Aiming for the stars

AWARD-WINNING theatre actress Stephanie Van Driesen, 33, has a big smile on her face throughout the interview. She has a valid reason to be happy.
Coming this September, this Malaysian Dutch Eurasian lass will be heading to the United Kingdom to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Acting at the prestigious East 15 Acting School, University of Essex.
She was selected out of 2,000 hopefuls all over the world to for this prestigious acting programme endorsed by none other than Hollywood Oscar winners such as Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley.
On March 4, the professors from East 15 Acting School were in Kuala Lumpur to hold an audition. For the audition, Stephanie performed a scene from Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
Stephanie passed the audition with flying colours. Although the acting school is stringent with their student choices, she received the positive reply immediately after her audition.
“It is my chance to work and learn in a different setting and with people of different backgrounds,” says Stephanie who has been acting for the last nine years. She has also appeared in more than 30 productions.
“When I return, I will have so much knowledge and I am hoping to use them to elevate Malaysian entertainment scene to a higher level.”
Currently, Stephanie who is known for her powerful vocals, is busy seeking financial assistance (RM280,000) to pursue her course.
For starters, she will be having a one-night concert (entitled Stephanie Van Driesen: Live & Exclusively At Bentley Recital Hall) in Petaling Jaya on Aug 10. Ticket are priced at RM400 onwards, with proceeds going to her study fund.
The concert will also feature some of her talented musical friends such as Tony Eusoff, Tria Azia, Alia Kearny and Brendon Aloysius.
All the performers, production team and crew members in the concert will be performing for free. She has started a crowd funding programme where individuals can also contribute to her study fund.
She recalled the first time she wanted to be an actress. She was eight years old, and watching a young Christina Ricci in the film Mermaid.
“I believe Christina was eight years old in the film, too,” she says. “I just love her character. She was naughty and feisty. I wanted to be like her.”
Stephanie also took part in talent competition that took place in her school and outside schools.
“I was very shy then,” she remembers.
Indirectly, these talent competitions had made her more confident.
“Once I’m on stage, I have a totally different personality,” she says. “I feel confident and I feel special.”
At the same time, her father exposed her to music and musical theatre. Slowly, she fell in love with music and performing on stage. She went on to get her degree in BA in Musical theatre.
She soon landed roles in musical theatre productions such as Cabaret, The Wizard of Oz and Marilyn & Me.
Stephanie shot to stardom when she won Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Betty in Nora the Musical at The BOH Cameronian Arts Awards in 2012.
Her versatile as an actress shines where she appeared in roles where she does not have to sing. Recently, she received critical acclaim for playing an adulterous in Harold Pinto’s famous play Betrayal.
“I wanted to be an all rounded actress,” she says.
She also appeared in tele-film recently called Project Merdeka where she plays a girlfriend to Chinese man and his family disapproved her.
She will also be releasing her first album entitled Melbourne.
“I have visited Australia a few times and I love the city of Melbourne,” she says. “It is an art hub city.”
The album will feature five songs that tell the story of how two strangers meet and love blossom between them.
Now, Stephanie has expressed a keen interest trying her luck abroad, most probably Broadway, WestEnd and Hollywood.
“I am itching for more challenges and I want to see how far I can go,” she says.
With her talents, success might just fall onto her lap.

Those who would like to support her studies can contact her at stephie@sfastage.com.