Tao settled down but still ready for anything

“I’m a freelancer as well as a professional, and I accept any job as long as I’m confident that I can do my best work in them,” Tao tells Esquire magazine.
“But the main reason I’m so busy is that my kids are all attending international schools now, and that keeps me running around to different places every day.”
Yes, this is the same Tao Somchai who was breaking teenage girls’ hearts in the 1990s and then earned a reputation as a bar brawler and playboy. You’ll recall he was married to singer-actress Nat Myria Benedetti for a while and always seemed to be in one form of trouble or another.
Upon remarrying, Tao was still in demand in show business, and his work schedule expanded after the couple started having children, to the point where his wife could quit her job and stay home to take care of the kids. Now he’s delighted with his life and has that “confidence” to play any sort of role.
One of his most popular characters on television is the boyfriend of gay singer-actor Chalatit “Ben” Tantiwut on “Club Friday the Series”, which involves the occasional kissing scene. At one of Ben’s concerts he invited Tao onstage and, sure enough, they had a smooch, driving the audience wild.
“I’ll be 42 in January and I don’t cling to past success or my old idol image,” Tao says. “Life isn’t fun if we’re constantly worrying about things. I’m just glad I have a lot of work at the moment so I can create great memories for my kids through my TV and movie roles.”

Give that girl a break
You’d think actress Arikanta “Gypso” Mahaprukphong would want a nice long holiday after working non-stop for the past five months making movies for the M-Thirtynine studio. But, no, she’s jumped straight into television, specifically the GMM25 comedy series “I Wanna Be Sup’Tar” (that’s Thinglish for “superstar”).
Working seven days a week is often construed as proof of an actor’s success, but of course it’s a brutal way to make a living. Gypso Arikanta (formerly Ramita) swears that she tried repeatedly to work break days into her schedule, but timing never allowed for it, and then GMM came a-knocking with the TV gig. “It’s such a new experience,” she says. “I’ll be able to tell my future kids about it.
“I was in desperate straits at times, but I could always get through it. In fact the human body can tolerate lots of hard work, but it is very stressful and can kill your health.
“I think taking time off is also part of working, because it recharges your energy,” she says, but so far she hasn’t had a chance to test the theory. A possible escape valve lies in the fact that she hasn’t signed a contract with GMM.
“I’m happy working with them, but I have to think about it carefully because I’ve never been a free agent before. I want to see how it goes, see if the TV work makes me stronger, and then we’ll see what happens next.”