Exactly how best to create rich characters has been much debated in the acting world for over a century. Strasberg believed that digging into one’s personal life was the key to building the character. He encouraged actors to internalize everything before it is externalized. The other prophets of the craft like Meisner, Adler, Lewis broke with Lee’s essential theory and concentrated on working from an “as if” technique, encouraging an actor to create a reality by imagining themselves into the given circumstance. Whichever of these two most used American techniques an actor chooses to work with, it is of paramount importance that the actor works from experiences that are resolved psychologically and most importantly resolved emotionally. Whatever area the actor is calling upon from their life experiences, or their imagining of the “as ifs,” it is the teacher’s and/or director’s job to recognize whether this is a safe place for the actor to go – that the actor has found closure, and the actor can go to ‘the source’ repeatedly in an objective, not subjective, way.nnGoing on stage eight times a week and drawing on unresolved issues is bound to create a very unhealthy personal life for the actor off-stage, and nine times out of ten lead to acting from neuroses while on stage, or in front of the camera.nnAs teachers or directors, knowing the actor well enough from previous work will help you avoid getting into a dangerous area, and one you don’t belong in. The responsibility for the teacher is enormous in creating a safe environment for the actor to work in. It must be a non-judgmental environment that encourages the actor to take risks and chances, but does not force. An actor must know that in the classroom there is a safety net and that if “they jump, the net will be there”. A growth process with the work comes from having permission to “fall on your butt”, knowing that support and encouragement will be there.