There is a blasé attitude about the work we do because we get comfortable with our positions.

“I love Prague. I think the gothic demeanour of the city is something I really like. If it’s not Prague for the best travel destination, I think my second option would be Paris,” Siti Saleha answers when asked about her favourite travel destination. Having just recently returned from Seoul, Korea, the actress–who is famously known online as Sally Who–has immediately returned to her spot in front of the camera. Siti, who recently won the award for Outstanding Asian Star Award at the Seoul International Drama Awards for her role in SeOfis, details her trip to and from Seoul. A short trip, one that took three days and two nights, to Saleha was a walk in the park. When asked to share a snippet of her momentous win, she says, “The premise of the television show is really simple but, in my opinion, a hard-hitting one. I was surprised that we got nominated; I didn’t know TV3 and Tonton had submitted it for the awards.”. It wasn’t until she was set to leave the city that her manager alerted her of her upcoming travel plans. “The fans campaigned hard, and I have them to thank for my win. I am very grateful for them.”

Packed in her suitcase was a stunning yellow Alia Bastamam gown, her passport, and hope. It had been seven years since Malaysia had won an award at the Seoul International Drama Awards. The hope came in handy because, win, she did. “There’s a lot of untapped talent here in Malaysia that’s just waiting to make it big on the international screens,” she explains between detailing her trip to Korea and winning her award. “I do think that, as an actor in the film industry here, what we face is this jarring dichotomy. In some regards, there is a blasé attitude about the work we do because we get comfortable with our positions as actors and forget that we can branch out and do other things. It’s a trap anyone in any profession falls into.” I concur with her point. It’s not only a valid one; it’s an apparent one. As a writer, sometimes, my work feels like it’s plateauing, the delivery of my work comes off as uninspired. To remedy this, I read different works and attempted different styles of communicating my ideas. Siti does the same. 

“I love the work that I’m able to do on over-the-top platforms like Tonton. It allows me the liberty to express myself in ways that I am not necessarily able to on broadcast TV. But that doesn’t mean I can’t also go back to what I’m familiar with. I love doing TV shows on Astro or TV3, taking what I’ve learned elsewhere and applying the concept in a different manner,” Siti adds. It is rare to see someone in the arts so fully aware of the balance one needs to maintain and find to remain agile with their performances on screen. When we returned to the conversation about her time in Korea, she gleefully explained that she did not bring a glam team with her but rather opted for the ones provided in Seoul. Her intention behind this? Simple! Siti just wanted to immerse herself in the moment as much as possible. “I ate a lot, got photographed a number of times, met the producers that did the Game of Thrones series, and I did some early Christmas shopping afterwards,” she shares. 

When she’s not performing in front of a set crew and the camera, Siti finds herself in quiet isolation–an escape she needs to recuperate her thoughts and energy. Between spending time with her cats and her partner–one she praises for exchanging deep conversations on art with–Siti would also find herself cooking and watching movies and TV series. She channels her inner TV cooking host, Nigella Lawson, when she says, “My go-to meal for when I’m looking for a healthy meal would be a nice grilled salmon steak with sauteed veggies. If I’m craving something hearty, I would make buttermilk chicken from scratch. I love cooking and then cleaning as I go. It’s therapeutic.” Currently, she’s indulging in Gary Oldman’s Apple TV series Slow Horses, citing the series to be a good book-to-TV adaptation thematically exploring espionage with a “good flair of British humour”, something that she adores. 

Adding to her appreciation for British cinema, TV, its actors, and filmmakers, Siti also expresses her fondness for Emerald Fennell and her directorial work on Saltburn. “I loved Promising Young Woman and Saltburn. It was silly, and it was crazy in its own regard, but I loved the concept of it. I’m looking forward to seeing her next project, Wuthering Heights. I can’t wait for it to come out.” Being in the arts allows one to traverse across roles to explore the lengths of their creativity. For Siti Saleha, this seems to be apparent. When discussing in depth on the other films and TV shows that she’s watched, she shares her admiration for Reese Witherspoon. “Why?” I ask her. “I love what she does. I would like to become someone like her. She’s produced so many great TV shows and movies, and I, too, would like to do something like that in my career. It’s such a gift to be able to tell stories in a certain way, and I think it’s even more compelling to be able to bring that to life on the big screens.”

As we come to the end of our conversation, we take a trip down memory lane, reminiscing some of her past works. When asked about a role that she is most proud of, she answered without missing a beat. “I think about this moment often. It was when I acted in the TV3 drama Nora Elena. This was back in 2011, and it was a big break for me. I was twenty-one at the time, playing the character of a mature twenty-three-year-old. I watched it once more recently, and I thought to myself, wondering, ‘How on earth did I do that?’. It’s such a grounding feeling”. She asks me if I ever get the feeling of being lost in doing something, not knowing the head or the tail of a situation. I answer affirmingly. “Yes. It happens a lot” 

“But we keep doing it, right?”, she says with a smile. 

Photography: Chee Wei
Creative Direction: Ian Loh
Hair: Mei Choi
Makeup: Rae Seok
Styling Assistants: Sarah Chong, Lorraine Chai

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