TubbyTinker
You're Average Person :)
CREDITS Me for translating and article credit urassaya.com. [I was generous enough to translate this whole interview. There’s two parts to it.]
Yaya Urassaya Sperbund, the half Thai/Norwegian actress is the hottest breaking star at the moment. Her fearless, daring, character as Jeed in Duang Jai Akkanee has captured so many fans across the country. But who knew that before she became the cute and beautiful actress she is today, she was an ugly duckling back in her younger years. She had to wear braces up to 4 years and she has dark skin tone due to her love for sports like basketball, horse-riding, and soccer.
Before, Yaya could only speak 30 % of the Thai language because she attended international school from the beginning and most of her friends are American. After signing the contract with channel 3, Yaya had to learn more Thai. She had a special teacher to tutor her at home. As of right now, she can speak Thai about 80 % but she still can’t understand some words.
“I attended international schools since I was little and the majority of my friends were Americans. When I’m at home, I speak English since my dad doesn’t know how to speak Thai. But my mom would force me to speak Thai so I mix it up.”
Her mother then added, “She knows more of the language now.”
“My mom raised me to be what a Thai girl should act or behave. She would emphasize on politeness, mannerism. My dad is somewhat American but he still conservative. He teaches me how to think for myself like when I get in trouble, he will let me explain and tell my reason but my mom, I can’t talk back to her. I‘m Buddhism like my mom. Since I was a kid, she would take me to the temple to make merits She would tell me to pray before I go to sleep. And I would recite Namo three times and that‘s about it that I can recite [laughs shyly].”
People that don’t know her and aren’t close to her may think that she is a quiet person but what makes her to be attractive is her smile. She doesn’t like to talk much but she likes to laugh and smile.
“I’m the kind of person that would sit still and be quiet all the time. I’m a serious person. I would think much on everything like school and work.”
Acting isn’t what she had in mind for her profession. She always wanted to work with the law or politics. Yaya likes learning about the history and science of the society. Right now she is currently attending Chulalungkorn University [Faculty of Arts- International Division].
“I like learning about science and history, that’s why I chose to go into this field. But truth is I want to become a lawyer or anything that deals with politics or the law.”
When asked if she was a smart student, Yaya replies happily, “I am. It depends on determination. If you’re determined, then you should be able to do it. When I was younger, I wasn’t that much of a smart kid but as I get older, I realized how important education was so I push myself to work harder and do a lot of homework.”
Her mom then added, “I never put pressure on her. I told her I’m fine with whatever grade she gets but she got a GPA of 3.8.”
Going back to her high school years, Yaya was a confident young girl who like to play sports that other girls wouldn’t play like basketball, soccer, and horse riding.
“When I attended the international school, I was on the school team. I played basketball and soccer and even got a gold medal in the swimming team. It’s a guy sport but at first I didn’t want to play but the school made me so afterward I realized how much fun I was having so I continued to play and I was made it to the girls team.”
She also like horse riding. She has been riding horses since she was 7 years old. And has been collecting little toy horses, My Little Pony.
“When I was younger I went to take horse riding lesson at Horseshoe Point in Pattaya. My favorite animal are horses too but before I went, my sister had already taking horse riding lessons there so every time she comes home, she would tell me how much fun she had so I wanted to try it out. I started since I was seven and till this day whenever I’m free, I’ll go back to Pattaya and ride the horses. I like how fast they can run and how beautiful they are.. I like horses so I collect the little toy teddy horses, My Little Pony. It’s hard to buy them here so I go buy them in Norway. They’re plastic and rubber. It’s pink and has yellow hair. It’s cute.”
After learning about her school and education. Now it’s time to talk about her family. Her dad is a Norwegian stock broker who works in Thailand. Her mom is a housewife. She has an older sister named Catreeya and is currently studying in England. Yaya is really close to her sister. Her name Yaya comes from her real name Urassaya which means daughter.
“I’m very close to my sister. It’s just me and her. She’s like my best friend. I can talk to her about anything. It’s lonely now that she isn’t here. The house is even quieter. I would call her or use Skype to talk to her.”
“We argue all the time but we’ll get over it pretty quick. Me and my sister look alike but she has a sweeter face than me and she has a dimple. When I was younger, I like the movie, Lassy. It was a genius dog that helps people. So my sister calls me Lassy because I like to do this [acts like a dog]. Everyone calls me by this name. They don’t call me Yaya. I don’t like it because it’s a dog name. My new friends don’t know about it so they call me Yaya but my old friends still call me Lassy.”
We all see her as this beautiful young girl but Yaya said when she was little, she didn’t look like this. When going outside, sometimes she doesn’t even comb her hair and she even had a huge gap between her teeth. She had to wear braces for 4 years and now that she’s in the industry, she has to take care of herself extra more.
“I don’t like my teeth because when I was little I had a huge gap right here in the middle. After that four years I had enough of braces but now my mom told me that the gap is coming back so I have to go get it fix. I don‘t really look out after myself that much but right now I‘m starting to watch what I‘m eating. I have to exercise. I have to take care of my skin. I go to the spa and I‘m getting used to it. It relaxes me. The important thing that I have to watch out for is my weight. I love eating sweets especially chocolate [laughs]. I have to have at least a bite of it a day or I‘ll get cranky.”
Part 2 will be posted tomorrow. Too lazy and my fingers are hurting, LOL BTW, my translation isn't accirate, but it's close enough
Pictures. This is her dad
With her sister, Catreeya.
Her friends from school
