Thitiya (Baipor) Jirapornsilp is an actress and model from Thailand. “You & Me & Me” is her debut.
On the occasion of “You & Me & Me” screening at the Osaka Asian Film Festival, we speak with her about her first movie role, the challenges of playing twins and working with twin directors.
You & Me & Me is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
What drew you in the particular role, and how would you describe the two sisters?
What drew me to audition for the role was that it's a GDH movie. I've always wanted to work with GDH. Also, it'd be my first movie, so I thought it was going to be a great start for my career getting to work with GDH. Moreover, the role I auditioned for is for twin characters. It's very challenging. I never thought I'd win the role. But after I got it, I was super happy and wanted to do my best for the role.
You and Me are an ordinary pair of twin sisters. They are just like any other twin siblings who have been living together since birth, so they have a strong bond. You is a soft and sweet person. She is always lively and cheerful. As for Me, she is kind of cool, boyish, and a bit cunning. When the both of them are together, they get along very well and fulfil one another.
Do you like them as individuals? Do you think you could be friends with them in real life? Is there one you prefer?
Of course! I'd love to be friends with them in real life. I think it'd be fun to have friends who are twins because I have never had twin friends before. I just know some of my schoolmates who are twins but haven't had the chance to get to know them. It'd be so much fun hanging out with twin friends.
I like both You and Me all the same. In terms of acting, at first, I thought portraying You was a bit more difficult because her personality is quite different from my own. But once I got the hang of being her, I realized that You is such a nice and likeable person. I adore her so much. As for Me's character, she's more similar to me in terms of personality. But then I realized there were some parts of her that have nothing in common with me. She has multiple layers of thinking and is inexpressive, which makes her attractive. So, I like both of them I can never choose one over the other one.
How difficult was it acting in two parts? Can you walk us a bit through the procedure of shooting the scenes where you are both present?
It was indeed difficult playing two characters because everything had to be done twice. Since the acting rehearsal, as I was very new to acting, I found it very complicated to find and understand both characters. I had to do double homework in order to figure out both You's feelings and Me's feelings in a particular situation. When we were on set, the challenge was that I had to switch between characters several times in a short period of time, not to mention that I had to collaborate my performance with all the complicated shooting techniques. This is my first movie and some major crew's first feature film as well. Even though it was very challenging, we held hands and went through it together.
Check the review of the film
There are two major techniques that we used. The first one is the split frame technique where we split the frame and record one side at a time. I'd play as You first. After we got a good take and locked the frame, I would then change to Me's character and enact to match with what I did as You. We used a body double to act as my acting partner in each take.
Another technique is the face scan. It was used in the scenes where the twins physically touch one another. This technique will replace the body double's face with my face. The difficult thing is that we have to re-shoot the scene several times to make it work. I had to be completely still while scanning my face, but also I had to express my emotions for the scene. We also had to recreate the lighting and made sure it matched what we shot. I think it's very cool and innovative for Thai movies.
How was your cooperation with the directors? Was it weird for you that they are twins?
It was very fun working with director Wanweaw and director Weawwan. It's not weird at all that they are twins. The assistant director told me that when director Wanweaw and director Weawwan fight each other, it's not like a person fights with another person. It's more like when we fight with ourselves. As I play the role of twins, I had to truly understand the special bond between twins. And director Wanweaw and director Weawwan were the perfect ones who could give me advice on this matter. Sometimes I just observed them when they spend time together. This is also their first feature film. And, as I mentioned, everyone displayed such good teamwork. We all did our best and went through this together. I'm so happy getting to work with them.
How would you describe the Thai movie industry from the perspective of an actress? Would you say that there are many opportunities, and good parts available?
In my opinion, the Thai movie industry wows me. I think that our industry is full of potential people. Take this movie, as I mentioned, there are lots of crew who are new blood in filmmaking. Even though this is their first feature film, personally, I think we pulled it off very well. With all the complicated shooting techniques, we have set the bar to another level. And I was awe-struck by that. There are still a lot of talented people waiting to showcase their capabilities in our industry. I think Thai movies have a lot of potentials to go far and beyond. And I would say there are still a lot of opportunities and interesting roles waiting for me in the future.
Are you working on any new projects?
Yes, I'm working on a new project, which will come out at the end of this year. Please stay tuned. Thank you!
