Celeb Stop

Monday October 5, 2009

Back with a bang

By ROBERT CHAN

SPEND a few minutes with Andrea Fonseka (or a few hours baking in the sun for a photoshoot, as I did) and it becomes clear that this former beauty queen is a great entertainer.

She gets on famously with everyone and by the time I am done with this interview, my friend and her are kidding around like sisters.

The 1.78m-tall beauty may have studied law but it is putting people at ease that is this budding emcee's greatest attribute.

And therein lies the quality that makes her special: One gets a sense that Fonseka is comfortable in her own skin, regardless of whether there's a camera pointed at her or not. For someone who's just recently turned the ripe old age of 25, that's something worth shouting about.

Now, Fonseka is back in the limelight, fronting Malaysia-International Fashion Week (M-IFW) as its ambassador. This year, M-IFW is presented by Maxis and will be held at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur next month.

In a no-holds-barred chat, Fonseka updates us on her life thus far ...

After winning the Miss Malaysia Universe 2004 title, you went off to study in Singapore, where you dabbled in showbiz. The turning point was when you were picked as one of girls on TV show, Deal Or No Deal. What was that experience like for you?

Winning the Miss Malaysia Universe was definitely a huge learning curve. The turning point for me was when I did the FHM Singapore shoot (in 2007). It was quite ironic that my first job in the entertainment industry was a bikini shoot because that was what I was infamous for! Fonseka had received a lot of flack after her pageant win for being overweight.)

It was nerve-wracking but thank God I had Marie France to whip me into shape. (At the time of the Miss Universe competition in 2004, she weighed 66kg. After completing the Marie France treatment, Andrea lost 7.5kg.) The FHM shoot was very successful and the magazine sold out and Mediacorp noticed me. That's how I got on the show.

Initially I wasn't sure if I should have done it – a former Miss Malaysia, going on stage with twenty-five other girls. But then I figured that I had nothing to lose and the Mediacorp people were lovely to work with. I don't regret it at all.

You recently were host for a dinner event in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and appeared natural and relaxed on stage. You've done emcee-ing in Singapore before too – does being on stage and saying the right thing come naturally to you?

People who are close to me know that I have always been outspoken. When I was young, I could say what I wanted to say and get away with it. When I was eight, I did story-telling competitions, in high school I was a public speaker.

I was actually nervous at the KL event; I wanted to do a good job. However nobody will see my nervousness onstage, especially after a few glasses of whiskey. If you notice, my performance got better toward the end!

But I've had my bad days as well, saying the wrong thing or making a bad joke , and you just have to realise that you can't let these minor mistakes freak you out. If I make a mistake, I just laugh about it and carry on. Once you get that mindset, it's quite easy.

What about acting? Is this something that comes as easily as hosting to you?

Acting is a slightly more difficult process for me. When I'm hosting I'm being myself, when I'm acting I'm being someone else. I've definitely learned a lot from my gigs in Singapore. Acting doesn't come as easily but it's something that I enjoy just as much.

Do you see modelling, hosting and acting as similar or does each require a different set of skills?

I am who I am. If someone books me for a modelling job, it's because of my personality to be able to project whatever it is that needs to be modelled. Hosting too is about my personality. Acting is a different thing altogether because I'm portraying something completely different to who I am. You need to strip yourself of all your mannerisms and then build the character from scratch. I'm still learning how to do this.

What projects are you working on now?

I'll be in a play in Singapore at the end of the year called The Composer. The story revolves around a man who wakes up to find that his wife killed herself.

The lady that I'm working with, Tan Kheng Hua, is a very gifted actress and I'm looking forward to working with her. It's my first stage performance and I'm very excited about it.

Come next month, you will be the face of M-IFW 2009. What does that require you to do?

I've worked with Syeba Yip (founder of Mifa which organises M-IFW) before this on the Miss Malaysia Hall Of Fame and she's a lovely lady and she approached me for this. I was over the moon; it's a huge honour for me.

Basically, I'll be hosting the main events at night and we're filming a 13- episode behind-the-scenes series It's Mifa: Moving Fashion Forward (aired on ntv7 at 7.30pm every Tuesday starting Oct 6). It will show the process of how an international fashion week is put together.

This is actually my first real big production in Malaysia and it's fun – fashion is something that I love and to be more familiar and work with the biggest names in fashion such as Tom Abang Saufi, Khoon Hooi and Eric Choong is a huge honour and I'm very humbled by it.

After all the debate over your weight many years ago, is the issue still a touchy one?

When I look back now, I admit that I was chubby and that I should have waited a little while longer before I joined (the pageant). I entered the Miss Malaysia competition naïve and green and it happened so quickly and I wish I was more prepared.

Having said that, I wouldn't want to change a thing because if it wasn't for all of that, I wouldn't be where I am now.

I really encourage Malaysian girls to join competitions like Miss Malaysia Universe. Unfortunately, the best girls now shy away from beauty pageants and they don't think it will help them in any way but it is the most amazing experience. It opens up your eyes to a whole new world.

My weight is definitely not a touchy issue anymore – I never contradicted anything that anyone said.

You've just celebrated your birthday. Do you have any lessons learnt that you can share?

Your really good friends will be with you for life. The ones that come and go, you shouldn't worry too much about. Your family will also always be there for you. That's one thing I've learnt really well in the past year.

And now for the million ringgit question: Have you got a special someone in your life yet?

I'm seeing someone and he's very close to my heart and it's all you need to know!

Will you travel between KL and Singapore or do you plan to be based on a more permanent basis here?

I'm happy that I've a lot of work here now, if work comes in from Singapore, I'll still go there – it depends where I get more work. If I have free time I'll be in KL because I want to spend time with my parents. I still live with them! But I love it and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Are you amazed by how much you've achieved since winning the Miss Malaysia Universe title? What keeps you going?

When I think about it, it doesn't feel like I've achieved a lot because I went through it all quite young. But then I think, hey, not bad lah. I've been very blessed.

I had a very pious grandmother who prayed religiously for us every single day. A lot of the opportunities have come by chance and thankfully things have worked out well, in my family life, my love life, friendships and career.

I know I have my grandmother as my guardian angel looking over me.

What keeps me going is the fact that I'm a very curious being and I want to see how far I can go. If everything were to go away tomorrow, I'd be happy to know that this is how far I've come.

If you could do a spot of crystal-ball gazing, where do you see yourself in a couple of years?

I know that I want to travel. Maybe in about four years time, I want to take a year off and basically live in every major city that I've dreamed of living in. After that I'll decide where I want to live. It really depends where fate takes me. If I could hope and wish, I'd want to be here, get married and have kids. See how lah!

View footage of Andrea Fonseka and other exciting happenings at the recent launch of Malaysia-International Fashion Week 2009 (M-IFW) at http://thestaronline.tv/v/4266.

M-IFW is organised by Malaysian International Fashion Alliance (Mifa) and presented by Maxis. Officially endorsed by Matrade, M-IFW is scheduled from November 4 to 8 at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. Major sponsors are L'Oréal Paris, Masterclub, Elegance Club and Pernod Ricard Malaysia while key partners are eBay, Asia Experience, Blu Inc Media, Alfo, ntv7, Salon Esprit by Miko Au and X'pressionMaster.