Jeeja Yanin

Jeeja Yanin’s graceful, acrobatic but realistic fights have seen her crowned the queen of Thai action films. And it probably won’t be long until she joins the ranks of the few internationally famous female action stars like Michelle Yeoh. Few know that this 24-year-old woman had a formal training in ballet. As a young child, Jeeja was meek and sickly. She was frequently chosen as the “pretty face” to represent her school because of her lovely looks. The turning point came in middle school when she decided to learn taekwondo to overcome her poor health. Jeeja stopped being just a pretty face and started “tough” activities like volleyball and athletics. It only took a few years for her to become a taekwondo instructor - at just 14 years old. Her combined skills of ballet and taekwondo helped her win an award for choreography at the 1999 Thailand Taekwondo Championship.“I like taekwondo. It makes me feel free - free to run around, free to move. Most importantly, it makes me feel that women are just as capable as men”, she says. Her career as an instructor took a different path when she auditioned for Panna Rittikrai’s action film Born To Fight(2004). She was chosen for a role but on the first day of filming she was told that she would no longer be in the movie. “I was very disappointed. But later I found out that Panna saw something in me. He made a demo tape of me and talked with Prachya Pinkaew (director of Ong Bak and Tom-Yum-Goong) and Somsak Techarattanaprasert (executive director and founder of film studio Sahamongkol Film) to have me star as leading actress for another movie. And so the Chocolate (2008) project was born”. In Chocolate, Jeeja plays an autistic kid with fighting talent who mimics Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Tony Jaa. Even though she had a Taekwondo background, she still had to undergo four years of training in Muay Thai and gymnastics. “I had to assume the characteristics of popular action heroes. For example, I watched Bruce Lee movies all day to prepare for the ice factory scene (which was a tribute to the Bruce Lee film The Big Boss)”, she says. “I tried to incorporate a gracefulness into Muay Thai, Samurai sword fighting, and gymnastics. Female action stars are distinguished by their acrobatics and delicateness”. Her action hero is none other than Tony Jaa. She admires him for his perseverance and dedication: “He came to see me sometimes, and taught me martial arts tricks. He is very friendly”. For a petite girl like Jeeja, eliminating the fear of risky stunt work is not easy. “I had to perform at the height of 50 feet without safety equipment and minimal standing space. It was scary. But I had to endure it. I had to get used to it”. Having overcoming her fears, Jeeja is shooting a new film (currently known only as Jeeja’s Project). Rashan Limtrakul will direct the film. He worked at Thai music studio RS Promotion before joining Prachya Pinkaew’s Baa-Ram-Ewe production house to edit Chocolate and direct the Kisssegment in the 4 Romances(2008) collection of short films.
Roger Garcia