Fraser signs an autograph for an adoring fan
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When Daniel Fraser moved to Thailand he never thought he'd become a movie
star. But that's exactly what happened when he landed a role in The Garuda,
a Thai movie that recently opened in Thailand.
"I came to Thailand in 1999 to start an adventure travel company, Smiling
Albino, that leads unique, service-oriented trips and community projects
around the country."
"Doing TV commercials and modeling was a hobby while my business partner
and I built up our travel business. In the end I ended up becoming a fairly
well known television presenter for various products in Southeast Asia.
That spring-boarded into me getting to know people in the local film business."
As for how Fraser landed his big role, he simply answered a casting call,
auditioned, and three months later was offered the part.
"Everyone dreams of being in a movie when they're young, but realistically
I didn't think it would happen until the day they called and told me I
actually got the role." In The Garuda, Fraser plays Tim Lamarche, a French
archeologist in his mid-20's who follows a female archeologist (Leena)
he's in love with to Thailand. The two are brought to the country to investigate
unusual fossils that were unearthed while an extension of the Bangkok
subway system was taking place. It turns out a garuda (a mythological
half-bird, half-man creature) was found hibernating below the city and
is not at all happy about being woken. What ensues is a cat and mouse
chase between a special military regiment that's trying to keep the beast
at bay and the two westerners who are trying to learn more about the mysterious,
winged-creature.
Tim is also a vehicle that exposes the cultural clashes between Thais
and foreigners, so a lot of his lines are comical because they explore
what foreigners don't understand about Thais and vice versa. "Overall
Tim's a funny guy," explains Fraser. "He's a bit cute and silly, but also
burdened with love he has for the main female character." Fraser had some
serious challenges preparing for his part as all of his lines are in Thai
and he still had a day job to hold-down. "During the three months of filming
they were really understanding about my business needs and arranged shooting
around my schedule leading adventures around Thailand. They even flew
me to the set a few times!"
The 'Garuda' movie poster
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Prior to filming, the movie's production company also put the cast through
a two-week crash course in 'imagination modeling' (entirely in Thai language),
which taught him how to get inside his character's head. "That was great
preparation for the role. I learned how to act using Thai as my thinking
voice. "That said I play an archeologist so a lot of my dialogue is scientific
language - about dinosaurs and archeology. As a result my lines were more
complicated than they would have been with a regular role. My real challenge
was doing all my lines while still making it look very natural, like I
wasn't thinking about it." Fraser's main co-star, Sarah Legge, who plays
Leena, says what impressed her most while working with Fraser was his
language ability. "Considering all of his dialogue was in Thai and this
is his first film, he did a truly excellent job from start to finish,"
says Legge. "He was very focused and always ready for his scenes. He should
be very proud." Nung Chalad na Songkhla, who plays a computer technician
for the team of soldiers in the movie, was also duly impressed with Fraser's
language and acting skills. "At first I wasn't too sure about working
with a foreigner who couldn't speak Thai as a first language," explains
Chalad na Songkhla". "But Daniel always spoke Thai with me on the set
even though he knew I can speak English. That really made me respect him
and in the end I was very happy to work with him."
Critics are also impressed with his performance. A recent review on Thailand's
premier movie website, www.movieseer.com, reads, "The color of the film,
though, is added by Fraser, who brings some welcome humor to the otherwise
solemn script. You're never quite sure if his character is supposed to
be more goofy than intelligent or the other way around, but either way,
his performance is good for a few laughs."
Overall, Fraser is very happy with the end result. "The few times I've
seen it [The Garuda] at the theatre there were lots of laughs at the right
moments - that was a huge relief," smiles Fraser. "Audiences seem to think
the character's creative, interesting and enjoyable. "Anytime you see
yourself on screen you think you should have done a lot better, but knowing
how challenging the role was with its dialogue and being in Thai I'm really
happy with the way it came out." The Garuda is also quite an important
step for Thai cinema. It's the first Thai movie to be shot entirely digitally
and also had quite a large budget, coming in at just over $1.3 million.
Combined with the country's growing reputation as a quality and economical
center for filming (Oliver Stone just finished shooting his next epic
Alexander), Garuda is boldly leading Thai cinema into new territory.
Fraser on-set listening to the director
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A year-and-a-half has passed since shooting wrapped on the film and it opened
in Thai theatres on April 1, 2004. This kicked-off the promotional process,
something Fraser's had a lot of fun with. "It's been one of the most exciting
things I've ever done. We've been appearing on a lot of big TV talk shows,
doing interviews, promotions at movie theatres, and autograph signings.
It's the quest for his signature that's left Fraser grinning. "The autographs
have been one of the strangest parts. One week no one knew who I was and
then people are asking me to sign my name on their grocery bags or whatever
they have on-hand. I never imagined that anyone would be asking for my
autograph. Now that they are, it's very exciting and it makes me feel
like I did a great job in the film, and there's a place for westerners
in Thai pop culture.
"This is hopefully not a once in a lifetime experience, but I'm looking
at it more as a hobby and lucky break as it may not happen again. I'm
just enjoying it." As for the future, Fraser remains passionately focused
on why he originally settled in Thailand. "I'm sure acting will always
be a fun hobby but the adventure travel business is number one because
it's so unique, benefits local communities and our clients really enjoy
the adventures we're offering. Eventually I also hope to be leading trips
in other parts of Southeast Asia for the corporate market.
"I definitely feel we've got something special here in Thailand with
Smiling Albino and having acting and modeling as a hobby too has been
a real joy and made things even that much more fun."
To learn more about The Garuda and Daniel Fraser, visit:
www.garudathemovie.com - The official movie site
Dan's Smiling Albino Bio
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