Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann once told she’s not pretty or talented enough to act
The culprit behind the criticism? A director she was working with when she was 21 years old.
Yeo Yann Yann won Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards 2019 for her role as a teacher in Anthony Chen's Wet Season. (Photo: AFP)
She’s won prestigious acting awards but when she was first starting out, Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann was on the receiving end of some severe criticism from a director she worked with.
Yeo told Asiaone in an interview last Friday (Oct 9) that the director said to her: "We were having dinner and he just casually said 'Yann Yann, you're not pretty. You're not very talented. Why are you still acting?'”
The 43-year-old Yeo, who was 21 at the time, was shocked. “I didn't know how to respond to him and I just had a silly laugh. I laughed it off."
She added that the remarks didn’t stay in her head, but it did resurface when she contemplated becoming a professional actress. However, she motivated it to “cultivate her craft”.
"I recalled this incident then I realised 'Wow, that incident actually affected me quite a lot,’” she shared with Asiaone.
It’s a good thing Yeo didn’t let the harsh words stop her from pursuing her dream. She has since won Golden Horse awards for best supporting actress for Ilo Ilo and best leading actress for Wet Season. Both films were directed by Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen.
She was also recently nominated for best performance by an actress for her role in HBO Asia’s Invisible Stories at the 2020 International Emmy Awards. She plays Lian, a burnt-out and financially drained single mother struggling to cope with her 19-year-old son with autism.
Yeo added: “Having people tell you negative things while you are younger, it will leave a big impact. And if you don't have any positive guides (in your life), you probably will do many things to change yourself. And if it makes you happy, I don't see why not. But if after the change, inside your heart, you're not satisfied, then I don't see why you should (do it)."
