German-born actress Suzanne Bernert, who has spent nearly 21 years in India, spoke about her relationship with the country, adapting to its cultural diversity and finding a sense of belonging during a conversation with Arjun Hardas, India Representative, American Jewish Committee (AJC), at Brand Communion Synergy 2026 in Jim Corbett.
Bernert, who has worked across Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam cinema and television, described her journey in India as significantly different from her experiences of living in countries including South Korea and Taiwan.
“India is just grabbing you and doesn't let you go,” Bernert said, describing her experience of settling in the country. According to her, people who are open to change can find themselves gradually adapting to India rather than consciously trying to change themselves to fit in.
She contrasted her experience in India with her time in other countries, saying that she felt a particular sense of coming home after arriving in India.
“I can't really explain that because it was more like a feeling,” she said, adding that she has observed a similar experience among other foreigners who come to India and eventually choose to stay.
Bernert also spoke about the need to embrace India's unpredictability. She said that someone accustomed to strict punctuality, organisation and fixed ways of doing things may find the transition difficult unless they are willing to adapt.
From international experiences to an Indian acting career
Bernert's career in India has spanned multiple languages and formats. She said that her work has allowed her to experience the country's film and television industries beyond the conventional perception of Bollywood.
The actor has also taken on roles inspired by real-life personalities. During the conversation, she discussed portraying former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in two productions in different languages and the challenges involved in approaching a real person who is known for maintaining a private and guarded public persona.
Bernert said she avoided attempting a direct imitation and instead focused on observing specific mannerisms and behavioural details.
“I wanted to not do mimicry. I wanted to catch a few specifics of the mannerism,” she said.
She recalled studying Merkel's mannerisms, including small gestures associated with impatience or signalling to people around her. For Bernert, the challenge was to absorb such details during preparation without consciously reproducing them while performing.
“The trick is to know it but not consciously apply it,” she explained, describing acting as a process that ultimately requires an actor to trust their preparation.
Understanding the power associated with a character
Bernert also recalled an experience while shooting at Delhi's Imperial Hotel that helped her understand the public perception and power associated with the character she was portraying.
She said she was accompanied by bodyguards and, while walking through a corridor into a room filled with around 200 junior artistes, experienced an unexpected silence as people turned towards her.
That moment, she said, helped her understand the weight associated with portraying a powerful political figure.
“I could see that they were all the way in the back and I was just like going across... trying to break the silence that had descended,” she recalled.
Recreating the trauma of the 26/11 attacks
Another significant part of the conversation centred on Bernert's role in State of Siege: 26/11, in which she portrayed an Israeli hostage caught up in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Bernert said the role was particularly difficult because she had been living in Mumbai when the actual attacks took place.
Recalling the aftermath of the attacks, she said she found herself thinking about people she had encountered at the hotel that became part of the tragedy.
“When the opportunity came to play this character, I basically fought for it,” she said.
The actor described the shoot as emotionally demanding, particularly because the production involved scenes in which characters were held at gunpoint. She said the intensity of the performances made it difficult to separate the emotional experience of the character from the reality of the moment.
Bernert said the experience required her to repeatedly move between intense emotions and normal interactions on set.
“You have to be emotionally vulnerable, very sensitive and thick-skinned at the same time,” she said.
She described the shoot as around 10 days of intense work, during which she experienced a persistent sense of dread and fear.
How spirituality changed her approach to acting
Bernert also spoke about how her engagement with Hindu philosophy during the 2020 lockdown influenced her approach to life and work.
She said that before this period, she would typically arrive on a set with high expectations and considerable nervousness. But when she returned to acting after the lockdown, she noticed that the anxiety and nervousness she had previously experienced were no longer as intense.
She recalled an instance when she was handed a script shortly before a performance because the lines had not been provided to her earlier. Rather than panicking, she found herself able to deal with the situation calmly.
“That was a big revelation for me that it is helping,” she said.
Bernert stressed that she did not believe everyone needed to follow a particular spiritual teacher or philosophy, but said that finding something that helps an individual develop perspective can make a difference.
On careers, uncertainty and unexpected turns
The actor also reflected on how careers can evolve in ways that are difficult to anticipate.
She recalled that, after studying acting, one of her ambitions had been to perform on the stage in Germany. Instead, her career eventually took her to India, where she built a professional life she had not originally imagined.
Looking back, she said she was grateful that her original plans did not materialise exactly as expected.
“I hope your wishes don't get fulfilled because maybe something better could come after you,” she said, describing how her career in India emerged from circumstances she could not have planned.
Bernert said the nature of acting also means that professionals have to live with considerable uncertainty because actors cannot simply decide which roles they will receive.
“You can't make people hire me,” she said, while discussing the transient nature of the profession.
Theatre as a form of direct connection
Although much of Bernert's career has been in film and television, she said theatre remains particularly close to her.
She described theatre as a form of direct communication with audiences, where the reaction of the audience becomes an immediate part of the performance.
“For me, interaction in theatre is my first love,” she said.
Bernert also spoke about the value of acting beyond pursuing it as a profession. She said acting training can help professionals in other fields develop skills such as voice projection, presence, breathing and being in the moment.
She cited lawyers as an example, saying some lawyers take acting courses to improve the way they use their voice and carry themselves.
On resilience and starting again
Towards the end of the conversation, Bernert reflected on resilience, particularly in the context of major personal changes and loss.
She spoke about her mother's ability to continue moving forward despite difficult circumstances and said that example had influenced her own understanding of resilience.
“You just pick yourself up off the floor, dust yourself off, put your crown back on your head and just keep on walking,” she said.
Bernert also discussed rebuilding her life following the death of her husband and continuing to work despite the emotional challenges that followed.
She said acting itself became part of the process of moving forward, even though returning to sets without her husband, who had previously been a constant presence in her professional life, was difficult.
For Bernert, the ability to begin again comes partly from accepting that life and careers rarely follow a predetermined path.
Acting as a tool beyond the profession
Concluding the conversation, Bernert encouraged people who are interested in acting to explore it even if they have no intention of becoming professional actors.
She said acting can help people become more comfortable with themselves, understand their emotions, work on breathing and learn to remain present.
“Being an actor is very self-indulgent, actually. You work on yourself,” she said.
For Bernert, the profession has provided an opportunity to inhabit different lives and experiences, from playing powerful political figures to portraying people caught in traumatic circumstances while simultaneously learning more about herself.
The conversation, held as part of Brand Communion Synergy 2026 in Jim Corbett, concluded with Bernert sharing humorous memories from the early stages of her career in India, including misunderstandings around Hindi words and pronunciation.
After more than two decades in the country, those linguistic and cultural experiences have become part of a larger journey that has taken her from Germany to India and across multiple languages, industries and characters.
