An Exclusive with Jampel Yeshey Payldon

Jampel Yeshey Payldon is an actor and a social media influencer. She is an active volunteer, a youth leader, and a brand ambassador for many brands in Bhutan; all while still being in high school.

As a social media influencer, youth leader and brand ambassador she has taken different stages in the forums. However, she is with Bhutan Today to share her peculiar yet spellbinding experience as an actor in the Bhutanese film industry.

Q. What is keeping you busy these days?
A. School basically because I am still in high school. School assignments and simply being in school keeps me drawn in nowadays. This is the reason why I am taking a break from acting.

Q. What is the most thrilling thing that is happening in your life at the moment?
A. Something exciting is being away from home. It has been 2 to 3 years since I have been away from home and being alone, travelling solo, exploring new places and meeting new people has been truly exciting for me. A lot of things I have started to do alone which I used to fear before, so this is definitely thrilling.

Q. Tell us about your first acting experience.
A. I had my first acting experience when I was 8 years old. It was really unexpected. I have never ever thought I would be in a film or even in a music video, but it so happened that I got invited to a movie set and I simply cherished being on set and meeting people. That is how I started acting because the director asked me if I was interested in acting as a younger persona of a female protagonist. And then I agreed saying that I will just go for it once since it sounds fun. My parents and my sisters were not really supportive at that moment and they were asking me if I were sure to do this, because it was not going to be easy. In any case, I simply needed to pull out all the stops and that is the way I trodden into my first acting experience.

Q. Tell us about your last acting experience as well.
A. It was 5 years ago. It was in “Anim Yangden” where I played the lead role. It started during my winter vacation when I was in my 7th grade. Then it was released a year later when I was in 8th grade. That was truly fun and energizing for me in light of the fact that I have never played any movies after that.

Q. What was your longest running role in the film?
A. Both the films that I have acted in. I played a seriously weighty part.

Q. Which one is your favorite among the two?
A. I would say that it has its own tomfoolery and fervor to it. Seryang being the most memorable lead movie, I generally enjoyed being on the set. I was the baby where everyone pampered me and the sort of liability was simply being on set, paying attention to anything that the director said and acting before the camera. Furthermore, Anim Yangden was more similar to a weighty job so I was serious and more wary about what outcomes would come from being an entertainer. I needed to remember specific things and be an entirely dependable individual. So, both were energizing.

Q. What was your favorite role that you have played?
A. Playing the part of Anim yangden, I had to be exceptionally versatile with any direction that the director queued me with and it also required travelling to a lot of places during winter. A little girl experiencing passionate feelings, chasing after a boy then, at that point, joining the pious devotee was something I wasn’t anticipating in any ways. So that was the role I delighted in playing.

Q. How did you feel when you got that role?
A. It was very entertaining. The director came to me at first, wanting me in his film as a female protagonist. I was surprised. I had no clue about who the other actors were and that I don’t think it was affirmed during that time. We went to the script conference after I said alright. They had faith in me and I trusted in myself as well so it was truly amazing.

Q. While preparing for the role, are there any techniques or methodology that you use to get into the character?
A. When we do a script conference, I take the task really seriously. It is really about taking time and recognizing your character, building that relationship between you and that character and that is exactly what I do.

Q. At this age, how does it feel to be winning national awards?
A. I won two national awards. First in Seryang, this was really unexpected. I had an extreme rivalry with a ton of grown-up actresses too and it was my most memorable experience as an entertainer and I didn’t even realize I would be selected in that best novice female entertainer. I won that honor and that was truly satisfying. That just propelled me a ton and followed my energy in acting and winning the best youngster entertainer in Anim Yangden.

Q. Do you still want to continue acting after your studies or do you want to do something else?
A. I’m a truly extrinsic individual and I love experiencing. A ton of things I do, I do it with passion and I truly take interest in it. I never accept it as a work or as a weighty obligation or a weight. Whenever I get a time, I will be wherever doing all that I love since it satisfies my heart. I worked for a lot of associations and individuals; they were truly obliging and supportive in the position that I am in as an understudy, as an entertainer, and ambassador. Also, I’m truly grateful to them for giving me the space and time. Up to this point I have consistently thought acting as a long side because it is my obsession to do so; however it isn’t simply going to be one region that I will zero in on.

Q. How do you manage time?
A. I really don’t know how I do that (giggles). In any case, I always make sure that when I am focused on one task I focus on that task and when it is done it is done. Then I stick to the other. However, there are times where many things clash, during that time I make sure I tell whoever I am working with that I am literally in a tight position right now and there are times where I had to prioritize. They have always been supportive. And it was really not challenging.

Message:
“As a young person myself, I probably won’t have the best advice or message, however from a little encounter that I have, I might want to tell my younger ones not to be reluctant to act naturally. Every single one of us is proficient to do our own things and is exceptional in our own specific manners. What’s more, I think of contrasting yourself with others; we ought to never do that, rather contrast your own self with yourself. Try not to fear anything. Assuming you have an enthusiasm to follow through with something, be energetic and put it all on the line, pursue your fantasy and get that sorcery going in your life.”