The model-actress has established herself as a star though it is not always easy for the lass with links to the Thai royals.
THE first thing you’ll notice about Sara Malakul Lane, besides her fine, sculpted features, is how she speaks her mind – even if it means highlighting her lack of star power (which truly is not the case in Thailand).
At one point, she comments about being at the annual Academy Awards in the United States last year. “When people say that you’ve gone to the Oscars, it doesn’t mean anything. We went to some pre-party where normal people go. The big movie stars are in a completely different league,” says the popular 24-year-old Thai model and actress.
Lane was in Kuala Lumpur last month for the launch of the magazine Style: Weddings. Its inaugural issue, which appears this month, features Lane on the cover. The young beauty is certainly in demand by magazines. In February, she was in Malaysia to model for the magazines Female (April issue, cover) and Women’s Weekly.
Clearly, Lane has been trying – quite successfully – to spread her wings outside Thailand. She’s appeared internationally in TV commercials in India, the Middle East and South Africa. Besides being the ambassador of prestigious Swiss watchmaker Longines, she is also the face of Pond’s skincare products in Taiwan and Thailand, and has replaced US pop star Britney Spears as the presenter for Toyota Vios in Thailand.
While the Bangkok-based Lane is a relatively new name in Malaysia, in Thailand, she’s a superstar. Born in the US island territory of Guam to a British father and a Thai mother, Lane has acted in numerous Thai television dramas and movies, and is one of the country’s top models. Her allure is heightened by her royal ties – her mother, Tuptim Malakul Na Ayuthaya, 53, is a descendant of King Rama II, the king of Siam between 1809 and 1824.
Yet, the lady is as down-to-earth as can be. When I meet her for the interview at the Le Meridien hotel in Kuala Lumpur, there is no entourage at hand to fulfil her every whim. She just strolls into the lobby, gives me a shy smile and waves.
Journey to stardom
As she settles down in her seat, she tells me about her journey to stardom, which began one night, a decade ago, when she “just had enough of boarding school”.
She had been in a “very remote, very elite, and very snooty public school” in Britain since she was seven, but at the age of 14, homesickness got the better of her and she decided to move back to Thailand.
The ironic thing was, she found it difficult to adjust to the relatively laid-back international school after having been through a strict boarding-school life where teachers had to be addressed as “sir” or “madam”. However, she was more bothered by the realisation that she knew nothing about her cultural heritage.
“I’m part-Thai but I knew nothing about Thailand. And I couldn’t speak Thai,” recalls Lane in a light British accent, adding that she only spoke English to her mother back then.