Jointly reported by:
Wong Tze Sin Sr3ScA
Michael Ng Sr3A
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On the 2nd of August, Kuen Cheng Counselling Department invited actor Edmund Seow to talk about his career in the first of a series of Career Week talks.
He opened his talk by introducing this principle: we need to see ourselves as a product in order to be a successful actor. Actors have to make full use of their acting skills and specialties to promote themselves. He explained that as citizen media is becoming widespread globally, many influencers have claimed to be actors, lowering the standard of the entertainment industry. Edmund advised us to recognize our own niche and continue remaining positive to stay afloat in this industry.
He found his passion towards acting when he was in secondary school, where he remained in the drama club for six years. During his time there, he took part in a national drama camp and subsequently won the best male actor and best director awards. This ultimately inspired him to study at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan after his graduation in 2008, majoring in drama and minoring in design.
After his graduation, he came back to Malaysia to work as an acting tutor for Chong Hwa High School in Kluang and a primary school in Kuala Lumpur, earning RM2000 per month. With help from his mentor recommending him to different theatres, he got to take up gigs for various stage productions; his favourite being one called “Bow Wow” (“旺旺”). His options were pretty limited so he had to settle for the three to four plays that came by, netting him an average of RM1000 to RM3000 per project.
Even though his passion lied with stage acting, the pay just wasn’t cutting it. So, what was next?
A scene from “Bow Wow”
Between tutoring students and taking on roles in stage plays, he helped his mother out at her hair styling salon. When he helped out at Astro Hua Hee Dai, he was recognized by a director who appreciated his talents and casted him in a drama for two seasons.
Despite his command in Hokkien being weak and him feeling uncomfortable in front of the camera for the first time, he still pushed through with the job. That hard work paid off with him getting name recognition and more casting opportunities, securing him one role in television per year.
In this segment, he went through the range of salaries different actors could earn, going from a one-off RM50 payment for extras to RM10000 per day for playing a main character.
He then moved towards commercial projects, first starring in a washing machine advertisement by Toshiba. Edmund has said that he really enjoyed acting in commercials due to its fast, low commitment nature. Plus, it pays well! He got anywhere from RM1000 to RM2500 per eight to ten hour workday with overtime benefits.
He eventually got to take up movie acting gigs, one of which being a Chinese New Year comedy. He said that movie acting was his favourite. It wasn’t as rushed as acting for television, and it paid really well. The pay range per day was anywhere from RM1000 to RM3000, and if one were a well-known actor, one could get a lump sum of RM10000 to RM50000 per gig.
Things were looking well for Edmund until the pandemic hit and caused movie theatres across the country to close, resulting in the production company cutting its budget. According to Edmund, the local arts and performance scene was already small, but it’s getting worse as less opportunities means even worse pay for actors who already struggle to get by.
So, what now?
Edmund’s advertisements
With traditional acting opportunities on hold, Edmund turned towards social media where he took up brand deals with various companies, self-shooting and editing his own advertisements on Instagram and Douyin. He then segued into saying this: “in Malaysia, the more skills you have, the more opportunities you will get.”
This ultimately brought him back to his original point, where he asked the audience: as an actor, what value are you, the product, bringing to the table? Who are you? Why are you ultimately the standout from the crowd? Keeping these questions in mind, Edmund then implored the aspiring actors in attendance to consider their attitude and passion towards the art. “The wrong attitude can burn you out pretty quickly.”
With that, the talk came to a close. Edmund then hosted a Q&A session, where he answered questions regarding behind the scenes work, studying abroad, and the importance of physical attractiveness. Ms Tee Wan Chin, the Assistant at the Counseling Department and also the Counselling Teacher in charge of the talk supplemented with more updates regarding the Career Week. Finally, a group photo was taken.
One can find Edmund and his projects at Edmundseow9 on Instagram, Edmundseow90 on TikTok and Xiaohongshu, and Edmund 蕭孝傑 on Facebook.
