British actors are landing increasingly intense roles set in the past — but with ever less time to prepare. Now, a little-known expert from Germany is changing how they connect to their characters.
Dr. Barbara, a seasoned historical consultant with a talent for emotional precision, has begun offering her services to the UK creative industry. Her work goes far beyond typical research: she unearths rare and often buried documents — confiscation records, private letters, forbidden texts, even papers hidden in attics — and turns them into emotionally charged material that actors can use in performance.
This is not method acting. This is memory acting — shaped by real evidence rather than personal improvisation.
“I give you what the character couldn’t say out loud,” says Dr. Barbara. “While other departments dress you for the part, my research prepares you to carry what your character never voiced — the inner life built from real history.”
Dr. Barbara’s track record spans over 130 historical projects across film, television, and exhibitions. She reads over 200 books per assignment, works fluently across European archives, and possesses a photographic memory — plus the rare ability to read handwriting dating from the 1100s to the present. Yet what truly distinguishes her is her instinct for finding narrative and emotional depth where others might see only data.
Now, UK actors under pressure can tap into her knowledge in two ways.
The first is a free six-day email course titled The Memory Scar, which explores one real photo from 1944. Each day reveals a fresh approach to using historical artefacts as emotional entry points — bypassing backstory and diving into feeling. “We don’t start with the wound,” Dr. Barbara explains. “We start with the scar — what remains, what lingers in silence, and how your character has learned to carry it.”
The second, for those already cast and needing rapid depth, is Get To Know Your Protagonist. This one-to-one intensive delivers a personalised research file built from little-known historical materials, along with a video guide to applying it during rehearsal. “I don’t hand you history like a textbook,” Barbara says. “I translate it into something you can feel — something you can act from.”
Both offerings are now accessible in English via her new website, designed with British actors, directors, and agents in mind — especially those navigating emotionally demanding historical roles on tight schedules.
Dr. Barbara’s work is ideal for period dramas and biopics set between 1880 and 1980 — from Nazi Germany and Cold War Berlin to postcolonial settings and stories shaped by war, loss, or migration. For rising talents seeking something deeper than dialects and timelines, this is research you can feel.