Filming Thai action films is not an easy task and can be very dangerous. For example, in “Chocolate” Gija was kicked in the eye, and one of the stuntmen fell down from the building and was hospitalized. Of course, all these moments were filmed and included in the film as part of the commercial slogan - “no wires, no doubles and no computer graphics”.
It turns out that in her last film, Furious Phoenix, Gija fell from a two-story building. She spoke about this in a short interview for “BK” magazine:
After the release of “Chocolate,” my life changed literally overnight. Suddenly, having previously been a nobody, I became very popular. People on the streets started staring at me. Some came up and asked for an autograph.
At first, I couldn’t imagine what to do with this fame. I mean, I was happy about the positive reaction to the film, but at the same time, all this attention was very stressful for me.
Now I'm used to it and learned how to behave correctly in public. Usually I go by bus or metro. From time to time people notice me, but by the time they doubt and think whether it’s me or not, I’m already getting off at my stop.
The nomination for the Asian Film Awards in the category “Best Screen Debut” (for the film “Chocolate”) was a real gift for me. She proved that I had reached another level in my career.
In “Furious Phoenix” I got the role of a completely different character. From the outside, the main character may look like a strong and stubborn girl, but, in fact, she is very fragile and longs for love and approval.
Having done so many fight scenes, I was already used to getting injured. But showing a romantic relationship on screen is a completely different matter, requiring real emotions. Therefore, I had to take acting lessons.
Secretly falling in love is a completely normal thing. Everyone has gone through this. But conveying such a feeling is very difficult.
I wanted to do a romantic comedy, but I don't see Furious Phoenix as a funny movie. I often bleed in it. This is a full-fledged action movie with small elements of melodrama.
My character is too good to actually exist. This type of girl is nothing more than fiction. She's just happy to see how happy the guy she's in love with is.
When I like someone, I will tell him about it. If the feelings are not mutual, then at least I won't regret anything. But I'm not going to say, “Hey, I like you. Do you want to be my boyfriend? You need to be more restrained, otherwise you can scare away all the guys!
I'm afraid of heights, but very often I had to jump down or fight at heights. In Raging Phoenix, I had to fight on a rickety wooden bridge that was difficult to even walk on without falling down. But it was necessary to film the fight scene and it turned out to be a very difficult task.
During filming, I fell from a two-story building, hit my head hard and lost consciousness for some time. I was taken to the hospital and had an x-ray and an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan. That night I couldn't sleep due to a terrible headache. But the very next day I had to go back to work.
I never dreamed of becoming an actress. As a child, I wanted to be a ballet dancer, a flight attendant, a nurse. Now I'm the devil's femme fatale (laughs).
I started doing taekwondo because of my mother. As a child, I was sick so often that my mother was simply tired of taking me to the hospital (laughs). So she advised me to take up sports, and at that time taekwondo was very popular. At first, I didn’t want to train - I was afraid of getting injured. But my mother forced me, and after six months my health improved significantly.
As I grew up, I realized that my childhood dreams were not destined to come true. My mother told me it was time to be realistic, and I realized that it is better to live for today than to dream about an unpredictable future.
If you don't try anything, how will you know if you like it? I didn't want to be an actress until I tried it and realized that I liked it. Otherwise, I would have done something else.
I love being a female action hero. Of course, sometimes I get scared, but I enjoy creating and imagining fights. Plus, I like how these movements work out. It's just an indescribable feeling.
I train like an athlete. Most often my training starts with a morning run, warming up and practicing tricks. Every day I give my best, so I also have to rest quite a lot.
I love sweets. My favorite pastime is going to the bakery. I can eat a lot of things. Really a lot! I'm thin and don't worry about getting fat. I don't eat fruit, so I have to take vitamin supplements.
I can be a little paranoid and anxious when it comes to my personal life and how others see or expect it to be.
The best advice I received was from my stunt mentor. Seeing the state I was in while working, he told me: “Don’t waste your time worrying about what others think of you. Just do the best you can and your work will speak for itself.”
Let's hope for some decent hand-to-hand and bloody action.
The game is cool. I hope the series will be no worse.
Thanks for posting. Hopefully more comments soon.
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm crazy about Xiao Man (I hope I didn't misspell his name...