Rayrai’s romance

Geena plays a classic character

By Suwitcha Chaiyong
Photos by Varuth and courtesy of Channel 8

Pi Liang (Brother) is a classic romantic novel by acclaimed writer Thommayanti. The story has been filmed for movies and TV dramas several times. The latest version, Brother, has been created by Channel 8 and stars Catherine Geena Meads (Geena) as Rayrai, better known as Khun Ray.

Khun Ray has grown up with her first love, Sattaya (Mangkorn Pawawin), who she calls Brother. Their mothers are best friends and after Sattaya loses his father, he and his mother have to live at Khun Ray’s house. Sattaya thinks he doesn’t deserve Khun Ray and tries to encourage her to date their friend, Chotiwan (Mark Apiwitch).

Student Weekly met up with 15-year-old Geena at Channel 8, where she told us about her acting background and how she works in Brother. The young actress has been in showbiz since she was a baby, so acting is in her blood.

Student Weekly: How did you become an actress?

Geena: I’ve been in commercials since I was three or four months old. I went to an audition where contestants had to show talent. I knew ballet dancing but didn’t prepare in advance, so I decided to perform a popular comical dance, Gaiyang Took Pao (Grilled Chicken Is Burned). The judges liked me, so I became an actress in a TV series.

Student Weekly: When did you realise that you liked acting?

Geena: When I was very young I didn’t know why I had to act. I sometimes felt exhausted and didn’t want to work. But when I was six, I was in a TV series and the director asked me to figure out the background of my character. I had fun using my imagination. That made me understood that the role of an actor is to know their character in depth.

Student Weekly: Why did you decide to sign a contract with Channel 8?

Geena: After I met with the executives and crew at Channel 8, I felt they were like a family. We can talk about anything so nothing is a big deal. We help each other.

Student Weekly: How did you prepare for the role of Khun Ray?

Geena: A director told me to not read the novel, but after filming a couple of episodes, I decided to get the book because the writer explains the thoughts and feelings of the character in detail. It helped me to understand the background of Khun Ray. I also watched trailers of previous versions and read comments of viewers about Khun Ray’s personality on webboards.

Student Weekly: How is your Khun Ray different?

Geena: In the novel, Khun Ray is well-mannered. I can act that way, but not perfectly. I figured out that Khun Ray’s charm isn’t as ladylike as in the original novel. After discussing it with an acting coach, I made Khun Ray tender and lively.

Student Weekly: How did you get close with Mangkorn and Mark?

Geena: My first scene with Mangkorn took a lot of time because we were tense.

The acting coach told us that our characters have grown up together, so we tried to get close to each other. We chatted about our fears, took photos together and teased each other. That helped us to break the ice and become natural.

Student Weekly: Which scene was the most difficult?

Geena: Sattaya leaves a party without telling Khun Ray, who questions him about why he doesn’t care about her. That scene was the beginning of their complicated relationship. Khun Ray tries to hold her tears and later bursts out crying behind Sattaya’s back.

Student Weekly: How was the dancing scene?

Geena: The corset costume was heavy and high heels made it difficult to dance.

The mask I wore made me dizzy. I almost fainted at the end but Mangkorn helped me. I felt better after taking the mask off.

Student Weekly: Do you have any message to viewers?

Geena: Everybody involved in making Brother is dedicated to the series. We work hard on the details and really put our hearts into it.

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