TIARA ANCHANT is one of those artistes who is slowly but surely making an impact in the local film industry.
Some may recognise her as the host of Hello PinkFong! a live action TV show aimed at pre-schoolers.
Tiara is in fact an actress, voice over artiste, voice actor, and a sometime singer.
“Actually I got into singing by chance,” she said. “I took some singing lessons. I am not Beyoncé or anything, but that is the dream. Some people are born with it, and some aren’t.
“I got into singing because of my love for theatre. [I took part in] this singing competition called Short and Sweet [in] 2016.”
She enjoyed the experience so much, that she wanted more. She also did some theatre work.
Last year, she got the job as host in Hello PinkFong!, which required her to sing a little bit, and also interact with children in the studio audience.
How did you start out doing voice overs?
“I used to work in production for a company called Core Studios. I used to meet other production people. Word travels when you do voice over work.
“The biggest job I have had [is] a six-month travel job in China. It was just me going: ‘Wow! Wow!’ on camera. We then recorded everything else using voice over.
“After that I did voice acting for the mobile game Contra. They had me doing five characters and I had to agak-agak (guess) and do voice overs for them. It was random accents.”
How long have you been acting?
“I have only been acting since 2016. I got into a four-month theatre workshop. I am blessed to have [landed] different gigs and [to have] had different opportunities come along.
“I received an award for Short and Sweet. From there ... I got a [role] in Gol & Gincu 2. After that I got the travel show in China, Hello PinkFong! and recently finished a travel show around Malaysia.
“Because of that I left my full-time job last October, because my freelance work was interrupting my full-time job.”
Was acting something you always wanted to do?
“When I was young I had this dream to be in front of the camera, but I was a bit shy. I has this misconception that actors were picked off the streets by scouts.
“I was late [to] the game, and I knew I had to actively learn.
“When I was doing that, [I thought] it would be a good idea to get some behind-the-scenes knowledge so that I won’t be so scared. I thought as an actor, I should know about production. I got a taste of being a producer, [and] being a writer.
“While I was doing that, I was [also] doing theatre. It came to a point where I had to decide, either to stay in production, or try to be the talent. So I gave myself maybe the next couple of years [to expand] my scope.”
Were you active in school plays when you were younger?
“When I was in high school I was very expressive in class but I was very shy to go on stage.
“I was a drama queen who could not do drama. When we [staged] anything, I would take an active role in thinking up the script or [directing].
“When I went to university, I realised I had not done anything to really hone my skills. It is only when I was doing my internship that I realised I needed to take a more active role.”
What is it like providing your voice for animated characters?
“I am impressed by someone whose voice sounds like someone else. Someone who can do multiple voices. I have friends who are good at doing impressions. I have friends who do voice overs because they actually like doing it.
“I grew up loving Disney. My dream is to give voice to a Disney character, maybe a Disney princess, or to sing for a Disney movie.”
Do you have any formal training for singing?
“I did, until Grade 5, but that was for pop singing. They did incorporate classical training, but I did not take classical exams.”
