CURTAIN CALL : Ploy Jindachote

CURTAIN CALL

It’s been two years since 2magazine last caught up with Ploy Jindachote, in which time the young actress has made headway towards that ultimate goal: breaking Hollywood. Tina Hsiao

“Are you here for the 2magazine interview?” I hear unawares as I sit in the pleasant environs of Face Bangkok on Sukhumvit 38, well prepared for the hour-long wait that usually precedes a celebrity interview. I stare at my laptop clock, amazed it’s only two minutes after the scheduled appointment time. Looking back up I see Ploy (whose name means ‘gem’ in Thai), extending a hand and apologizing for her tardiness – or lack of it. “You don’t mind if I put on makeup while we talk?” she asks, before amiably launching into a monologue about her power outage ordeals at home.

It’s been over two years since 2magazine last caught up with Ploy, and since that time her career has blossomed. In 2010 she was involved with three feature films, including the thriller Shadows alongside Academy Award-winner William Hurt, Cary Elwes (of Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Saw fame) and home-grown talent Paula Taylor. “During the filming,” she says, “William Hurt would give me pointers, and together we’d run through the scene before shooting.”

Ploy says her skills were constantly praised by Hurt, and after production wrapped up, she decided to enroll in an intensive acting course at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute in Los Angeles. Thanks to her past work as well as glowing recommendations from Cary Elwes, she was able to bypass the stringent admissions process for the three month course.

Upon returning to Thailand, she started filming Friday Killer, a Thai action/drama movie in which she played the role of a police officer, starring alongside top comedian Thep Pongam. Ploy then went on to film The Impossible in Phuket, a thriller based on the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. In the movie, slated to be released at the end of the year, she plays the role of a Thai volunteer translator, alongside Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.

Ploy admits to her initial nervousness working with the Hollywood darlings; “At first I was intimidated, but at the end of the day we’re just all doing our jobs and they’re all very nice and easy to work with.”I ask her thoughts on the differences between Thai...International film sets are very different in the way they are run, but being in unfamiliar environments gives me opportunities to learn.”

In addition to her silver-screen credits, Ploy is currently in discussions with a certain five-star hotel in Bangkok to set up a wine bar at the property during Thailand’s ‘winter’ months, starting at the end of this year. The planned bar reflects her newfound interest in sparkling wines, which were introduced to her by her business and life partner.

“Do we have to talk about him?” she asks with a smile. She knows we do, and without much prompting, reveals that ‘OJ’ is not in the entertainment industry. “He noticed me on a plane to Macau about four years ago,” she says. “He must have told his sister about me, because a few years later she approached me while I was out with friends and asked me for my number.”

Despite objections from her friends, Ploy obliged. “I usually never give out my number,” she says, “but she was so adorable, and clearly loved her brother.” She giggles and exclaims, “It took him about a year to call after that!” But about one year ago, he finally did, and they have been together ever since. She adds, “If I see myself with someone for a long time, it’s him.”

“I’ve never had an acting role which came close to the way
I am in real life… I’m not the goody two shoes
I portray on-screen”

When she’s not working, Ploy is a selfproclaimed homebody, preferring to stay at home on school nights, with the exception of visiting Mellow restaurant and bar on Thonglor, whose owner she’s friends with, or catching the latest movie at the cinemas (her all-time favorite actor is Robert De Niro). Now in her late twenties, she claims “I get tired easily now, so I don’t go out as much as I used to.” On most weekends she leaves for nearby seaside destinations like Hua Hin and Pattaya with her high school friends and her boyfriend. She also likes to scuba dive, having been to the Similan Islands in Thailand, Sipadan in Malaysia, and Palau in the Pacific Ocean. “I try to take a diving trip at least once a year,” she says. “This year I want to go to the Red Sea.”

Ploy is very down to earth and curious, at times turning the tables and firing off questions at me. Much of her grounded nature she credits to friends (who tease her about her fame), and her tight-knit family, especially her mother. When she started landing acting jobs in high school, Ploy started to lose interest in attending classes, thinking she was able to earn an income without studying. “If it wasn’t for my mother,” she says, “the industry would’ve gotten to my head.” Her mother instilled the importance of education, even putting a halt to Ploy’s career for one-and-a-half years in preparation for her college entrance exams. The sacrifice paid off, and Ploy was accepted into Chulalongkorn, one of the country’s top universities.

“My mom wanted me to have a solid degree,” she explains about her business accounting degree. “I wasn’t too keen at first, but I did it because it was one of the few things I could do for my mom.” She goes on to describe her mother as a tough woman, saying, “She’s pushy,” before quickly adding with a smile, “but in a good way! She wants me to commit a hundred percent to whatever I do, and to do it well. It’s not enough to just pass or finish something – I have to succeed and be good at it.”

It seems Ploy’s mother’s teachings have paid dividends, as her recent breakthrough into Hollywood has already prompted several more offers. But despite a string of recent roles, there’s one part yet to come Ploy’s way: “I’ve never had an acting role which came close to the way I am in real life,” she says, mischievously adding, “I’m not the goody two shoes I portray on-screen.”

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Source : 2 Magazine