CARMEN SOO - GIRL NEXT DOOR
On my birthday last year, Malaysia's sweetheart, Carmen Soo very kindly wished me via twitter, resulting in a flurry of wishes from loads of people with foreign surrounding names. Though it may not seem like a big deal to many, it is an indicative of the appeal that the model turned actress has. When you have more than 200,000 followers it says a lot about who you are as a celebrity. Don't believe me? Get her to tweet something to you and see how many people respond--and I'm talking non-Malaysians.
Carmen is one of the few local actresses who can lay claim to being an Asian star. During her stint in Hong Kong, she worked with the likes of Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Jackie Chan. She's even attended the International Emmy Awards in New York when her telenovela Kahit Isang Saglit was nominated for the best telenovela award.
Yes, in case you didn't know it, Carmen is a massive star in the Philippines and given the large number of Filipinos around the world, she can boast of having fans all around the world. In 2008, she took a leap of faith and flew to the Philippines. At the time, she didn't speak Tagalog but her career soared. Her first show The Filipino Show turned out to be hugely successful and even resulted in a fan club called the "Soo-pers" emerging.
Last year was a particularly busy year for her resulting in several projects, one of which is, Dead Mine, co-produced by HBO Asia and Infinite Studios and features an international cast and crew. Also to be released soon is, Hunter, Malaysia's first 3D thriller in which she plays the lead. And to top it off, she became the face of Uniqlo Malaysia.
But while the bulk of her work is outside the country, it doesn't mean that Carmen has neglected her local fans. Carmen, who cites Oprah Winfrey, Halley Berry and Heidi Klum as her inspirations began acting the same way her close friend Elaine Daly did. She too attended an acting course held by The Actors Studio's Joe Hasham.
He work in Malaysia spans a variety of genres from Indie (Visits: Hungry Ghost Anthology), mainstream (Baik Punya Cilok) and theatre (The Girl from Ipoh and Rose, Rose I love You). In 2006, she was named most promising actress at the Malaysian Film Awards for her role in The 3rd Generation but for all her accolades, she remains approachable and down to earth.
"I wouldn't regard myself as a high-profile celebrity." she says.
On the cover is the dashing Korean-American actor, Mr. Daniel Henney!
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