show. Never wanted a scandal to further my career. So someone who just does the job isn't as easily recognized as someone who throws tantrums.
4. What was your first big break in the industry?
Suzanne's first big break happened to be Ekta Kapoor’s long-running daily soap, Kasautii Zindagi Kay (2006-08). “I did meet Ekta but since my Hindi was not all that good, there was not much of an interaction. But her mother Shobhaji was always kind and warm. It was quite a tough time due to all the different challenges. Be it acting in Hindi, the heat, the food, the long hours... but once you have done a scene well and you feel good, all is forgotten.”
The actor didn’t limit herself to television or Bollywood. She has spread her wings in regional cinema as well. Recalling her work in Aparna Sen’s Bengali movie Iti Mrinalini, she says, “When I was first told about it, I felt somebody was playing a prank. But when I received a call from Aparna Sen, I was finally convinced. It was a wonderful experience to shoot in Kolkata and work with Konkana Sensharma.”
Bernert was encouraged by Alyque Padamsee to pursue theatre in India. Interestingly, it was while doing theatre in India that she met her future husband Akhil Mishra, a veteran film and television actor who is perhaps best known for his cameo as the librarian in Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots.
Her preparation varies according to the role and the director’s approach. “I love being a director’s actor. I don’t question the director unless I have something that I absolutely can’t do. If a director likes to talk, I do that. Of course, with television, you are usually on your own and so I try to read up on the characters in order to understand the interiorities.”
“My teacher once told me that like Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet, I like to feel my characters from the inside, as opposed to the actors who need a lot of external inputs. I think every actor has their own method and they need to go by that method.
“As an actor, you can’t be completely out of control. You have to switch on and off. I think we all have grown from the early days of method acting. We started with the Lee Strasberg method, then there is Susan Batson and more new methods are always coming in. Every actor needs some method, to begin with and then later you make your own one,” she adds.
5. What projects are you looking forward to?
"For 2021 am not sure what will happen. In that little break when the Corona Cases Curve was down in February I was able to shoot my first Malayalam movie. Got to visit beautiful Kochi and Kerala for the first time. I also shot an interesting Shortfilm in Mumbai...what else can happen within the current situation I can't say. There are projects but how and when they will happen I can't say.
I am concentrating right now on my inner Journey. It is the only way out, as Sadhguru says. The benefits of the Inner Engineering Online Course I did last year I am seeing every day in my life and I saw a big difference also in my acting this year. I hope for a better tomorrow based on a good today.
Suzanne Bernert - German-born Indian Actress
Interviewed By: Farhana Khatoon
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