Why I Do What I Do is an original AsiaOne series where we showcase people with uncommon professions and what it takes to get there.

She was just a young starlet when she received some soul-crushing remarks that could have spelled the end of her career.

Shortly after she embarked on her journey to become a star (more on that later), actress Yeo Yann Yann was told by a director she was working with that she was neither pretty nor talented enough to be in the industry.

Yann Yann was only 21 at that time.

Now 43, Yann Yann recalled: "We were having dinner and he just casually said 'Yann Yann, you're not pretty. You're not very talented. Why are you still acting?' I think I was very young and I was very shocked. I didn't know how to respond to him and I just had a silly laugh. I laughed it off."

Like water off a duck's back, the remarks didn't bother her and it "didn't stay in my head". But it came back to haunt her when she was seriously considering her prospects as a professional actor. 

"I recalled this incident then I realised 'Wow, that incident actually affected me quite a lot'," Yann Yann said, adding that the effect it had on her was to motivate her to further "cultivate my craft".

After more than 20 years, the daughter of a fisherman has carved out an illustrious career as an award-winning actor. She bagged the Best Supporting Actress and Best Leading Actress at the Golden Horse Awards for her roles in Ilo Ilo and Wet Season respectively.

Even then, that hasn't stopped her from receiving comments about her physical appearance. She admitted with a laugh that her makeup artist always tells her that she needs a "higher nose".

Yann Yann explained: "I think growing up is a very tough process. Having people tell you negative things while you are younger, it will leave a big impact. And if you don't have any positive guides [in your life], you probably will do many things to change yourself. And if it makes you happy, I don't see why not. But if after the change, inside your heart, you're not satisfied, then I don't see why you should [do it]."

'I wanted to be a star'

The thespian's journey started when she was a young girl in Johor Bahru watching Mediacorp's Star Search since its inception in 1988. After she completed high school, Yann Yann had the idea to give acting a try although her mum wanted her to be a kindergarten teacher or a property agent as it provided more job security.

Yann Yann said: "My interest was just not there. So I rebelled in my mum's eye but I don't think I rebelled. I just went for what I wanted to do."

And the first TV gig she landed was in Singapore.

She explained: "I came to Singapore and I got to work in theatre, work in a play, and then I got a chance to work in a sitcom. That was my very first television show in my life, a sitcom called Right Frequency."

So does that mean being an actor was all she could see herself doing? Not exactly.

"You know what? The word 'actor' did not appear in my head. I wanted to be a star," she chuckled.

The dream of being a star was a "starting point" for Yann Yann who grew to realise that there was a difference between being an actor and a star and she actually wanted to be the former.

"A star is in the clouds and I'm still standing on the ground and still working really really hard. I'm not saying stars don't work very hard. Stars have to work even harder. So now I'm still at the level of actor."

And work hard she did because one of the toughest and scariest experiences she's had as an actor was when she literally lost her voice, probably because of exhaustion.

Yann Yann was shooting the 2014 sex comedy film Rubbers and it was during "one of the darkest times of my life". She had also just given birth and was still recovering.

She said: "It was very tough. I was so tired. One day when we were shooting — I think it was an emotional scene between Julian [Hee] and me at about 10pm — I couldn't make any sound. I lost my voice. I wasn't sick, I wasn't having the flu, there were no symptoms. I just lost my voice on set."

In the end, she had to mime her scenes during the filming and her dialogue had to be recorded separately. The incident raised alarm bells in her head to take care of her herself "so that I can continue to be an actor".

She added: "There's still so many things I don't know as an actor. So many roles that I've never tried, so many genres of films that I've never tried... I love it. I want to do it as long as I can. No matter whether it's film, theatre, hosting, I just love it. I love my audiences."

bryanlim@asiaone.com

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