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Interview: Jayna Angelina Stevens, Ginny Natnicha Prateepnatsri on their first Thai drama 'Poisonous Love'
Interview: Jayna Angelina Stevens, Ginny Natnicha Prateepnatsri on their first Thai drama 'Poisonous Love'
New actresses Ginny Natnicha Prateepnatsri and Jayna Angelina Stevens are starring in their first Thai GL (girls' love) series, “Poisonous Love,” which premiered on Sept. 20.
“Poisonous Love” is based on the web novel by Meenam and produced by North Star Entertainment.
The series will unravel the complex and emotional relationship between Dr. Premsinee, a respected doctor played by Ginny, and Pat Napak, a beautiful but notorious actress known for her villain roles.
The two stars visited the Philippines and held a press conference and fan sign event at the Ayala Malls Vertis North organized by CDM Entertainment.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin at the Novotel Hotel Araneta City, Jayna, a Thai-American, and Ginny, a Thai, discussed how they got the roles in “Poisonous Love,” working together in the series and their career as new actresses in Thailand.
The two actresses said they auditioned for “Poisonous Love.”
Jayna said, “First, I went to a casting. In Thailand, if you want to play a role or you want to play a movie or anything, you need to be cast. So I just started on it. And I didn't know the first time that I was going to get it or not. But everything went by so fast and that's it.
Ginny, a Thai, said, “For me it's the same, like, we have to be cast before we get the role. And yeah I didn't think I would get the role because, like, there were so many talented and attractive people on the audition day. But I did some research on the audition day that okay, I'm gonna be cast for ‘Poisonous Love’ and I also I read a short book about it and I decided, okay, I'm gonna audition for Dr. Premsinee’s role because, I mean, I can't compete for the role of Pat. There were many attractive people, like too many. And here we are.”
Jayna and Ginny did not know each other before “Poisonous Love” and they first met on audition day.
They said they were happy to learn that they would be working together in “Poisonous Love.”
“I felt happy, yes, and I think I will enjoy it and I really enjoyed it, yes, and everything went by so fast and I hope everyone enjoyed it,” said Jayna.
Ginny agreed, saying, “I was delighted too. She's younger than me and she fits the role because I play as Dr. Prem and I'm very young so I'm looking for a younger partner to complete me and here she is.”
“Poisonous Love” is their first drama project and said they felt pressured.
Jayna said, “Of course because we got many fans from the novel and, of course, we felt pressure. But when you feel pressure, it doesn't help if you keep thinking about it. I need to do my day that I know myself that okay, I'm doing good for today and if I didn't do that good, I said okay, today what did i do wrong and tomorrow I will fix it.”
“For me. it's the same as her, like, I feel pressured because this is my first series and it's like a dream come true. I didn't know I would get this opportunity. If we feel pressured, I just do my best every day,” said Ginny.
The two stars worked hard to prepare for their roles in “Poisonous Love.”
“I have read all of the whole story. And I researched about it and I tried to get an acting coach. She went to my house. I film from 7 o’clock in the morning and I finish about 10 [p.m.] and I drive back home. I needed to study about three hours every day,” revealed Jayna.
Ginny also said that she “read, like, the entire story and I did the workshop and I tried to research, like, Dr Prem's bright background, my character, the family, what food she likes, what she doesn't like. I researched and imagined her past life when she was very young and like middle school and high school to just build up and make Dr. Prem come to life.”
They said their chemistry was the same on and off the set of “Poisonous Love.”
“We're about all the same, actually. You know, I take everything naturally. So I don't really know how different it is on and off the set because we're about the same thing. Yes, because we talk a lot,” said Jayna.
According to Ginny, “True, me too. I was very comfortable working with her. The only difference, apart from her saying that our chemistry is natural, is that we need to follow the script. Apart from that, we all just act naturally.”
The two started their careers in commercials before they became actresses.
“I just do all the casting. I started in commercials. Because in commercials, you can get it easy because you don't need to be saying a lot of dialogues. My manager decided that I should go to the casting for the ‘Poisonous Love’ series. So I tried because I want to try everything that comes in,” said Jayna, adding that becoming an actress was her dream.
It was also the same for Ginny.
“I went through a lot of auditions. I got some. I didn't get some, but mostly I got the commercial. I never got any acting roles before, so this is new and very exciting. But for this specific role, my brother brought me to it,” she said.
She said his brother told him about the casting for a GL series and he asked her if she wanted to star in the series.
“I said ‘Why not?’. I didn't hope that I would get it but here we are,” she said.
Jayna and Ginny also named the traits that they like in each other.
About Ginny, Jayna said, “I like how she's serious. She takes work seriously. But on the other hand, when we're on holiday or something, she is chill, you know.
Ginny said, “I really like the natural part of her. She's very natural and very funny and also very authentic. If she feels something, she says it. I feel like if we feel something, we can say it to each other and then clear it out. It's a really good point of working together and being a partner in the long term.”
The two actresses are hoping that viewers will like “Poisonous Love.”
“I think if you had read the novel, you can see how all the two characters are and I want you to watch the series because we're playing out from the novel. I think it can relate to people who have a strict family from Prem's side and parents who are chill from Pat’s side. But two types of people, how they can live together. I want you to see it,” said Jayna.
Ginny said, “First of all, the novel is really good. Thank you to the writer, Khun Meenam. She really did a great job and we have a lot of novel fans. And second of all, thank you for the production team. We got the director, P'Nok, and the [production] team, which is very kind to us, and very dedicated to making this series the best they can.”
“Third of all, we thank ourselves and our colleagues because like we're all doing our best and putting the most effort to make this as best as we can so that the fans will enjoy it and we hope they enjoy it,” she said.
