The Power of Acceptance in Acting
Check out my article about auditioning: “Readers’ Choice: Ted Bardy’s 7 Elements of a Great Audition”
At the Ted Bardy Acting Studio, we emphasize a principle central to authentic acting: acceptance.
Some traditional Method-based approaches emphasize the need to “believe” in imaginary circumstances. But belief can trigger resistance in the mind. The more you try to believe something, the more likely your intellect will push back. Acceptance bypasses that trap. When you accept the given circumstances as real—even if they’re imagined—you can respond truthfully, improvisationally, and with emotional depth.
A scene partner may surprise you. If you’re holding onto a pre-planned emotion or trying to recreate a feeling, you’ll likely miss the moment. But when you’re grounded in acceptance, you can respond naturally—and that’s the root of compelling work.
Why Acceptance Strengthens the Actor’s Work
- Keeps You Out of Your Head: Acceptance grounds you in the moment, not in your thoughts.
- Frees the Imagination: You don’t chase emotion—you open yourself to what the moment brings.
- Leads to Spontaneity: Accepting what’s actually happening frees you to react with honesty and unpredictability.
At our studio, we teach actors to let go of emotional expectations and instead focus on behavior. Directors call out “Action,” not “Emotion,” because action reveals truth.
Meisner’s Technique and the Repetition Exercise
Sanford Meisner’s technique emphasizes active listening and truthful response through the repetition exercise.
It’s not about mechanical repetition. It’s about allowing yourself to be vulnerable, open, and responsive, so that each repetition affects you in a new way—moment to moment.
You’re not trying to invent something clever. You’re receiving, noticing, and letting the words come alive through the behavior.
Imagination Is the Actor’s Greatest Tool
At the Ted Bardy Acting Studio, we don’t rely on emotional recall. We don’t go back to trauma. We work from the actor’s imagination—an endless, powerful, and deeply personal resource.
Of course your life and genetics influence what you imagine. But the work isn’t about reliving. It’s about inventing, imagining, daydreaming, and allowing those imagined realities to affect you as if they were real.
As Einstein said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Emotional Preparation Without Trauma
You don’t need to relive a breakup or recall childhood pain to prepare for a scene.
Instead, ask:
What can I imagine that would truthfully suggest me into the emotional life required for this scene?
This is the heart of our emotional preparation: a strong imaginative circumstance, freely created, fully accepted. The result? Behavior that is organic, truthful, and sustainable.
Transformative Acting Through Identification
We do ask actors to identify with the character—not by erasing themselves, but by suggesting themselves into that character’s life and worldview, moment to moment.
The actor remains present, but transformed. Sometimes that transformation is subtle. Sometimes it’s so profound that the audience doesn’t even recognize the actor.
That’s the magic. The character comes alive not through imitation, but through your unique imaginative embodiment.
Living Fully Inside a Contrived Reality
Every actor sees the world through a unique lens—shaped by temperament, upbringing, and experience. That lens becomes the foundation for your imaginative life.
But the beauty of acting is this: you’re invited to live fully inside a contrived reality.
The given circumstances of the script may be imagined, but your job is to accept them completely. The director, the writer, the scene partner—each helps construct a new world. Your task is to live truthfully within it.
This contrived reality is not a limitation. It’s a container. And inside it, there’s extraordinary freedom.
When actors embrace that freedom, the work becomes honest, surprising, and alive.
Technique and Mental Well-Being
Because we don’t use trauma as a tool, actors who train with us learn to work deeply without emotional harm. This is a sustainable way to act—one that protects your emotional life and prioritizes health, creativity, and fun.
- No emotional hangovers
- No journaling to come down
- No trauma excavation
Imagination is enough.
Final Thoughts: Acting as Doing, Not Feeling
At the Ted Bardy Acting Studio, we don’t teach actors to deliver polished results. We teach process. We train you to respond in real time, under real (imagined) circumstances, with real behavior.
Key Takeaways:
- Acceptance leads to truthful behavior.
- Imagination is limitless—and more than enough.
- Emotional recall is not required. Imaginative suggestion is.
- You are a transformed version of yourself in character. Sometimes profoundly so.
- Acting is doing, not feeling. The behavior reveals the truth.
- You are invited to live fully in a contrived reality. It’s a creative gift, not a prison.
When actors stop chasing feelings and start working truthfully from their imagination, the work becomes alive—and unforgettable.
Ready to Train?
We offer in-person and online classes, rooted in Meisner’s core principles and adapted for the modern actor.
Whether you’re preparing for the stage or the camera, our classes will help you:
- Get out of your head
- Train your imagination
- Build truthful, cinematic behavior
- Transform your craft
Visit www.tedbardy.com or www.ACTNYC.com to learn more and sign up.