Actress to watch
LAST year the Malaysian actress Daphne Low has won an international award, the Tokyo Gemstone Award, at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) in Japan.
The award honours up-and-coming actors and actresses.
The award was given to her for her performance as a human trafficker in Malaysian film, Aqerat, under the direction of Edmund Yeo.
The award has certainly boost the confidence of the 24- year-old Kuala Lumpur born actress to push her acting ability further.
Now, she is more selective of her roles and is trying to her luck to break into Taiwan film scene.
Why do you love acting?
"I love acting because I can live many lives.
In one film, I am an innocent school girl just falling in love and in my next film, I am a ferocious human trafficker.
I want to be an actress since young. I was a TV addict.
I ate my lunch and my dinner in front of the television.
Whenever I watch a TV drama, I wished I was one of the characters.
I wanted to laugh with the actors.
I want to cry with the actors.
I never thought my dream will come true."
How did this dream became a reality?
"When I was hardly 18, a Chinese teenage magazine interviewed me and put me on the cover of their magazine.
The next thing I know, a production house was calling me and was interested to cast me in a television drama.
So far, I have acted in more than 10 television series and six films."
Are you working on any interesting film projects in future?
"I will be playing a blind girl who falls in love with an Indian man.
The film will have Tamil, Chinese, Malay and English dialogues.
I met a blind couple and asked them a lot of questions so I can get into my role.
So far, the shooting dates for the film is not confirm yet."
I heard you are now based in Taiwan. Is that true?
"I have been based in Taipei( capital city of Taiwan) for the last two years.
It began when I was acting in a Malaysian film called OlaBola in 2016.
The director of OlaBola had brought acting coaches from Taiwan to train the cast.
I have never taken acting class in my life before.
The training I had received in OlaBola has open me to new experiences and had made me more expressive.
I wanted to continue the training and I went to Taiwan to learn more about acting.
Later, I decided to stick around and try my luck there. I loved Taiwan films because the story is strong and the way they shoot the film.
So far, I have acted in two television series in Taiwan and I have acted several web-movies for China."
Why do you want to try your luck in Taiwan?
"If I stay in Malaysia, I could live a comfortable life. People know me, here. I will be flooded with acting offers.
But I want to come out from my comfort zone.
I want to experience something new.
I understand starting in Taiwan is not going to be easy.
People does not know me.
I have to start from the bottom.
The competition is far more intense and challenging.
But I am willing to work hard.
I remembered once I had fallen sick because I was overworked.
I could not even pay my hospital fees.
I nearly got a film deal in Taiwan. I was very happy.
But in the end, the film was not made.
Producers had pull out from the project.
I was disappointed. I become depressed.
But all these disappointments are part and parcel of being an actress.
You have to struggle to make your dreams come true.
How do you stop yourself feeling defeated and depressed after a failure?
"You learn new things.
Only when you learn new things, you will be positive about life and your struggles to achieve your dream.
Right now I am learning French and Japanese language in Taiwan."
Do you bring your roles home?
"Sometimes it is difficult to leave your role behind.
I remembered I was playing a serial killer in a Singapore television series and after the shoot was wrapped up, few weeks later, I was out with my friend, having coffee.
I was standing behind this guy to get my coffee at the counter, automatically my hand was raising up on its own and it was making a gesture as if I wanted to stab him.
I was very frightened."
How you stopped to bring your roles home?
"I try to do the normal things … the things that Daphne will do.
It will take time for you to shake off your character. "