"Fan Chan" child star now bald and skinny
Charlie "Nak" Trirat, that cute little boy from the hit 2003 film "Fan Chan" ("My Girl"), is now all grown up at age 23 and will soon be back on the screen with the lead role in the horror "Arbat", except that he's currently going with his actual
Nak plays an obedient son named Son (easy to remember), a self-indulgent youth who’s ordained as a novice monk on his wealthy father’s orders. But, boys being boys, he still acts like a regular kid, falls for a local girl (who’s not rich) and uncovers a chilling secret at the temple.
In real life Nak isn’t quite as obedient as the son Son. He wanted to draw the line at having his eyebrows shaved off like any good monk. The hair on his head, okay, but not the brows, which he argued are essential for an actor to convey the full range of emotions. He and director Kanittha Kwunyoo discussed the script further. She won the argument, and Nak’s eyebrows came off.
Nak’s reluctance is more or less understandable since he was raised a Christian (his father is half Dutch). Getting used to the monk’s robes also proved more difficult than he expected. Nevertheless he looks comfortable enough in the outfit in a photo taken by his proud mum, who’s a Buddhist. For her it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see her son in saffron.
Once production ended, Nak dived back into his other passion, making music. He’s uploaded several performance videos to YouTube, including one featuring Focus Jeerakul, his co-star from “Fan Chan”.
Meantime he put on about 10 kilograms, regaining the weight he’d lost to look more like a monk – only for the director to call him back to the set to reshoot some scenes! An “extreme” diet got him back into skinny enough form within two weeks so he could complete the job.
“Fan Chan” turned Nak and the rest of the cast into child stars, but he actually made his screen debut at the tender age of one year, in Bhandit Rithakaol’s movie “Kalla Khrung Nueng … Muea Chao Nee” (“Once Upon a Time”). His other credits are the GTH films “Dek Hor” (“Dorm”) and “Rot Fai Fah Maha Na Ter (“Bangkok Traffic Love Story”) and, under contract to TV production company Polyplus, several minor roles in TV dramas and other movies. At the moment he’s a free agent.
Mario comes “Home”
After a long break following the blockbuster success of “Pee Mak Phra Khanong” (usually abbreviated to just “Pee Mak”), heartthrob actor Mario Maurer has finally accepted a follow-up role. “Take Me Home” represents a fresh challenge under the guidance of talented director Kongkiat Komesiri, who also wrote the script.
So far, all we know is that Mario will play a mysterious guy confronting all sorts of nasty things and that it sounds like the heaviest role he’s ever tried. His co-star will be Wannarot “Vill” Sonthichai, previously seen in TV dramas.
“Take Me Home” is being produced by North Star Productions, the outfit run by actress-turned-producer Kanyarat Jiraratchakit, who had a smash hit with Kongdej Jaturanrasamee’s “Tang Wong” and has just completed Kongdej’s latest, “Snap”, which will have its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
